Habersham County is a county in the Northeast region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,031. The county seat is Clarkesville. The county was created on December 15, 1818, and named for Colonel Joseph Habersham of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. Habersham County comprises the Cornelia, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.8%) is water. The county is located within the Blue Ridge Mountains, a segment of the Appalachian Mountains. The county also includes part of the Chattahoochee National Forest.
The highest point in the county is a knob less than southeast of the top of Tray Mountain, the seventh-highest mountain in Georgia. Habersham shares this portion of Tray Mountain, just 30 vertical feet shy of the peak's 4,430-foot summit, with White County to the west and Towns County to the north. 2.4 miles to the northeast of Tray Mountain is Young Lick (elevation ). The Appalachian Trail runs along the top of the high ridge between Young Lick and Tray, a part of the Blue Ridge Mountain crest.
Habersham is mostly located in the Upper Chattahoochee River sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin), with the northeastern corner of the county located in the Tugaloo River sub-basin in the larger Savannah River basin, and the southeastern portion located in the Broad River sub-basin of the same Savannah River basin.
The Chattahoochee River rises in what used to be Habersham County, as portrayed in Sidney Lanier's poem "Song of the Chattahoochee":
:Out of the hills of Habersham,
:Down the valleys of Hall,
:I hurry amain to reach the plain,
:Run the rapid and leap the fall,
:Split at the rock and together again.
The county, originally comprising much of Northeast Georgia, was cut up dramatically in the latter half of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century; as population increased in the area, new counties were organized from it and borders were changed. In 1857, its most western part was added to Lumpkin County, which had been created in 1832. That same year, the area east of Lumpkin and west of present-day Habersham became White County. In 1859, Banks County was carved from Habersham's southernmost territory. Finally, in 1905, Stephens County was formed from parts of Habersham and Banks.
Major highways
- 20px U.S. Route 23
- 25px U.S. Route 123
- 25px U.S. Route 441
- 25px<br />25px U.S. Route 441 Business (west of Toccoa)
- 20px State Route 15
- 20px State Route 15 Connector
- 20px State Route 15 Loop
- 20px State Route 17
- 20px State Route 17 Alternate
- 25px State Route 105
- 25px State Route 115
- 25px State Route 197
- 20px State Route 197 Connector
- 25px State Route 255
- 20px State Route 255 Alternate
- 25px State Route 356
- 25px State Route 365
- 20px State Route 384
- 20px State Route 385
Adjacent counties
- Rabun County - north
- Oconee County, South Carolina - east
- Stephens County - east
- Banks County - south
- Hall County - southwest
- White County - west
- Towns County - northwest
Education
thumb|upright|Photograph of a classroom full of students observing a poster on a chalkboard wall, Clarkesville, Habersham County, Georgia, 1950
All of Habersham County is served by the Habersham County School District.
The Tallulah Falls School is located in Tallulah Falls. Piedmont University and North Georgia Technical College are also located in Habersham county.