Formed December 15, 1824 (60th county)
Ware County (36,247), Waycross (13,941)
The 1957 marble and masonry courthouse is on Church and Albany streets. The site is one block northwest of United States Highway 84. It replaced an 1891 classier courthouse. William J. J. Chase provided the Modern and Stripped Classical style designs. A 2017 Administration Center has recently been added. Ware County was established on December 15, 1824 from a part of Appling County as the 60th county. Waresborough was the first county seat until 1873 when Waycross assumed the role. Bacon, Clinch, Coffee, and Pierce counties were later carved from Ware County. The county is named for Senator Nicholas Ware. Waycross is named for the meeting of several railroad lines. The county center is 11 miles Southwest of Waycross nearer Manor.
Ware County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Twenty-one Superior Court Judges serve Ware, Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Coffee, Effingham, Evans, Glynn, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, and Wayne counties and a State Judge and Eight County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Ware County (judicial.) The county is in southeast Georgia southwest of Savannah, Georgia, southeast of Macon, Georgia, and northeast of Valdosta, Georgia. The Suwannee River originates in Ware County. The county is surrounded clockwise by Bacon, Pierce, Brantley, and Charlton counties and Florida and Clinch, Coffee, and Atkinson counties.
The area of the county is 903 square miles. It is 1 out of 159 counties in the state. It ranks 53 out of 159 in population in the state. It has a density of 40.1 persons per square mile making it 104 out of 159 in the state. Ware County has 38.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highways 1/23 cross the county north to southeast from Bacon County to Charlton County. United States Highway 82 goes east to west from Brantley to Atkinson counties. United States Highway 84 enters from the northeast, Pierce County, and exits to the southwest, Clinch County. This old shaped county looks like a cartoon character with its mouth gaped open. Waycross is located in the northeast quarter near the border. Waycross is the county seat and the only incorporated city and thus the largest city. It is 38.4% of the county population. This county is in the Waycross Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Waycross
