Burke

Formed February 5, 1777 (1^st county)

Burke County (24,594), Waynesboro (5,799)

The red brick building with a working clock tower was built in 1897 and added to in 1890 and 1940.  It is located on 6^th Street between Liberty and Myrick streets.  United States Highway 25 is Liberty Street in the city.  D. B. Plump provided the designs for this Vernacular with Italianate style structure.  The courthouse was renovated in 1982.  A Judicial Center was added in 2019.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The county was established as the original one on February 5, 1777.  There have been 1773, 1777, and 1856 versions of the courthouse all in Waynesboro.  The county is named from Englishman Edmund Burke.  Waynesboro was named for General Anthony Wayne, Revolutionary War hero.  Burke County was the birthplace of 2 Georgia Governors, John Houstoun and Herschel V. Johnson.  The county center is 3.2 miles South-Southeast of Waynesboro. 

Burke County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-four Superior Court Judges serve Burke, Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Columbia, Elbert, Franklin, Glascock, Hart, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, McDuffie, Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Richmond, Taliaferro, Walton, Warren, and Wilkes counties and a State Judge and Four County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Burke County (judicial.) Burke County is located in eastern Georgia on the border with South Carolina.  Augusta, Georgia is immediately north of the county and Savannah, Georgia is southeast.  The Savannah River is its eastern border.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Richmond County and South Carolina and Screven, Jenkins, Emanuel, and Jefferson counties. 

The area of the county is 831 square miles.  The county is 2 of 159 in the state.  It ranks 78 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 29.6 persons per square mile making it 125 out of 159 in the state.  Burke County has 31.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 25 goes north to south through the county from Richmond County to Jenkins County.  The county’s shape is like a dog’s head.  Waynesboro is located near the county’s center.  Waynesboro is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 23.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Keysville