Thomas

Formed December 24, 1825 (65^th county)

Thomas County (45,806), Thomasville (18,878)

The Greek Revival and Classical Victorian gray brick courthouse is located on a square on Broad, Washington, Madison and Jefferson streets.  It was built in 1858 and remodeled in 1888, 1909, and 2013.  It was enlarged in 1919, 1922, and 1937.  John Wind is the original architect.  United States Highway 84 Business is Madison Street in this part of the town.  A Judicial Center was added in 2009 across the street.  The courthouse features a dome with a working clock.  A fountain is on the grounds which are surrounded by an iron fence.  Decatur and Irwin counties provided the land for Thomas County on December 24, 1825 as the 65^th county.  Thomasville has always been the county seat.  Later Colquitt, Brooks, and Grady counties were carved from Thomas County.  War of 1812 officer Jett Thomas provided the inspiration for both the county and county seat names.  Thomas County was the birthplace of 1 Georgia Governor, Thomas W. Hardwick.  The county center is 8.5 miles East of Thomasville nearer Boston. 

Thomas County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 8 Commissioners (legislative.)  Sixteen Superior Court Judges serve Thomas, Atkinson, Baker, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay, Clinch, Colquitt, Cook, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Grady, Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Miller, Mitchell, Quitman, Randolph, Seminole, Terrell, Tift, Turner, and Worth counties and a State Judge and Five County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Thomas County (judicial.) The county is in southern Georgia on the border with Florida.  Valdosta, Georgia is east and Tallahassee, Florida is southwest of the county.  The Ochlockonee River crosses the county.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Colquitt and Brooks counties and Florida and Grady and Mitchell counties. 

The area of the county is 548 square miles.  It is 16 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 45 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 83.6 persons per square mile making it 65 out of 159 in the state.  Thomas County has 49.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 19 enters the county from Mitchell County to the northwest and exits into Florida to the south.  United States Highway 84 crosses east to west from Brooks County to Grady County.  United States Highway 319 comes from the northeast, Colquitt County, and goes to the south into Florida.  The county is overall rectangular with an extension out of the northwest corner.  Thomasville is located in the western third of the county.  Thomasville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 41.2% of the county population.  This county is in the Thomasville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

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