Lamar

Formed November 2, 1920 (155^th county)

Lamar County (18,500), Barnesville (6,289)

The Neo-Classical Revival columned, red brick, 1931 courthouse sits on Thomaston Street between Taylor and Holmes streets.  United States Highway 41 is two blocks north of the site.  Eugene C. Wachendorff is the building designer.  The structure was renovated and expanded in 1978 and expanded again 1998.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  Lamar County was established on November 2, 1920 from parts of Monroe and Pike counties as the 155^th county with Barnesville as the only county seat.  Senator Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar is the source name for the county.  Settler Gideon Barnes is the namesake for the county seat.  The county center is 2.4 miles Northeast of Barnesville. 

Lamar County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eighteen Superior Court Judges serve Lamar, Butts, Carroll, Clayton, Coweta, Fayette, Heard, Henry, Meriwether, Monroe, Pike, Spalding, Troup, and Upson counties and Four County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Lamar County (judicial.) The county is in west central Georgia to the south of Atlanta, Georgia and northwest of Macon, Georgia.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Butts, Monroe, Upson, Pike, and Spalding counties. 

The area of the county is 185 square miles.  It is 147 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 95 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 100.0 persons per square mile making it 58 out of 159 in the state.  Lamar County has 38.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 clips the northeast corner of the county from Butts County, north, to Monroe County, east.  United States Highway 41 comes in from the northwest, Pike County, and goes out to the east, Monroe County.  United States Highway 341 originates in the county and heads southeast into Monroe County.  The county is shaped like the number 9.  Barnesville is slightly west of center in the county.  Barnesville is county seat and the largest city.  It is 34.0% of the county population.  This county is in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area.