Wilkes County, named for British politician and supporter of American independence, John Wilkes, is considered Georgia’s first county established by European Americans. It was the first of eight original counties created in the first state constitution on February 5, 1777. The other seven counties were organized from existing colonial parishes.
Wilkes was unique in being made up of land ceded in 1773 by the indigenous Creek and Cherokee Native American nations in their respective Treaties of Augusta. It is located in the Piedmont above the fall line on the Savannah River.
Between 1790 and 1854, Wilkes County’s area was reduced as it was divided to organize new counties following the growth of population in the area. The Georgia legislature formed the counties of Elbert, Oglethorpe and Lincoln entirely from portions of Wilkes County. Wilkes also contributed part of the lands used in the creation of Madison, Warren, Taliaferro, Hart, McDuffie and Greene Counties.
Wilkes County was the site of one of the most important battles of the American Revolutionary War to be fought in Georgia. During the Battle of Kettle Creek in 1779, the American Patriot forces were victorious over British Loyalists.
In the peaceful years following the Revolutionary War, Washington and Wilkes County began to prosper, and population grew rapidly as planters were attracted by the soil. The cotton era began. Wagons and flatboats, loaded with the money-making fiber traveled post roads and rivers to reach their market. With wealth came fine white-columned homes of the antebellum period, replacing early log cabins and austere plain-style homes.
None of the battles of the American Civil War were fought in or near Wilkes County. However, in Wilkes County, President Jefferson Davis met for the final time with the Confederate Cabinet and they officially dissolved the government of the Confederate States of America. Wilkes County was the last-known location of the gold rumored to have been lost from the Confederate Treasury. The present-day Wilkes County Courthouse was built in Washington at the site of the cabinet meeting.
Notable Wilkes County Residents
- Edward Porter Alexander
- Eliza Frances Andrews
- Benjamin F. Bryant
- John Clark, Georgia governor
- Elijah Clarke
- Peter Early
- Frank Edwards, blues musician
- Stephen Heard
- George Mathews
- Jesse Mercer
- John Archibald Campbell
- Paul Jones Semmes
- Alexander H. Stephens
- Matthew Talbot
- Benjamin Taliaferro
- Robert Toombs
- George W. Towns
