Screven

Formed December 14, 1793 (14^th county)

Screven County (14,066), Sylvania (2,637)                

A Modern style structure was built in 1964 to replace a classier 1897 courthouse.  The facility is on Mims Road between Clifford Avenue and Millen Road.  Georgia State Highway 21 is Mims Road.  Sewell & Associates are the architects for the tan brick and concrete structure with a metal roof.  The county center is in Sylvania .6 miles East of the city center.  The county was created on December 14, 1793 from parts of Burke and Effingham counties as the 14^th county.  Rocky Ford (1793), Jacksonboro (1797), and Sylvania (1847) have all served as county seat.  Screven County is named for General James Screven.  The county seat’s name is Latin for “place in the woods.” 

Screven County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 7 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-one Superior Court Judges serve Screven, Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Coffee, Effingham, Evans, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Tattnall, Ware, and Wayne counties and a State Judge and Five County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Screven County (judicial.) Screven County is in the eastern part of the state on the border with South Carolina.  August is northwest and Savannah is southeast of the county.  The county is surrounded clockwise by South Carolina and Effingham, Bulloch, Jenkins, and Burke counties. 

The area of the county is 648 square miles.  It is 9 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 110 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 21.7 persons per square mile making it 138 out of 159 in the state.  Screven County has 25.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 301 crosses the county from South Carolina, east, to Bulloch County, southwest.  The Savannah River forms its eastern border with South Carolina.  The county is shaped like a chef’s hat.  Sylvania is located slightly west of center in the county.  Sylvania is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 18.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SCREE-VEN.  The county seat is pronounced SIL-VAEN-YA.