Union County, Georgia
Union County | |
---|---|
Old Union County Courthouse in Blairsville | |
UTC−4 (EDT) | |
Congressional district | 9th |
Website | www |
Union County is a
History
Union County was originally a core part of the homeland of the native Cherokee tribe. Mountainous and formerly one of the most remote and inaccessible parts of Georgia, the area became the object of desire for white settlers with the discovery of gold in the 1820s. While the gold rush didn't last long, a land lottery system opened up the area for settlement in the 1830s and Union County was formed in 1832, carved from part of Cherokee County.[3] The newcomers formed political groups to force the Cherokee off their land, part of the removal of most of the southeastern native tribes in what is known as the Trail of Tears. The part that was Cherokee Removal occurred between 1836 and 1839. The Cherokee nation and roughly 1,600 of their black slaves were forced west to the Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) in the then Western United States. The resultant deaths along the way and at the end of the movement of an estimated 4,000 Cherokee. The Union Party was a political group that supported removing the Indians and opening the area to white settlers, and is the probable reason for the county's name.[4] The western part of Union County was annexed by Fannin County on January 12, 1854, and in 1856 the southern tip was given to Gilmer County and an eastern section went to Towns County. Many of the early white settlers of the area were Virginians or North Carolianians who came via various frontier roads.[5] As a mountainous region not suited to plantation farming and settled by hardscrabble, independent farmers, Union County had relatively few slaves compared to other areas of Georgia.[3] In the 1850 census, just 61 slave owners were listed, with a total of 278 enslaved people.
The white population of Union County residents were largely pro-Union in the years prior to the Civil War, with sentiments against the plantation-owning aristocratic elites in the lowland sections of the state, as was true of much of Georgia's mountainous north and the Appalachian region in general. When the state seceded and when Lincoln raised a Union army to suppress the rebellion, most Union County residents supported the Confederacy and most of the soldiers from the county fought on the Confederate side either as enlistees or, after the Confederate draft of 1862, as draftees.[4] Joseph E. Brown, the wartime governor of Georgia, was a resident of Union County, having moved there from western South Carolina.[5] Brown was an ardent secessionist and a defender of slavery, but was a controversial southern governor, a north Georgian never fully accepted by the plantation class but still popular with the common white Georgians, whom he championed. Brown vehemently opposed the Confederate draft and was a constant thorn in the side of the central Confederate government which he saw as usurping increasing power from the states.[6] Despite general support for the Confederacy, a smaller number of Union sympathizers remained in Union County, which was one of the few Georgia counties to provide men for a Union Army unit, company A of the 1st Georgia Infantry Battalion, in which 6 men were killed.
After the war, railroad lines were built that linked Union County to other areas, including Gainesville and Culberson, North Carolina, giving farmers expanded distribution. The first paved road in Union County was completed in 1926 and ran from Cleveland to the North Carolina border. Tourism increased when the federal government acquired 31,000 acres of forest in the area, spread across Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, and Union counties, and created the Chattahoochee National Forest in 1937.[5]
Geography
According to the
Adjacent counties
- Cherokee County, North Carolina (north)
- Clay County, North Carolina (northeast)
- Towns County (east)
- White County (southeast)
- Lumpkin County (south)
- Fannin County (west)
National protected area
- Appalachian Trail (part)
- Chattahoochee National Forest(part)
Transportation
Major highways
Other roads
- Blue Ridge Highway (Old US 76/Old SR 2)
- Skeenah Gap Road
- Town Creek School Road
- Mulky Gap Road
- Owltown Road
- Spiva Bridge Way
- Gumlog Road
- Loving Road
- Nottely Dam Road (Old SR 325). Not all of Nottely Dam Road remains a state route.
- Pat Haralson Memorial Drive
- Trackrock Gap Road
Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1840 | 3,152 | — | |
1850 | 7,234 | 129.5% | |
1860 | 4,413 | −39.0% | |
1870 | 5,267 | 19.4% | |
1880 | 6,431 | 22.1% | |
1890 | 7,749 | 20.5% | |
1900 | 8,481 | 9.4% | |
1910 | 6,918 | −18.4% | |
1920 | 6,455 | −6.7% | |
1930 | 6,340 | −1.8% | |
1940 | 7,680 | 21.1% | |
1950 | 7,318 | −4.7% | |
1960 | 6,510 | −11.0% | |
1970 | 6,811 | 4.6% | |
1980 | 9,390 | 37.9% | |
1990 | 11,993 | 27.7% | |
2000 | 17,289 | 44.2% | |
2010 | 21,356 | 23.5% | |
2020 | 24,632 | 15.3% | |
2023 (est.) | 27,124 | [9] | 10.1% |
U.S. Decennial Census[10] 1790-1880[11] 1890-1910[12] 1920-1930[13] 1930-1940[14] 1940-1950[15] 1960-1980[16] 1980-2000[17] 2010[18] |
2020 census
Race | Num. | Perc. |
---|---|---|
White (non-Hispanic)
|
22,646 | 91.94% |
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|
126 | 0.51% |
Native American
|
74 | 0.3% |
Asian
|
100 | 0.41% |
Other/Mixed
|
870 | 3.53% |
Latino
|
816 | 3.31% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 24,632 people, 9,743 households, and 6,957 families residing in the county.
