Carroll County, Georgia

Carroll County
County
Carroll County Courthouse
Seal Logo
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 33°35′N 85°05′W / 33.58°N 85.08°W / 33.58; -85.08
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Founded	June 9, 1826; 198 years ago (1826)
Named for	Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Seat	Carrollton
Largest city	Carrollton
Area
• Total	504 sq mi (1,310 km2)
• Land	499 sq mi (1,290 km2)
• Water	4.8 sq mi (12 km2)  0.9%
Population  (2020)
• Total	119,148[1]
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	3rd
Website	carrollcountyga.gov

Carroll County is a county in the West Central region of the State of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 119,148.^[2][1] Its county seat is the city of Carrollton.^[3] Carroll County is included in the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area and is also adjacent to Alabama on its western border.

The lands of Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta, and Carroll counties were ceded by the Creek people in the Treaty of Indian Springs (1825). This was a huge amount of land in Georgia and Alabama, the last remaining portion of the Creeks' territory, and it was ceded by William McIntosh, the chief of the Lower Creek and a member of the National Council. This cession violated the Law, the Code of 1818 that protected communal tribal land. The Creek National Council ordered the execution of McIntosh and other signatories to the treaty for what it considered treason.

McIntosh was killed at his plantation home, at what has been preserved as the McIntosh Reserve. Menawa and a force of 100-150 Law Defenders from Upper Town lands ceded in this treaty carried out the executions of two other men, including Samuel Hawkins, one of McIntosh's sons-in-law. Benjamin Hawkins Jr., another son-in-law, was also named for execution but he escaped, and soon moved to East Texas with his wife and family. Both of the Hawkins brothers were sons of Benjamin Hawkins, the longstanding US Indian Supervisor of the Creek.

The boundaries of Carroll County were created by the Georgia General Assembly on June 9, 1826, but the county was not named until December 14, 1826. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton, at that time the last surviving signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, as was Carrollton, the county seat.^[4]

When the county was first organized, the legislature designated the county seat as Old Carrollton, Georgia, but in 1830 it was moved to Carrollton.^[5]

This county originally extended from the Chattahoochee River to the Alabama state line on the east and on the west, with its northern boundary at the Cherokee Nation, just north of present-day Interstate 20. As population increased, this land was divided into Carroll, Douglas, and Heard counties, and parts of Haralson and Troup counties. The portion that became Douglas County was once Campbell County which no longer exists (it was divided between Douglas and Fulton counties).

Because the county had few slaves compared to counties developed for cotton plantations, it was called the Free State of Carroll during the 1850s. Even before the cession of territory by the Cherokee in the late 1830s, some white settlers lived in the northern part of the county in the area of Villa Rica.

Carroll County was the site of Georgia's first Gold Rush.

For a time Carroll County was the home of Horace King (architect). King helped build Moore's Bridge over the Chattahoochee River at Whitesburg. Moores Bridge was burned by Union soldiers during the Civil War. During the American Civil War, the county provided the Bowdon Volunteers and the Carroll Boys, which were a part of Cobb's Legion.

On August 21, 1995, Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 crashed in a field near Carrollton, Georgia. Nine of the 29 passengers and crew were killed in the crash.

In February 2008 several tornadoes hit Carroll County, destroying several homes and damaging many more. On May 11, 2008 (Mother's Day) some of the same areas were hit by more tornadoes. The Mother's Day tornadoes destroyed and damaged many homes and businesses.

On September 21, 2009, portions of Carroll County were flooded after eight days of heavy rainfall, resulting in multiple deaths. The flooding initially closed more than 60 highways and roads, and it destroyed a number of bridges. Early estimates of the damage totaled $22 million.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 504 square miles (1,310 km²), of which 499 square miles (1,290 km²) is land and 4.8 square miles (12 km²) (0.9%) is water.^[6]

The western two-thirds of Carroll County, in a line from Roopville northeast to Villa Rica, is located in the Upper Tallapoosa River sub-basin of the ACT River Basin (Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin), while the eastern third, east of that same line, is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Lake Harding sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin).^[7]

• City of Carrollton (county seat)
• City of Villa Rica*
• Fairfield (unincorporated)
• City of Temple
• City of Bowdon
• City of Mount Zion
• Town of Whitesburg
• Town of Roopville

*The eastern half of Villa Rica is in Douglas County

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1830	3,419		—
1840	5,252		53.6%
1850	9,357		78.2%
1860	11,991		28.2%
1870	11,782		−1.7%
1880	16,901		43.4%
1890	22,301		32.0%
1900	26,576		19.2%
1910	30,855		16.1%
1920	34,752		12.6%
1930	34,272		−1.4%
1940	34,156		−0.3%
1950	34,112		−0.1%
1960	36,451		6.9%
1970	45,404		24.6%
1980	56,346		24.1%
1990	71,422		26.8%
2000	87,268		22.2%
2010	110,527		26.7%
2020	119,148		7.8%
2023 (est.)	127,098	[8]	6.7%
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[18]

