Oconee

Formed February 24, 1875 (135^th county)

Oconee County (41,799), Watkinsville (2,896)

The red brick Stripped Classical courthouse of Oconee County was built in 1939 and added to in 1998.  It is on Main Street at 3^rd Street.  United States Highway 441 is Main Street through the town.  William J. J. Chase is the building architect.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  Oconee County was created on February 24, 1875 from Clarke County as the 135^th county.  Watkinsville has always been the county seat.  The county is named for the river which gets its name from the Native American word for “spring of the hills.”  Watkinsville is named for Augusta lawyer, Colonel Robert Watkins.  The county center is 3.6 miles Southwest of Watkinsville nearer Bishop. 

Oconee 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 Oconee, Banks, Barrow, Burke, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Hart, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Newton, Oglethorpe, Richmond, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren, and Wilkes counties and Three County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Oconee County (judicial.) Oconee County is in eastern Georgia directly southwest of Athens, Georgia.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Clarke, Oglethorpe, Greene, Morgan, Walton, and Barrow counties.  The Apalachee River forms its western border and the Oconee River forms its eastern border. 

The area of the county is 186 square miles.  It is 145 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 50 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 224.7 persons per square mile making it 32 out of 159 in the state.  Oconee County has 11.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 29 enters the county from Clarke County, north, and exits west into Barrow County.  United States Highways 129/441 cross the county north to south from Clarke County to Morgan County.  The county is shaped like a speed bump facing northeast.  Watkinsville is located in the eastern third of the county.  Watkinsville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 6.9% of the county population.  The county is pronounced OE-COE-NEE.  This county is in the Athens-Clarke County Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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