Clarkesville is a city in and the county seat of Habersham County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,911, up from the 2010 census population of 1,733, up from 1,248 at the 2000 census.
History
Originally the city was Native American, and was called Sak-yi. Later, the name was used for the Soque River, originally called “So-Kee”. The city was established along the route of the Unicoi Turnpike, a 1,000-year-old Native American trail. In the early 18th century, deerskins and furs were transported along the route from Tennessee to Savannah and Charleston for shipping to Europe.
Clarkesville was founded in 1821 as the seat of Habersham County. The community was named after John Clark, who was then the state's governor.
Geography
Clarkesville is located in central Habersham County on the south side of the Soquee River, a southwest-flowing tributary of the Chattahoochee River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.20%, are water.
|source 2 = National Weather Service
Demographics
thumb|Aerial photograph of Clarkesville in 1953
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Clarkesville had a population of 1,911. The median age was 38.4 years. 21.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 79.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 77.5 males age 18 and over.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Clarkesville Racial Composition
!Race
!Num.
!Perc.
|-
|White
|1,544
|80.8%
|-
|Black or African American
|103
|5.39%
|-
|Native American
|2
|0.1%
|-
|Asian
|31
|1.62%
|-
|Pacific Islander
|1
|0.05%
|-
|Other/Mixed
|100
|5.23%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino
|130
|6.8%
|}
96.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.3% lived in rural areas.
There were 792 households in Clarkesville, including 402 family households. Of all households, 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 38.1% were married-couple households, 14.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 42.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 36.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. In 2016 she replaced previous mayor, Terry Greene.
Education
The Habersham County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of eight elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools. The district has 367 full-time teachers and over 5,955 students. North Georgia Technical College is located in Clarkesville.
Notable people
- Linda Anderson, according to NPR considered "one of the foremost living memory painters".
- Red Barron, football and baseball player
- Harold Ketron, college football player
- McKenzie Coan, 2016 Paralympic gold medalist
- Oliver Clyde Fuller, banker, financier, and golfer
- April Masini, advice columnist, relationship expert and entertainment industry executive
- Benjamin Purcell, U.S. Army officer and state legislator