Berrien County, Georgia
Berrien County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,160. The county seat is Nashville. The county was created February 25, 1856, out of portions of Coffee, Irwin and Lowndes counties by an act of the Georgia General Assembly. It is named after Georgia senator John M. Berrien.
History
Establishment
The citizens of the area of Lowndes County and Irwin County that would become Berrien County had to travel long distances to get the county courthouse at Franklinville, Georgia and later Troupville, Georgia for those in Lowndes County, and Irwinville, Georgia for those in Irwin County. By at least June 1853, citizens had petitioned to form a new county. The 1853 attempt of a new county failed. By 1856, a renewed attempt at the creation of a new county was successful.World War I
Berrien County lost a disproportionate number of men in World War I in part because companies at that time were organized by militia districts at home. Eight weeks before the Armistice, 25 Berrien County men were among the 200 recently enlisted soldiers who perished at sea off the coast of Scotland. Many of the bodies were returned to the soldiers' hometowns for burial, and the names of the dead were engraved on a memorial located on the courthouse grounds in Nashville. The memorial was the first in a series of pressed copper sculptures by artist E. M. Viquesney entitled The Spirit of the American Doughboy.Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.The western portion of Berrien County, from just north of U.S. Route 82 and roughly west of U.S. Route 129 heading south, is located in the Withlacoochee River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. The eastern portion of the county is located in the Alapaha River sub-basin of the larger Suwannee River basin.
Major highways
- U.S. Route 82
- U.S. Route 129
- State Route 11
- State Route 37
- State Route 64
- State Route 76
- State Route 125
- State Route 135
- State Route 158
- State Route 168
- State Route 520
Adjacent counties
- Irwin County - north
- Coffee County - northeast
- Atkinson County - east
- Lanier County - southeast
- Lowndes County - south
- Cook County - west
- Tift County - northwest
Communities
Cities
Towns
Unincorporated communities
- Allenville
- Bannockburn
- Cottle
- Gladys
- Glory
- New Lois
- Utopia
- Weber
Extinct communities
- Avera Mill
- Baker's Sawmill
- Brewer's Mill
- Flat Creek Mills
- Rowetown
- White Station
Demographics
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
| White | 14,396 | 79.27% |
| Black or African American | 1,934 | 10.65% |
| Native American | 22 | 0.12% |
| Asian | 80 | 0.44% |
| Pacific Islander | 10 | 0.06% |
| Other/Mixed | 673 | 3.71% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,045 | 5.75% |
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 18,160 and 5,055 families. Of the residents, 24.6% were under the age of 18 and 17.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 39.9 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.0 males. 26.7% of residents lived in urban areas and 73.3% lived in rural areas.The racial makeup of the county was 80.6% White, 10.8% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.6% from some other race, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 5.8% of the population.
There were 7,118 households in the county, of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 26.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 7,991 housing units, of which 10.9% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 68.5% were owner-occupied and 31.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.7%.