Barrow County, Georgia

Barrow County Education, Geography, and History

Barrow County is a county located in the state of Georgia. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 69,367. Barrow County was created on July 7, 1914 from Jackson County, Walton County and Gwinnett County.  The county seat is Winder. The county is named in honor of "Uncle Dave" David Crenshaw Barrow Jr., the chancellor of the University of Georgia (1906 - 1929).

Barrow County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Barrow County Name

The new county was named for David Crenshaw "Uncle Dave" Barrow, long-time chancellor of the University of Georgia.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Barrow County History

Barrow was created in 1914 as a way of settling a dispute among the citizens of the City of Winder, which at the time was located at the juncture of three counties. A new county was created from parts of Gwinnett, Jackson, and Walton counties, with Winder designated as the county seat. The new county was named for David Crenshaw "Uncle Dave" Barrow, long-time chancellor of the University of Georgia.

Winder was incorporated in 1893 when the Seaboard Air Line Railroad was built through the town. It was named after the president of the railroad, John H. Winder of North Carolina. Before being incorporated as Winder, the town was called Brandon. Prior to that, it had been known as Jug Tavern.

The city of Russell in the county was one of 187 inactive municipalities to lose their charters in 1995 as a result of a 1993 Act of the General Assembly.

Points of Interest

Fort Yargo State Park is located in the county. The park includes the old Fort Yargo, a log fort constructed in 1792 for protection from the Creek and Cherokee Indians.

Notable Citizens

Richard B. Russell, Jr., who served as governor of Georgia and as US Senator from 1933 to 1971, was from Barrow County. His father, Richard Russell, Sr., was Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court from 1922-1938 and swore in his son as governor.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 163 square miles (420 km²), of which 160 square miles (410 km²) is land and 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²) (1.6%) is water.

Barrow county is located in north Georgia. The entire  Barrow County is located in the Upper Oconee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Northeast: Jackson County
• East: Clarke County
• Southeast: Oconee County
• South: Walton County
• West: Gwinnett County
• Northwest: Hall County

Education

Public schools are part of the Barrow County School District and include Winder-Barrow High School. The district consists of eight elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools. The district has 610 full-time teachers and over 9,362 students.

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