Carroll County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000[19]	Pop 2010[17]	Pop 2020[18]	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	69,258	80,531	80,725	79.36%	72.86%	67.75%
Black or African American alone (NH)	14,177	19,862	21,781	16.25%	17.97%	18.28%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	206	296	271	0.24%	0.27%	0.23%
Asian alone (NH)	532	836	1,104	0.61%	0.76%	0.93%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	16	19	21	0.02%	0.02%	0.02%
Other race alone (NH)	111	249	505	0.13%	0.23%	0.42%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	725	1,934	5,155	0.83%	1.75%	4.33%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	2,243	6,800	9,586	2.57%	6.15%	8.05%
Total	87,268	110,527	119,148	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 119,148 people, 42,798 households, and 30,346 families residing in the county.

The Southern Railway ran several daily passenger trains, including the Kansas City-Florida Special, the Sunnyland and an Atlanta-Birmingham section of the Piedmont Limited, making full stops in Bremen. These trains made flag or signal stops in Villa Rica as well.^[20] The last trains made stops in 1967.^[21]

There are three school districts in the county:^[22]

• Carroll County School District
• Carrollton City School District
• Bremen City School District

• Georgia Storm FC - National Premier Soccer League - Carrollton - Formed in 2020 and competes in the Southeast Region of the NPSL. Home games are played at University of West Georgia soccer field.^[23]

Carroll County has voted Republican consistently since 1984. Unlike most counties in the Atlanta metropolitan area, Carroll County as a whole has trended right for more than a decade.The county voted for Donald Trump by 39 percentage points in 2020 and later voted for Governor Kemp by almost 48 percentage points in the 2022 midterms.

United States presidential election results for Carroll County, Georgia^[24]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	42,536	70.01%	17,634	29.02%	586	0.96%
2020	37,476	68.76%	16,236	29.79%	790	1.45%
2016	30,029	67.54%	12,464	28.03%	1,966	4.42%
2012	28,280	67.86%	12,688	30.45%	704	1.69%
2008	28,661	65.76%	14,334	32.89%	588	1.35%
2004	24,837	70.27%	10,224	28.92%	286	0.81%
2000	16,326	63.42%	8,752	34.00%	663	2.58%
1996	11,157	51.25%	8,438	38.76%	2,174	9.99%
1992	10,750	47.60%	8,404	37.21%	3,432	15.20%
1988	10,754	69.20%	4,706	30.28%	81	0.52%
1984	11,436	67.17%	5,590	32.83%	0	0.00%
1980	5,815	40.17%	8,202	56.66%	458	3.16%
1976	3,640	26.59%	10,050	73.41%	0	0.00%
1972	8,296	79.36%	2,158	20.64%	0	0.00%
1968	3,135	26.19%	2,326	19.43%	6,509	54.38%
1964	4,984	50.96%	4,794	49.02%	2	0.02%
1960	1,729	26.90%	4,698	73.10%	0	0.00%
1956	1,712	26.07%	4,855	73.93%	0	0.00%
1952	1,194	18.65%	5,207	81.35%	0	0.00%
1948	526	14.33%	2,671	72.76%	474	12.91%
1944	704	17.45%	3,331	82.55%	0	0.00%
1940	616	13.90%	3,808	85.92%	8	0.18%
1936	653	14.93%	3,717	84.98%	4	0.09%
1932	284	8.01%	3,232	91.14%	30	0.85%
1928	2,112	52.47%	1,913	47.53%	0	0.00%
1924	526	20.72%	1,784	70.29%	228	8.98%
1920	1,227	42.92%	1,632	57.08%	0	0.00%
1916	118	5.48%	1,621	75.33%	413	19.19%
1912	81	4.75%	1,192	69.95%	431	25.29%
1908	505	28.26%	917	51.32%	365	20.43%
1904	400	18.24%	1,187	54.13%	606	27.63%
1900	697	35.43%	1,270	64.57%	0	0.00%
1896	733	31.88%	1,490	64.81%	76	3.31%
1892	543	16.31%	2,137	64.19%	649	19.50%
1888	349	16.51%	1,710	80.89%	55	2.60%
1884	499	19.52%	2,058	80.48%	0	0.00%
1880	329	20.97%	1,240	79.03%	0	0.00%

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Carroll County, Georgia
• 1987 Carroll County Cryptosporidiosis outbreak
• List of counties in Georgia

• Bonner, James C. (1971). Georgia's last frontier : the development of Carroll County. Athens: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820335254. Retrieved February 20, 2018.

33°35′N 85°05′W / 33.58°N 85.08°W / 33.58; -85.08