Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is a core county of Metro Atlanta, being located about northeast of Atlanta city limits. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulton County). Its county seat is Lawrenceville. The county is named for Button Gwinnett, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.
Gwinnett County is the most ethnically diverse county in Georgia, with significant populations of Black, Hispanic, and Asian residents. As of the 2020 Census, no ethnicity constitutes more than a third of its population.
History
In 1813, Fort Daniel was created during the War of 1812 in territory that would become Gwinnett County. The county was created in 1818 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly, Gwinnett County was formed from parts of Jackson County (formerly part of Franklin County) and from lands gained through the cession of Creek Indian lands. Named for Button Gwinnett, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence, the first county election was held at the home of Elisha Winn, and the first Superior Court was held in his barn. The county seat was later placed at Lawrenceville.
In 1831, a group of white men were tried and found guilty in Lawrenceville for violating Georgia law by living in the Cherokee Nation without a valid passport from the Governor. Two of the men appealed to the US Supreme Court in Worcester v. Georgia, which resulted in a ruling stating that only the federal government had jurisdiction over native lands, a decision which still stands.
In 1861, all three of Gwinnett County's representatives at the Georgia Constitutional Convention (1861) in Milledgeville voted against secession. Towards the end of the war, Union troops foraged in Gwinnett County as part of the Atlanta campaign.
Early in the county's history, gold mining was a minor industry. The Gwinnett Manufacturing Company, a cotton textile factory, operated in Lawrenceville in the 1850s through 1865, when it burned. The Bona Allen Company in Buford, Georgia produced saddles, harnesses and other leather goods from 1873 to 1981. The county is located in the upper Piedmont region of the state.
It is located along the Eastern Continental Divide. A portion of the county to the northwest is a part of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area chain.
Allocation of water from the regional reservoir, Lake Lanier, at the extreme north of the county, has been subject to the Tri-state water dispute.
The southern and central portions of Gwinnett County are located in the Upper Ocmulgee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. Most of the county's northern edge, from south of Peachtree Corners to north of Buford, is located in the Upper Chattahoochee River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). The county's eastern edge, north and south of Dacula, is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the same Altamaha River basin.
Adjacent counties
- Forsyth County – north
- Hall County – northeast
- Jackson County – northeast
- Barrow County – east
- Walton County – southeast
- Rockdale County – south
- DeKalb County – southwest
- Fulton County – west
Communities
Cities
- Auburn (partly in Barrow County)
- Berkeley Lake
- Buford (partly in Hall County)
- Dacula
- Duluth
- Grayson
- Lawrenceville (county seat)
- Lilburn
- Loganville (partly in Walton County)
- Mulberry
- Norcross
- Peachtree Corners
- Snellville
- Sugar Hill
- Suwanee
Towns
- Braselton (partly in Jackson County, Hall County, and Barrow County)
- Rest Haven (partly in Hall County)
Census-designated places
- Mountain Park
Unincorporated communities
- Allendale
- Centerville
- Five Forks
- Harbins
- Hog Mountain
- Lucky Shoals
- Mechanicsville
- Mountain Park
- Rockbridge
- Rosebud