Taliaferro County ( ) is a county located in East central Piedmont region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,559, down from the 2010 census when the population was 1,717, making it the least populous county in Georgia and the second least populous county east of the Mississippi River (after Issaquena County, Mississippi). The county seat is Crawfordville.
History
Taliaferro County was formed by an act of the Georgia Legislature meeting in Milledgeville on December 24, 1825.[https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlgl_7052628#text] It was formed by taking portions of five other counties: Wilkes, Greene, Hancock, Oglethorpe, and Warren Counties.
The county was named for Colonel Benjamin Taliaferro of Virginia, who was an officer in the American Revolution.
The county is most famous for containing the birthplace and home of Alexander H. Stephens, who served as a U.S. congressman from Georgia in the antebellum South, as vice president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and as governor of Georgia after the war (dying in office). A. H. Stephens State Park in Crawfordville is named after him.
During the segregation era, due to judge-ordered desegregation of public schools, all white children moved to white-only private schools, leading to the county being segregated up until 1976.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water. It is drained by tributaries of the Ogeechee and Little rivers.
The northern half of Taliaferro County, north of Crawfordville, is located in the Little River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. The southern half of the county is located in the Upper Ogeechee River sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin.
Major highways
Adjacent counties
- Wilkes County - Northeast
- Oglethorpe County - northwest
- Warren County - southeast
- Hancock County - south
- Greene County - west
Communities
Cities
- Crawfordville (county seat)
- Sharon