Webster County, Georgia

Webster County
Webster County
County
	County courthouse in Preston
	Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
	Georgia's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 32°03′N 84°33′W / 32.05°N 84.55°W
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Founded	December 16, 1853; 170 years ago
Named for	Daniel Webster
Seat	Preston
Largest community	Preston
Area
• Total	210 sq mi (500 km2)
• Land	209 sq mi (540 km2)
• Water	1.1 sq mi (3 km2) 0.5%
Population (2020)
• Total	2,348
• Density	11/sq mi (4/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	2nd
Website	www.webstercountyga.org

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,^[1] making it the third-least populous county in Georgia. The county seat is Preston.^[2]

History

Webster County was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 16, 1853, as Kinchafoonee County.^[3] A subsequent legislative act on February 21, 1856, changed the name to Webster.^[3] The land for the county came from eastern portions of Stewart County.^[4]

The county is named for Daniel Webster, U.S. representative of New Hampshire and U.S. representative and U.S. senator of Massachusetts.^[5] Webster County's original name of Kinchafoonee came from the Kinchafoonee Creek which runs through the county.^[3]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 210 square miles (540 km²), of which 209 square miles (540 km²) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²) (0.5%) is water.^[6]

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 (Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint 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.^[7]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Marion County – north
Sumter County – east
Terrell County – south
Randolph County – southwest
Stewart County – west

Communities

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

Archery
Preston (County Seat)
Weston

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	5,030		—
1870	4,677		−7.0%
1880	5,237		12.0%
1890	5,695		8.7%
1900	6,618		16.2%
1910	6,151		−7.1%
1920	5,342		−13.2%
1930	5,032		−5.8%
1940	4,726		−6.1%
1950	4,081		−13.6%
1960	3,247		−20.4%
1970	2,362		−27.3%
1980	2,341		−0.9%
1990	2,263		−3.3%
2000	2,390		5.6%
2010	2,799		17.1%
2020	2,348		−16.1%
2023 (est.)	2,337	^[8]	−0.5%
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]

Webster County racial composition as of the 2020 census^[18]
Race	Num.	Perc.
White	1,136	48.38%
Black or African American	1,063	45.27%
Asian	12	0.51%
Pacific Islander	6	0.26%
Other/Mixed	72	3.07%
Hispanic or Latino	59	2.51%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,348 people, 1,140 households, and 724 families residing in the county.

Education

Webster County School District operates public schools.

Politics

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.

United States presidential election results for Webster County, Georgia^[19]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	748	53.77%	640	46.01%	3	0.22%
2016	630	56.45%	473	42.38%	13	1.16%
2012	601	50.59%	582	48.99%	5	0.42%
2008	588	52.93%	515	46.35%	8	0.72%
2004	485	48.12%	515	51.09%	8	0.79%
2000	359	39.49%	541	59.52%	9	0.99%
1996	235	28.55%	529	64.28%	59	7.17%
1992	208	22.83%	600	65.86%	103	11.31%
1988	361	45.70%	427	54.05%	2	0.25%
1984	402	42.95%	534	57.05%	0	0.00%
1980	312	33.19%	608	64.68%	20	2.13%
1976	165	20.97%	622	79.03%	0	0.00%
1972	483	81.73%	108	18.27%	0	0.00%
1968	72	10.10%	147	20.62%	494	69.28%
1964	457	76.04%	144	23.96%	0	0.00%
1960	77	20.59%	297	79.41%	0	0.00%
1956	51	14.74%	295	85.26%	0	0.00%
1952	138	29.18%	335	70.82%	0	0.00%
1948	79	25.16%	118	37.58%	117	37.26%
1944	65	18.62%	284	81.38%	0	0.00%
1940	50	15.15%	280	84.85%	0	0.00%
1936	40	11.40%	310	88.32%	1	0.28%
1932	5	2.08%	235	97.92%	0	0.00%
1928	61	25.96%	174	74.04%	0	0.00%
1924	10	6.25%	140	87.50%	10	6.25%
1920	24	11.48%	185	88.52%	0	0.00%
1916	15	5.30%	248	87.63%	20	7.07%
1912	2	1.41%	139	97.89%	1	0.70%