Stewart County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,314.[1] The county seat is Lumpkin.[2] The county was created on December 23, 1830.
The first Europeans to encounter the Native Americans were Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century. At that time the historical Creek tribe inhabited the southern two thirds of what is now defined as Georgia, west of the Low Country. they are believed to be the descendants of the Mississippian culture.
They maintained their territory until after European American settlers arrived in increasing number in the early decades of the 19th century. The ensuing conflicts ultimately resulted in most of the Creek people's being driven out of the region. In the 1830s under Indian removal, the US federal government forced most Creek to relocate west of the Mississippi River, to Indian Territory in what became present-day Oklahoma.
Settlers developed the area as large cottonplantations, part of the "Black Belt" of Georgia and the Deep South. Before the American Civil War, planters depended on enslaved labor of thousands of African Americans to cultivate and process the cotton for market. Mostly born in the United States, the slaves were transported from the Upper South, with many families broken up when some members were purchased through sales in the domestic slave trade.
In 1850, the county reached its peak in wealth as one of the largest cotton producers in the state. It had the tenth-largest population of any county in the state,[6] with 16,027 people.[7] African-American slaves numbered 7,373, or 46% of the population.[8]
By 1860, the county population was 13,422. The apparent drop was due to the counties of Kinchafoonee (later Webster County) and Quitman being created from Stewart County territory in 1853 and 1858, respectively.[7] There were 5,534 slaves in the redefined Stewart County, constituting more than one-third of the population.[9]
After the war and emancipation, cotton continued as the major commodity crop and additional territory was developed by planters for cultivation. Many freedmen became sharecroppers and tenant farmers in the area, which was agricultural for decades, but in decline. Stewart County lost its premier position when it was bypassed by developing railroads, which went to the north and south. It did not have railroad access until 1885.[5]
Inappropriate farming practices and over-cultivation of cotton from before the Civil War led to extensive land erosion by the early 20th century. Together with mechanization of agriculture and damage due to infestation by the boll weevil, there were losses in this part of the economy. Population declined. Up to the mid century, many blacks left the area in two waves of the Great Migration, seeking escape from Jim Crow conditions, and jobs and better lives in northern and midwestern industrial cities. Farmers shifted to cultivating peanuts and later pine trees to reclaim and restore the land. Population losses continued throughout the 20th century, as the forest and lumber industry did not require as many laborers.[5]
In 1965, some of the towns in the county began to redevelop their historic properties to attract tourists and expand the economy. Lumpkin, Omaha and Louvale all had relatively intact historic properties and commercial districts. Green Grove is an historic African-American community established by freedmen after the Civil War. Stewart was the first rural county in the state to use historic preservation and Main Street redevelopment to support heritage tourism.[5]
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 464 square miles (1,200 km2), of which 459 square miles (1,190 km2) is land and 4.9 square miles (13 km2) (1.1%) is water.[10] The county is mainly located in the upper Gulf coastal plain region of the state, with a few hills due to its close proximity to the fall line.
The vast majority of Stewart County is located in the Middle Chattahoochee River-Walter F. George Lake sub-basin of the ACF River Basin (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin). Just the very eastern edge of the county, bordered by a north-to-south line running through Richland, is located in the Kinchafoonee-Muckalee sub-basin of the same ACF Basin, with the very southeastern corner located in the Ichawaynochaway Creek sub-basin of the larger ACF River Basin.[11]
Stewart 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.
Susan R. Boatright and Douglas C. Bachtel, eds., Georgia County Guide, Athens, GA: Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, University of Georgia, annual.
Helen Elisa Terrill, History of Stewart County, Georgia, ed. Sara Robertson Dixon, Columbus, Ga.: Columbus Office Supply, 1958.
Helen Terrill and Sara Dixon, History of Stewart County, Georgia, vol. 1, Fernandina Beach, Fla.: Wolfe, 1998.
William W. Winn, The Magic and Mystery of Westville, Lumpkin, Ga.: Westville Historic Handicrafts, 1999.
