Crawford County GA History

Crawford County was created from Houston County in 1822. It was named for United States Secretary of War and Treasury William Harris Crawford. Before 1822, the area was inhabited by the Muskogee people, called Creeks by the Europeans.

*****************************************************************************

In 1775 naturalist William Bartram, traveling across Georgia, found a previously unknown plant in Crawford County. He named the plant Hydrangea Quercifolia — now commonly called Oakleaf Hydrangia. Bartram described the area near Sweetwater Creek as a "delightful diversified rural scene," noting that it "promises a happy, fruitful and salubrious region." See The Botanical Explorations of William Bartram in the Southeast by David H. Rembert Jr., Department of Biology, University of South Carolina -- article and picture courtesy of Bartram Trail Conference

**************************************************************************

Benjamin Hawkins was appointed in 1796 as U. S. Indian Agent South of the Ohio River. He developed the Creek Agency on the eastern banks of the Flint River at the Lower Creek Trail, which would later become the Federal Road. Hawkins moved into his house at the agency in 1801 and died there in 1816. Diagram of the agency headquarters

***************************************************************************

The oldest church in the county, Society Hill, was organized in 1815. The first church organized after the formation of the county was Mt. Paron (Paran). The Echoconnee Association was started at Mt. Carmel Church.

***************************************************************************

Knoxville was designated the county seat in 1823. It was named for Col. Henry Knox, Revolutionary War hero, and Secretary of War from 1785 to 1794.

***************************************************************************

Joanna Troutman lived in Knoxville when she made a flag for Georgia troops leaving to join in the fight for Texas independence. That flag was first flown at Velasco Jan. 8, 1836, was hoisted along with the Bloody Arm flag at Goliad on news of the declaration of independence March 8, 1836, and was one of the inspirations for the Texas Lone Star Flag.

***************************************************************************

Pottery was a thriving business in Crawford County during the 1800s and early 1900s . Names like Long, Becham, Merritt, and Dickson were known throughout the area for their utilitarian jugs and crocks. Clay from Crawford County and the Rich Hill alkaline glaze used by the early "jug makers" is still prized today.

***************************************************************************

Travelers through present day Roberta might never guess that at one time it was a thriving tourist town with several motels, restaurants and gas stations. US Hwy 341 was the main north-south thoroughfare through the state, and US 80 took travelers to Texas and beyond.

Grandview Motor Court, Roberta, GA

Bankston Cottages, Roberta, GA

City Motor Court, Roberta, GA

Crawford County Courthouse, Knoxville, GA
Image Courtesy University of Georgia

Xerox copy, Crawford County Courthouse, Circa 1900

***********************************************************************

Courthouse History

Two weeks after the legislature established the county it authorized the initial inferior court to select a county seat and provide for construction of a courthouse (Ga. Laws 1822, p. 23). The home of Imlay Vansciver was to serve as a location for courts and elections until the courthouse could be built. The legislature designated Knoxville as county seat a year later. Inferior Court minutes of May 1830, refer to records “destroyed by fire when the courthouse was burned.” One historian has dated the fire to February of that year. Whether a courthouse had been built or the Vansciver home burned is unclear. Since marriage records survived, they may have been stored elsewhere.

In August, 1830, the county treasurer was ordered to pay Henry Crew $200, but there is not indication of why. The county grand jury meeting in September objected to the payment, “which was paid without any order of court.” Henry Crew was builder of the 1830-1831 courthouse. Had he built an earlier courthouse or did the objection refer to construction already begun on a second? The grand jury presented “as public grievance the letting and building of the Court House in the county aforesaid as it does not appear of record . . . of public notice given. We therefore protest against an order prepared in favor of Henry Crew for the building of said Court House.”

Superior Court minutes of Sept. 2, 1830 record the grand jury’s presentment finding the tax collector’s records correct except for the payment of $200 to Henry Crew “which was paid without any order of court. We . . . find a balance of $137.33¾ . . .(We) recommend the Inferior Court of this county appoint a committee to examine the actings and doings of all former treasurers. . . We present as public grievance the letting and building of the Court House in the county aforesaid as it does not appear of record . . . of public notice given. We therefore protest against an order prepared in favor of Henry Crew for the building of said Court House.”

In January 1831, the treasurer was ordered to pay Crew $300. In April, E. W. Dennis was to be paid $301 “provided the courthouse is finished by the first day of July next; that is to say finish the floor above and below, run two stair cases and banisters to same, make three partitions above with panel doors and furnish locks for same, make a circular table, make seats, in the jury rooms, make two jury boxes and rough cast the underpinning, all to be done in a workmanlike manner. This order payable when the above mentioned work is received by the Inferior Court .”

