Formed December 17, 1793 (15th county)
Hancock County (8,733), Sparta (1,353)
The beautiful red brick and stone courthouse was built in 1881 and is on the city square surrounded by Court, Broad, and Jones streets. Georgia State Highway 16 is Broad Street in Sparta. Parkins and Bruce are the architects for this Second Empire style building. The courthouse was restored in the 1970’s but burned down in 2014. It has been rebuilt to its current appearance. The facility features a tower with a working clock, a front porch, and spindles. Veteran memorials are in front. The county was established on December 17, 1793 from parts of Greene and Washington counties as the 15th county. Sparta has always been the county seat. The county honors John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence. The county seat is named for the ancient Greek city. The county center is 4.4 miles West-Northwest of Sparta.
Hancock County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Fifteen Superior Court Judges serve Hancock, Bleckley, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Candler, Crisp, Dodge, Dooly, Emanuel, Greene, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Laurens, Montgomery, Morgan, Pulaski, Putnam, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Twiggs, Washington, Wheeler, Wilcox, and Wilkinson counties and Five County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Hancock County (judicial.) The county is in eastern Georgia southeast of Atlanta, Georgia and west of Augusta, Georgia. The Oconee River forms its western border. The county is surrounded clockwise by Taliaferro, Warren, Glascock, Washington, Baldwin, Putnam, and Greene counties.
The area of the county is 473 square miles. It is 32 out of 159 counties in the state. It ranks 135 out of 159 in population in the state. It has a density of 18.5 persons per square mile making it 147 out of 159 in the state. Hancock County has 15.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county. The county is shaped like the cartoon character Sponge Bob. Sparta is located slightly east of the county’s center. Sparta is the county seat and the only incorporated city thus it is the largest. It is 15.5% of the county population. This county is in the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Sparta
