Webster County, Georgia


Webster County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census reflected a population of 2,348, making it the third-least populous county in Georgia. The county seat is Preston.
WWW Official Site

History

Webster County was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 16, 1853, as Kinchafoonee County. A subsequent legislative act on February 21, 1856, changed the name to Webster. The land for the county came from eastern portions of Stewart County.
The county is named for Daniel Webster, U.S. representative of New Hampshire and U.S. representative and U.S. senator of Massachusetts. Webster County's original name of Kinchafoonee came from the Kinchafoonee Creek which runs through the county.
On January 1, 2009, the city of Preston and town of Weston gave up their municipal charters and formed a consolidated city-county known as the Unified Government of Webster County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
The majority of Webster County, bordered to the southwest by State Route 520, is located in the Kinchafoonee-Muckalee sub-basin of the ACF River Basin. The southwestern corner of the county is located in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin. A tiny edge of the southwestern border, just south of State Route 520, is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Walter F. George Lake sub-basin of the same ACF River Basin.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Communities

None of these places are incorporated, instead Webster county acts as a unified county. Preston is the county seat, despite being unincorporated.

Demographics

2020 census

RaceNum.Perc.
White1,13648.38%
Black or African American1,06345.27%
Asian120.51%
Pacific Islander60.26%
Other/Mixed723.07%
Hispanic or Latino592.51%

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 2,348 and 724 families residing in the county. The median age was 45.5 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.0 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 48.8% White, 45.3% Black or African American, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.9% from some other race, and 4.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.5% of the population.
There were 991 households in the county, of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 32.8% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,196 housing units, of which 17.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 74.0% were owner-occupied and 26.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.1%.

Education

Webster County School District operates public schools.

Politics

As of the 2020s, Webster County is a Republican stronghold, voting 59% for Donald Trump in 2024. Webster County was reliably Democratic throughout the 20th century. However, the margins tightened in the 2000 election and in 2004, Democrat John Kerry only won this county very narrowly as George Bush won Georgia's electoral votes easily. Webster County is the only county in Georgia that flipped to John McCain's column in 2008 after voting for Kerry in 2004.
For elections to the United States House of Representatives, Webster County is part of Georgia's 2nd congressional district, currently represented by Sanford Bishop. For elections to the Georgia State Senate, Webster County is part of District 12. For elections to the Georgia House of Representatives, Webster County is part of District 151.