Fulton County is in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,066,710, making it the state's most populous county. Its county seat and most populous city is Atlanta, the state capital. About 90% of the city of Atlanta is within Fulton County; the remaining portion is in DeKalb County. Fulton County is the principal county of the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area.

History

thumb|[[Midtown Atlanta and the Downtown Connector]]

Fulton County was created in 1853 from the western half of DeKalb County. It was named in honor of Robert Fulton, the man who created the first commercially successful steamboat in 1807.

After the American Civil War, there was considerable violence against freedmen in the county. During the post-Reconstruction period, violence and the number of lynchings of blacks increased in the late 19th century, as whites exercised terrorism to re-establish and maintain white supremacy. Whites lynched 35 African Americans here from 1877 to 1950; according to the Georgia Lynching Project, 24 were killed in 1906. This was the highest total in the state. With a total of 589, Georgia was second to Mississippi in its total number of lynchings in this period.

In addition to individual lynchings, during the 1906 Atlanta race massacre, whites killed at least 25 African Americans; the number may have been considerably higher. Two white persons died during the riot; one a woman who died of a heart attack. The violence affected black residential and business development in the city afterward. The Georgia legislature effectively completed disenfranchisement of African Americans in 1908, with constitutional amendments that raised barriers to voter registration and voting, excluding them from the political system.

At the beginning of 1932, as an austerity measure to save money during the Great Depression, Fulton County annexed Milton County to the north and Campbell County to the southwest, to centralize administration. That resulted in the current long shape of the county along of the Chattahoochee River. On May 9 of that year, neighboring Cobb County ceded the city of Roswell and lands lying east of Willeo Creek to Fulton County so that it would be more contiguous with the lands ceded from Milton County.

In the second half of the 20th century, Atlanta and Fulton County became the location of numerous national and international headquarters for leading companies, attracting highly skilled employees from around the country. This led to the city and county becoming more cosmopolitan and diverse.

In 1992, Fulton County elected the first African-American woman, Jacquelyn Harrison Barrett, to the position of Sheriff in the history of the United States.

In 2023, rapper Playboi Carti was arrested in Fulton County. That same year, Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants were indicted by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis. , the prosecution is being continued by Pete Skandalakis. Fulton County was a centerpoint in Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election in Georgia; in January 2026, the FBI conducted a raid on the county's election office.

Geography

thumb|Garrett Lake, [[Mountain Park, Fulton County, Georgia|Mountain Park]]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.4%) is water. The county is located in the Piedmont region of the state in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the north. The shape of the county resembles a sword with its handle at the northeastern part, and the tip at the southwestern portion.

Going from north to south, the northernmost portion of Fulton County, encompassing Milton and northern Alpharetta, is located in the Etowah River sub-basin of the ACT River Basin (Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin). The rest of north and central Fulton, to downtown Atlanta, is located in the Upper Chattahoochee River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The bulk of south Fulton County, from Atlanta to Palmetto, is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Lake Harding sub-basin of the larger ACF River Basin, with just the eastern edges of south Fulton, from Palmetto northeast through Union Hill to Hapeville, in the Upper Flint River sub-basin of the same larger ACF River Basin.

Adjacent counties

  • Cherokee County – northwest
  • Forsyth County – northeast
  • Gwinnett County – east
  • DeKalb County – east
  • Clayton County – south
  • Fayette County – south
  • Coweta County – southwest
  • Carroll County – west
  • Douglas County – west
  • Cobb County – west

National protected areas

  • Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (part)
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

Communities

221x221px|A map of all the cities within Fulton County, Georgia|alt=A map of all the cities within Fulton County, Georgia|thumb

There are 15 cities within Fulton County. Four cities include land outside of the county (Atlanta, College Park, Palmetto, and Mountain Park) but still have their center of government and the majority of their land within Fulton County. After the formation of South Fulton in 2017, the only unincorporated part of the county is Fulton Industrial Boulevard, from roughly Fulton Brown Airport (Brown's Field) down to Fairburn Rd. (concurrent with GA-158 and GA-166) This led to Fulton County becoming the first county in Georgia to suspend all city services.

Cities

  • Alpharetta
  • Atlanta
  • Chattahoochee Hills
  • College Park
  • East Point
  • Fairburn
  • Hapeville
  • Johns Creek
  • Milton
  • Mountain Park
  • Palmetto
  • Roswell
  • Sandy Springs
  • South Fulton
  • Union City

Former unincorporated communities

  • Campbellton (now within South Fulton)
  • Ocee (now within Johns Creek)
  • Red Oak (now within South Fulton)
  • Sandtown (now within South Fulton)
  • Serenbe (village within Chattahoochee Hills)
  • Shake Rag (within Johns Creek)

Demographics