Dooly

Formed May 15, 1821 (48^th county)

Dooly County (11,212), Vienna (2,923), Unadilla (3,120)

The courthouse appearance to the 1892 building was enhanced with 1963 and 1988 remodelings.  It is located on 2^nd Street between Cotton and Union streets.  Georgia State Highway 90 is Union Street.  This dark red brick building was designed by William H. Parkings.  It features a tower and veteran memorials across the street.  Berrien (1826), Drayton (1836) and Vienna (1839) have all been the county seat.  The county was created on May 15, 1821 from the Creek Nation as the 48^th county.  Later Macon, Pulaski, Turner, Wilcox, and Worth counties were created from Dooly County.  Revolutionary War hero Colonel John Dooly provided the inspiration for the county’s name.  The town is named for Vienna, Austria.  Dooly County was the birthplace of 1 Georgia Governor, George D. Busbee, Sr.  The county center is 5.4 miles North of Vienna nearer Lilly. 

Dooly County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Fifteen Superior Court Judges serve Dooly, Bleckley, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Candler, Crisp, Dodge, Emanuel, Greene, Hancock, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Laurens, Montgomery, Morgan, Pulaski, Putnam, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Twiggs, Washington, Wheeler, Wilcox, and Wilkinson counties and Four County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Dooly County (judicial.) The county is in southern Georgia south of Macon, Georgia and northwest of Valdosta, Georgia.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Houston, Pulaski, Wilcox, Crisp, Sumter, and Macon counties.  The Flint River is the western border of the county. 

The area of the county is 393 square miles.  It is 60 of 159 in size in the state.  It ranks 118 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 28.5 persons per square mile making it 127 out of 159 in the state.  Dooly County has 62.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 goes north to south through the county from Houston County to Crisp County.  United States Highway 41 parallels Interstate Highway 75 from Houston County to Crisp County.  The county is rectangular with a bulge on the western border.  Vienna is in the southern quarter of the county.  Unadilla is on the northern border of the county.  Vienna is the county seat and Unadilla is the largest city.  Vienna is 26.1% of the county population and Unadilla is 27.8% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced VIE-EN-A.  OO-NA-DILA is the largest city.