2010 census
As of the
Of the 9,116 households, 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.8% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.0% were non-families, and 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.75. The median age was 50.7 years.[20]
The median income for a household in the county was $41,298 and the median income for a family was $50,772. Males had a median income of $42,330 versus $29,176 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,182. About 9.5% of families and 13.9% of the population were below the
2000 census
As of the
There were 7,159 households, out of which 24.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.90% were married couples living together, 7.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.20% were non-families. 24.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.00% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 23.60% from 25 to 44, 28.20% from 45 to 64, and 21.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $31,893, and the median income for a family was $39,776. Males had a median income of $29,127 versus $20,871 for females. The
Media
The North Georgia News has been published weekly in Blairsville since 1909. Since 2012, it has been the only newspaper serving Union County.[26]
Communities
City
Unincorporated communities
Government and politics
The county's
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 12,650 | 81.29% | 2,800 | 17.99% | 112 | 0.72% |
2016 | 9,852 | 81.67% | 1,963 | 16.27% | 248 | 2.06% |
2012 | 8,773 | 78.97% | 2,139 | 19.25% | 197 | 1.77% |
2008 | 8,013 | 74.96% | 2,486 | 23.26% | 191 | 1.79% |
2004 | 6,847 | 74.06% | 2,327 | 25.17% | 71 | 0.77% |
2000 | 4,567 | 65.66% | 2,230 | 32.06% | 159 | 2.29% |
1996 | 2,685 | 48.70% | 2,175 | 39.45% | 653 | 11.84% |
1992 | 2,533 | 44.78% | 2,304 | 40.74% | 819 | 14.48% |
1988 | 2,396 | 65.39% | 1,258 | 34.33% | 10 | 0.27% |
1984 | 1,914 | 63.25% | 1,112 | 36.75% | 0 | 0.00% |
1980 | 1,546 | 46.69% | 1,700 | 51.34% | 65 | 1.96% |
1976 | 1,154 | 29.22% | 2,795 | 70.78% | 0 | 0.00% |
1972 | 2,317 | 75.74% | 742 | 24.26% | 0 | 0.00% |
1968 | 1,221 | 39.37% | 974 | 31.41% | 906 | 29.22% |
1964 | 1,473 | 40.83% | 2,135 | 59.17% | 0 | 0.00% |
1960 | 1,537 | 56.47% | 1,185 | 43.53% | 0 | 0.00% |
1956 | 1,360 | 49.53% | 1,386 | 50.47% | 0 | 0.00% |
1952 | 1,330 | 49.44% | 1,360 | 50.56% | 0 | 0.00% |
1948 | 1,274 | 45.89% | 1,420 | 51.15% | 82 | 2.95% |
1944 | 760 | 37.11% | 1,288 | 62.89% | 0 | 0.00% |
1940 | 557 | 36.91% | 950 | 62.96% | 2 | 0.13% |
1936 | 783 | 40.55% | 1,148 | 59.45% | 0 | 0.00% |
1932 | 810 | 37.60% | 1,344 | 62.40% | 0 | 0.00% |
1928 | 2,873 | 82.18% | 623 | 17.82% | 0 | 0.00% |
1924 | 719 | 45.88% | 793 | 50.61% | 55 | 3.51% |
1920 | 562 | 54.51% | 469 | 45.49% | 0 | 0.00% |
1916 | 523 | 49.57% | 532 | 50.43% | 0 | 0.00% |
1912 | 88 | 13.39% | 319 | 48.55% | 250 | 38.05% |
See also
References
- ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Union County, Georgia". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ^ a b "History of Union County, Georgia". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ a b "History". Union County Government. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Union County". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ "Joseph E. Brown (1821-1894)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ^ "Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission Interactive Mapping Experience". Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
- ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
- ^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decades". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ "1880 Census Population by Counties 1790-1800" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
- ^ "1910 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
- ^ "1930 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930.
- ^ "1940 Census of Population - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
- ^ "1950 Census of Population - Georgia -" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
- ^ "1980 Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
- ^ "2000 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Georgia" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
- ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 28, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
- ^ "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- ^ a b c "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- ^ "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- ^ "DP02 SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- ^ "DP03 SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
- ^ "Searching for Whitopia ~ By Rich Benjamin". Richbenjamin.com. September 15, 2002. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- The Library of Congress. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
- ^ Blairsville-Union County: Guiding Growth Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Georgia Trend, January 2007.
- ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 22, 2018.