Formed October 18, 1870 (132nd county)
McDuffie County (21,625), Thomson (6,809)
The red brick Federalist design of the 1872 courthouse is rather non-descript. The building is on Main Street between McDuffie and Church streets. Georgia State Highway 17 is Main Street. James B. Knox is the building architect. The current courthouse used the 1872 courthouse enlarged and renovated it in 1930. It was remodeled again in 1970. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. A Government Center was built in 2011. The county was founded on October 18, 1870 from Columbia and Warren counties as the 132nd county with Thomson as the only county seat. Senator George McDuffie is the namesake for the county. Railroad Surveyor Edgar Thomson is the source for the county seat’s name. The county center is 5.9 miles Northeast of Thomson.
McDuffie County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Twenty-four Superior Court Judges serve McDuffie, Banks, Barrow, Burke, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Hart, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Richmond, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren, and Wilkes counties and Five County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve McDuffie County (judicial.) The county is in the eastern part of the state just west of Augusta, Georgia. The county is surrounded clockwise by Lincoln, Columbia, Richmond, Jefferson, Warren, and Wilkes counties.
The area of the county is 260 square miles. It is 116 out of 159 counties in the state. It ranks 84 out of 159 in population in the state. It has a density of 83.2 persons per square mile making it 66 out of 159 in the state. McDuffie County has 33.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 20 crosses the county east to west from Columbia County to Warren County. United States Highway 78 enters the county from Wilkes County to the north and heads east into Columbia County. United States Highway 221 cut the extreme southeast corner from Columbia County to Jefferson County. United States Highway 278 parallels Interstate Highway 20 from Columbia County to Warren County. The county shape is overall rectangular with the southwest corner removed and the county tilted northwest. The county seat is located south and west of center in the county. Thomson is the county seat and the largest city. It is 31.5% of the county population. The county is pronounced MUK-DUF-FEE. The county seat is pronounced TOM-SON. This county is in the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Dearing
Thomson
