Pickens

Formed December 5, 1853 (100^th county)

Pickens County (33,215), Jasper (4,092)

A white marble and stone Stripped Classical structure is the 1949 courthouse.  There have been 1859 and 1888 earlier versions.  It was renovated and enlarged in 2013.  A Government Center was added in 1967.  It is on Main Street between Court and Depot streets.  Georgia State Highway 53 is two blocks south.  Richard Nash and Eugene Bothwell provided the designs.  The courthouse features columns and veteran memorials.  Pickens County was established on December 5, 1853 from Cherokee and Gilmer counties as the 100^th county.  Jasper has been the only county seat.  Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens inspired the name for the county.  Revolutionary War hero William Jasper provided the name for the county seat.  He is also the source name for Jasper County.  The county center is 3.2 miles Southwest of Jasper. 

Pickens County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-eight Superior Court Judges serve Pickens, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, and White counties and Seven County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Pickens County (judicial.) The county is in north Georgia to the north of Atlanta, Georgia and southeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Gilmer, Dawson, Cherokee, Bartow, and Gordon counties. 

The area of the county is 232 square miles.  It is 128 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 56 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 143.2 persons per square mile making it 45 out of 159 in the state.  Pickens County has 14.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is shaped like a toy wooden truck.  Jasper is located near the center of the county.  Jasper is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 12.3% of the county population.  This county is in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area.