Taliaferro County, Georgia


Taliaferro County is a county located in East central Piedmont region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 [United States census|2020 census], the population was 1,559, down from the 2010 census when the population was 1,717, making it the [List of counties in Georgia|least populous county in Georgia] and the second least populous county east of the Mississippi River. The county seat is Crawfordville.

History

Taliaferro County was formed by an act of the Georgia Legislature meeting in Milledgeville on December 24, 1825. It was formed by taking portions of five other counties: Wilkes, Greene, Hancock, Oglethorpe, and Warren Counties.
The county was named for Colonel Benjamin Taliaferro of Virginia, who was an officer in the American Revolution.
The county is most famous for containing the birthplace and home of Alexander H. Stephens, who served as a U.S. congressman from Georgia in the antebellum South, as vice president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, and as governor of Georgia after the war. A. H. Stephens State Park in Crawfordville is named after him.
During the segregation era, due to judge-ordered desegregation of public schools, all white children moved to white-only private schools, leading to the county being segregated up until 1976.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is drained by tributaries of the Ogeechee and Little rivers.
The northern half of Taliaferro County, north of Crawfordville, is located in the Little River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. The southern half of the county is located in the Upper Ogeechee River sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin.

Adjacent counties

Communities

Cities

Demographics

Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 78762559137.89%36.40%37.91%
Black or African American alone 1,2511,02483360.23%59.64%53.43%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 1240.05%0.12%0.26%
Asian alone 1860.05%0.47%0.38%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone 0000.00%0.00%0.00%
Race and ethnicity in [the United States census|Other race] alone 6020.29%0.00%0.13%
Mixed race or Multiracial 1223540.58%1.34%3.46%
Hispanic or Latino 1935690.91%2.04%4.43%
Total2,0771,7171,559100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,559. The median age was 51.0 years. 17.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 28.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.2 males age 18 and over. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
The racial makeup of the county was 38.9% White, 53.4% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.8% from some other race, and 5.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.4% of the population.
There were 699 households in the county, of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 34.5% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 908 housing units, of which 23.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 72.5% were owner-occupied and 27.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.8%.

Economy

Taliaferro county's main employer is the government, primarily the Taliaferro County Sheriffs Department, which patrols I-20 and issues many traffic tickets per capita compared to other counties in the state. For instance, Fulton County, the largest county by population in Georgia, gains $16.98 per capita in traffic ticket revenue. By comparison, Taliaferro county gains $1,614.33 per capita, which is around a hundred times more.

In popular culture

Several Hollywood films have been shot in Taliaferro County. Paris Trout, starring Dennis Hopper and based on the novel by the same name by Pete Dexter, was primarily filmed in the county. Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon, was filmed in the county seat of Crawfordville.

Politics

As of the 2020s, Taliaferro County is a strongly Democratic Party voting county, voting 57% for Kamala Harris in 2024. Taliaferro County is one of the most reliably Democratic counties in Georgia, despite being mostly rural in nature, due to being majority African American. It has supported the Democratic candidate in every presidential election by wide margins except in 1972, when Richard Nixon won by a landslide. In 2024 [United States presidential election in Georgia|2024], Trump became the first Republican since Nixon to get at least 40% of the vote.
For elections to the United States House of Representatives, Taliaferro County is part of Georgia's 10th congressional district, currently represented by Mike Collins. For elections to the Georgia State Senate, Taliaferro County is part of District 23. For elections to the Georgia House of Representatives, Taliaferro County is part of Georgia's 124th [House of Representatives district|District 124].

Notable people