Formed December 19, 1793 (19th county)
Oglethorpe County (14,824), Lexington (202), Crawford (821)
A unique red brick and stone courthouse was built in 1887 to serve this county. The county was organized on December 19, 1793 from Wilkes County as the 19th county. Lexington has always served as the county seat. The building sits on a square at Main, Gilmer, Boggs, and Platt streets. Main Street is United States Highway 78. Lorenzo G. Wheeler, William H. Parkins, and Hannibal I. Kimball are the architects for this Romanesque Revival style building. The structure was remodeled in 1993. It has a tower with a working clock and veteran memorials on the grounds. One of the original founders of the state of Georgia, James Oglethorpe, provided the inspiration for the county name. He is also the source for the county seat of Macon County. Oglethorpe County was the birthplace of 1 Georgia Governor, George R. Gilmer. The county seat is named for the Revolutionary War battle site in Massachusetts. The county center is 9.4 miles Northeast of Lexington.
Oglethorpe County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive). It has 6 Commissioners (legislative.) Twenty-four Superior Court Judges serve Oglethorpe, Banks, Barrow, Burke, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Hart, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Newton, Oconee, Richmond, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren, and Wilkes counties and Five County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Oglethorpe County (judicial.) The county is located in eastern Georgia immediately east of Athens, Georgia. The Broad River forms its eastern border. The county is surrounded clockwise by Elbert, Wilkes, Taliaferro, Greene, Oconee, Clarke, and Madison counties.
The area of the county is 441 square miles. It is 44 out of 159 counties in the state. It ranks 107 out of 159 in population in the state. It has a density of 33.6 persons per square mile making it 117 out of 159 in the state. Oglethorpe County has 11.2% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 78 crosses east to west through the county from Wilkes County to Clarke County. The county looks like a lunar landing spaceship sailing northwest. Lexington is located in the western third of the county. Crawford is located in the western third of the county slightly north of center. Lexington is the county seat and Crawford is the largest city. Lexington is 1.4% of the county population while Crawford is 5.5% of the county population. The county is pronounced OE-GUL-THORP. This county is in the Athens-Clarke County Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Arnoldsville
Crawford
Lexington
Maxey
