Hart

Formed December 7, 1853 (101^st county)

Hart County (25,824), Hartwell (4,462)

The Modern style courthouse was built of tan brick and concrete in 1971.  There was a 1902 courthouse earlier also in Hartwell, the only county seat.  It is on Franklin, Carolina, Howell, and Forest streets.  United States Highway 29 is Franklin in Hartwell.  James W. Hunt is the architect.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The county was organized on December 7, 1853 from parts of Elbert and Franklin counties as the 101^st county.  The county and county seat derived their names from Revolutionary War heroine Nancy Morgan Hart.  The county center is 2.3 miles West-Northwest of Hartwell. 

Hart 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 Hart, Banks, Barrow, Burke, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Richmond, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren, and Wilkes counties and Six County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Hart County (judicial.) The county is in eastern Georgia on the border with South Carolina.  The Savannah River forms its eastern border.  Athens, Georgia is southwest and Augusta, Georgia is southeast of the county.  The county is surrounded clockwise by South Carolina and Elbert, Madison, and Franklin counties. 

The area of the county is 232 square miles.  It is 127 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 73 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 111.3 persons per square mile making it 54 out of 159 in the state.  Hart County has 21.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 29 crosses northeast to southwest through the county from South Carolina to Franklin County.  The county’s shape is overall triangular with a bulge in the northeast.  Hartwell is slightly east of center in the county.  Hartwell is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 17.3% of the county population.

Royston