Harris

Formed December 14, 1827 (71^st county)

Harris County (34,669), Hamilton (1,677)

The dome was removed from the 1908 dark red brick courthouse.  It was enlarged in 1998.  It sits on College Street at Dogwood Street.  College Street is United States Highway 27 in the town.  Edward Columbus Hosford is the designer of this Neo-Classical Revival structure.  It features columns and a porch.  Veteran memorials are across the street. 

Harris County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Sixteen Superior Court Judges serve Harris, Bibb, Chattahoochee, Crawford, Houston, Lee, Macon, Marion, Muscogee, Peach, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, and Webster counties and Six County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Harris County (judicial.) The county is located on the border with Alabama in western Georgia.  Columbus, Georgia is directly south of the county.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Troup, Meriwether, Talbot, and Muscogee counties and Alabama.  The county was created on December 14, 1827 from parts of Muscogee and Troup counties as the 71^st county.  Hamilton has always been the county seat.  The county is named for Lawyer Charles Harris.  The county seat is named for South Carolina Governor James Hamilton.  The county center is 2.8 miles Southwest of Hamilton.  The Chattahoochee River forms its western border with Alabama. 

The area of the county is 464 square miles.  It is 34 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 54 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 74.7 persons per square mile making it 73 out of 159 in the state.  Harris County has 13.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 clips the northwest corner of the county from Troup County, north, to Alabama, west.  Interstate Highway 185 comes from the north, Troup County, and goes south, Muscogee County.  United States Highway 27 parallels Interstate Highway 185 from Troup County to Muscogee County.  United States Highway 127 comes in from the northeast, Meriwether County, and goes south into Muscogee County.  The county looks like a small letter r lying face down.  Hamilton is east of center in the county.  Pine Mountain is located on the northern border and extends into Meriwether County.  Hamilton is the county seat and the largest city.  Hamilton is 4.8% of the county population.  This county is in the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area.