Greene County, Georgia

Greene County is a county located in the east central portion & the Lake country region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,915.^[2] The county seat is Greensboro.^[3] The county was created on February 3, 1786, and is named for Nathanael Greene, an American Revolutionary War major general.

Greene County
County
Greene County courthouse in Greensboro
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°35′N 83°10′W
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Founded	1786; 239 years ago (1786)
Named after	Nathanael Greene
Seat	Greensboro
Largest city	Greensboro
Area
• Total	406 sq mi (1,050 km2)
• Land	387 sq mi (1,000 km2)
• Water	19 sq mi (50 km2)  4.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	18,915[1]
• Density	49/sq mi (19/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	10th
Website	www.greenecountyga.gov

Unidentified building near White Plains, Georgia, ca. 1941

History

Greene County was formed on February 3, 1786, from land given by Washington County.^[4] It was named in honor of General Nathanael Greene, a hero of the American Revolutionary War.^[5]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 406 square miles (1,050 km²), of which 387 square miles (1,000 km²) is land and 19 square miles (49 km²) (4.6%) is water.^[6]

The majority of Greene County, west of a line between Woodville, Union Point, and White Plains, is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin. The northern half of the remainder of the county is located in the Little River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin, while the southern half is located in the Upper Ogeechee River sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin.^[7]

Major highways

• I-20 (Interstate 20)
• US 278
• SR 12
• SR 15
• SR 44
• SR 77
• SR 402 (unsigned designation for I-20)

Adjacent counties

• Oglethorpe County (north)
• Taliaferro County (east)
• Hancock County (southeast)
• Putnam County (southwest)
• Morgan County (west)
• Oconee County (northwest)

National protected area

• Oconee National Forest (part)

Communities

Cities

• Greensboro
• Union Point
• White Plains
• Woodville

Towns

• Siloam

Unincorporated communities

• Bairdstown

Other

• Scull Shoals, an extinct town on the Oconee River.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	5,405		—
1800	10,761		99.1%
1810	11,679		8.5%
1820	13,589		16.4%
1830	12,549		−7.7%
1840	11,690		−6.8%
1850	13,068		11.8%
1860	12,652		−3.2%
1870	12,454		−1.6%
1880	17,547		40.9%
1890	17,051		−2.8%
1900	16,542		−3.0%
1910	18,512		11.9%
1920	18,972		2.5%
1930	12,616		−33.5%
1940	13,709		8.7%
1950	12,843		−6.3%
1960	11,193		−12.8%
1970	10,212		−8.8%
1980	11,391		11.5%
1990	11,793		3.5%
2000	14,406		22.2%
2010	15,994		11.0%
2020	18,915		18.3%
2023 (est.)	20,722	[8]	9.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[9] 1790-1880[10] 1890-1910[11] 1920-1930[12] 1930-1940[13] 1940-1950[14] 1960-1980[15] 1980-2000[16] 2010[17] 2020[1]

Greene County racial composition as of 2020^[18]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (non-Hispanic)	11,126	58.82%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	5,783	30.57%
Native American	28	0.15%
Asian	174	0.92%
Pacific Islander	2	0.01%
Other/Mixed	513	2.71%
Hispanic or Latino	1,289	6.81%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 18,915 people, 7,132 households, and 4,975 families residing in the county.

Education

The county supports the Greene County School Board, Lake Oconee Academy and Nathanael Greene Academy.

Role in passage of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act

In 2001, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Benham convened a committee to investigate indigent defense in the state of Georgia. An avalanche of complaints about the state of public defense in Greene County, along with a number of lawsuits filed by Stephen Bright and the Southern Center for Human Rights, contributed to the formation of this commission. The commission discovered during its investigation that indigent defendants in Greene County were routinely pleaded guilty by judges without the presence of counsel and sometimes without even being present in court to make their pleas, violations of the Sixth Amendment. Excessive bail, e.g. $50,000 for loitering, was often set as well, a violation of the Eighth Amendment. After two years of investigation, the committee's recommendations led to the passage of the Georgia Indigent Defense Act.^[19][20]

Politics

Prior to 2000, the only time Greene County failed to back a Democratic Party candidate in a presidential election was in 1972, when Richard Nixon won every county in Georgia and all but 130 counties nationwide. From 2000 onward, it has been consistently Republican due to the growth of white residents moving to Reynolds Lake Oconee.

United States presidential election results for Greene County, Georgia^[21]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	8,215	64.25%	4,514	35.30%	57	0.45%
2020	7,066	62.83%	4,087	36.34%	94	0.84%
2016	5,490	61.55%	3,199	35.87%	230	2.58%
2012	5,071	60.90%	3,201	38.44%	55	0.66%
2008	4,532	57.21%	3,339	42.15%	50	0.63%
2004	4,069	59.17%	2,774	40.34%	34	0.49%
2000	2,980	57.34%	2,137	41.12%	80	1.54%
1996	1,702	42.39%	2,115	52.68%	198	4.93%
1992	1,307	32.21%	2,259	55.67%	492	12.12%
1988	1,432	43.93%	1,818	55.77%	10	0.31%
1984	1,599	44.53%	1,992	55.47%	0	0.00%
1980	961	26.90%	2,571	71.96%	41	1.15%
1976	652	20.46%	2,534	79.54%	0	0.00%
1972	1,679	64.63%	919	35.37%	0	0.00%
1968	652	18.58%	1,635	46.58%	1,223	34.84%
1964	1,093	28.83%	2,698	71.17%	0	0.00%
1960	328	14.22%	1,979	85.78%	0	0.00%
1956	541	21.19%	2,012	78.81%	0	0.00%
1952	397	14.60%	2,323	85.40%	0	0.00%
1948	92	5.79%	1,213	76.29%	285	17.92%
1944	144	10.33%	1,246	89.38%	4	0.29%
1940	148	8.93%	1,497	90.29%	13	0.78%
1936	86	5.96%	1,348	93.35%	10	0.69%
1932	52	5.35%	918	94.44%	2	0.21%
1928	245	28.10%	627	71.90%	0	0.00%
1924	77	9.86%	558	71.45%	146	18.69%
1920	178	20.72%	681	79.28%	0	0.00%
1916	153	17.35%	676	76.64%	53	6.01%
1912	150	21.90%	525	76.64%	10	1.46%

See also

• State of Georgia portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Greene County, Georgia
• List of counties in Georgia