Formed December 22, 1857 (123rd county)
White County (28,000), Cleveland (3,511)
The Modern style courthouse in Cleveland was built in 1964. It replaced an 1860 courthouse. The current building is on Main Street at Henderson Street. United States Highway 129 is Main Street in the city. Jacobs and Matthews are the building architects. The facility features columns. White County was established on December 22, 1857 from Habersham County as the 123rd county with Cleveland as the only county seat. The county is named for Georgia Legislator David Thomas White. Revolutionary War officer Benjamin Cleveland provided his name for the county seat. The county center is 8 miles Northeast of Cleveland nearer Helen.
White County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Twenty-eight Superior Court Judges serve White, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and Union counties and Five County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve White County (judicial.) The county is in northeast Georgia. Atlanta, Georgia is southwest and Athens, Georgia is southeast of the county. The county is surrounded clockwise by Towns, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, and Union counties.
The area of the county is 242 square miles. It is 124 out of 159 counties in the state. It ranks 65 out of 159 in population in the state. It has a density of 115.7 persons per square mile making it 53 out of 159 in the state. White County has 14.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 129 enters the county from the northwest, Lumpkin County, and travels south into Hall County. The county’s shape looks like a tall scoop of ice cream. Cleveland is in the southwestern quarter of the county. Cleveland is the county seat and the largest city. It is 12.5% of the county population.
Cleveland
Helen
