Meriwether

Formed December 14, 1827 (73^rd county)

Meriwether County (20,610), Greenville (797), Manchester (3,583)

A Neo-Classical Revival red brick courthouse was built in 1903 for Meriwether County.  It is on Court Square at Woodbury, Talbotton, Depot, and La Grange streets.  United States Highway 27 Alternate is Talbotton Street.  The courthouse designer was J. W. Golucke.  The building was reconstructed in 1980 following a fire.  The facility features columns and a tower with a working clock.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  Meriwether County was formed on December 14, 1827 from Troup County as the 73^rd county with Greenville as the only county seat.  Revolutionary War General David Meriwether inspired the name for the county.  General Nathaniel Greene is the namesake of the county seat.  He also provided his name to Greene County and its county seat.  Meriwether County was the birthplace of 2 Georgia Governors, Joseph M. Terrell and John M. Slaton.  The county center is 4.1 miles Southeast of Greenville. 

Meriwether County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eighteen Superior Court Judges serve Meriwether, Butts, Carroll, Clayton, Coweta, Fayette, Heard, Henry, Lamar, Monroe, Pike, Spalding, Troup, and Upson counties and Three County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Meriwether County (judicial.) The county is located in western Georgia.  Columbus, Georgia is located southwest and Atlanta, Georgia is located northeast of the county.  The Flint River is the eastern border of the county.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Coweta, Spalding, Pike, Upson, Talbot, Harris, and Troup counties. 

The area of the county is 503 square miles.  It is 25 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 86 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 41.0 persons per square mile making it 100 out of 159 in the state.  Meriwether County has 32.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 85 cuts the northwest of the county from Coweta County and Troup County.  United States Highway 27A goes north to south in the county from Coweta County to Harris County.  The county is an overall rectangle with Greenville slightly west of center in the county.  Manchester is located on the southern border of the county and extends into Talbot County.  Greenville is the county seat and Manchester is the largest city.  Greenville is 3.9% of the county population while Manchester is 17.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area.