Jackson

Formed February 11, 1796 (22^nd county)

Jackson County (75,904), Jefferson (13,240), Braselton (13,414)

A Modern style red brick Justice Center was built in 2004.  The 1880 masonry courthouse is on Washington Street between North and South avenues.  United States Highway 129 is three blocks to the south of the site.  Cooper Carry Architecture provided the designs for the Justice Center while W. W. Thomas designed the courthouse in Early Classical Revival and Italianate.  The courthouse features a tower with a working clock.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The county center is 3.7 miles Northeast of Jefferson.  Jackson County was formed on February 11, 1796 from Franklin County as the 22^nd county with Clarkesboro as the county seat until 1800 when Jefferson took the county seat.  There was an 1879 courthouse also in Jefferson.  The county is named for Governor James Jackson.  The county seat is named for President Thomas Jefferson.  He is also the namesake of Jefferson County and of the county seat of Twiggs County.  Jackson County was the birthplace of 1 Georgia Governor, Lamartine G. Hardman. 

Jackson County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 6 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-four Superior Court Judges serve Jackson, Banks, Barrow, Burke, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Hart, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Richmond, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren, and Wilkes counties and a State Judge and Four County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Jackson County (judicial.) The county is located in northeast Georgia directly northwest of Athens, Georgia.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Banks, Madison, Clarke, Oconee, Barrow, Gwinnett, and Hall counties.  The Oconee River flows through the western part of the county. 

The area of the county is 342 square miles.  It is 82 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 33 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 221.9 persons per square mile making it 33 out of 159 in the state.  Jackson County has 44.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 crosses the county from northeast to southwest, Banks County to Barrow County.  United States Highway 129 comes in from Hall County, northwest, and goes into Clarke County, southeast.  United States Highway 441 enters from Banks County in the north and goes into Clarke County in the south.  The county is shaped like a lazy letter J sitting on its toe.  Jefferson is in the western half of the county.  Braselton is on the western border.  Jefferson is the county seat and Braselton is the largest city.  Jefferson is 17.4% of the county population and Braselton is 17.7% of the county population.