Over the years, repairs and remodeling have included changes in the exterior finish and construction of a small addition in the late 1960s. For many years Crawford was the only county in Georgia in which an unincorporated community served as county seat. The courthouse was used until August, 2002, one of the oldest still in use in the country.

In the minutes of the inferior court dated May 30, 1830, the clerk was ordered to copy in "substance" instances of the court prior to February 1830, and that it be established record in lieu of the lost originals. All of the records were lost when the courthouse was destroyed by fire in February of 1830.

Since no records were found of the minutes of meetings of the inferior court from May, 1830 to April 27, 1831, the details of planning the courthouse or the manner of letting the contract is unknown.

April 27, 1831 - it was ordered that the county treasurer pay E.W. Dennis $301.00 out of any monies in hand not otherwise appropriated, provided the courthouse is finished by the first day of the next July (finish the floor above and below, run two stair cases and banisters of the same make through partitions above with panel doors, furnish locks for same, a circular table, seats in the jury room, two jury boxes, and roughcast the underpinning). This order payable when the above mentioned work is received by the inferior court. On the same date, a Henry Crews received $999.00 from the inferior court in full payment for the courthouse so far as it is finished.

July 18, 1831 - when the court met in Chambers, it ordered that the county treasurer pay Henry Crews $50.00 for extra work done on the courthouse. The money to be paid out of monies not otherwise appropriated. It was also ordered that the courthouse be received so far as the same is completed and that William McGee, tax collector, be authorized to pay Henry Crews $301.00 in full payment for completion of said courthouse agreeable to an order paid heretofore.

January 25, 1832 - the inferior court ordered that Joseph Bemille of Macon to be paid by the county treasurer the sum of $270.00 for plastering the lower rooms of the courthouse.

**************************************************************************

From the Macon Telegraph

Posted on Sun, June 6, 2004

Old Crawford courthouse slated for restoration

Crawford County Historical Society looking to raise $500,000 to turn building into museum

By Sharon E. Crawford

Telegraph Staff Writer

KNOXVILLE - Workers have spent the last few years chiseling off layers of sheetrock and paneling inside the old Crawford County Courthouse.

Since the courthouse was built in 1851, its walls of brick and wood have been covered and spackled and painted to hide their former beauty. The eight fireplaces have been bricked up, and the several chimneys removed.

Now, members of the Crawford County Historical Society want to raise $500,000 to restore the building and turn it into a museum that will showcase the county's history.

"In those days, brick was considered trashy," said Kathleen Cook, a member of the Crawford County Historical Society and chairwoman of the restoration project. "No one wanted to have a brick building ... so they covered it up."

So far, the group has raised more than $20,000 in grants and donations to get the project under way. Some of the money has been spent to have the building inspected, Cook said.

"We just have to take it a piece at a time," Cook said.

Although local historians thought it was built in 1832, Cook said recent research shows the courthouse was built almost 20 years later. The two-story structure - which has no indoor stairway - housed the county's offices for more than 150 years. People attending court had to walk up the stairs in front of the building.

"There is a lot of history in this building, and we want to preserve that," Cook said. "We want future generations to know where they came from."

Crawford County Sheriff Kerry Dunaway said his deputies had to lead inmates to court up the same stairs victims and their families had to walk. During routine court appearances, inmates would sit in the jurors' deliberating room.

"When they built the courthouse, they didn't have all these court hearings," Dunaway said. "The sheriff would make a bond and people would come to court once or twice a year. They built the courthouse so it would be a day's ride from anywhere in the county. ... If the jurors were late deliberating, they would sleep in the loft of the courthouse."

Over the years, the county outgrew the old building and made plans to build a new $2.6 million facility. In 2001, all county offices were moved to the new building down the street.

Since then, the old courthouse has been vacant - except for an old steel safe, shelves of Georgia law books dating back to the late 1800s and old county ledgers. It didn't take historical society members too long to realize they wanted to preserve the building and the items inside it.

"We're going to restore it to a museum and showcase what is unique about Crawford County," Cook said.

The group also wants to recreate an old 1800's school room and court setting inside the museum.

Mandy Elliott, revolving fund coordinator with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, said Crawford County's efforts to restore the old courthouse is a positive venture. She said it will probably take funding from both public and private funding to see the museum open.

"We're trying to develop a statewide program to restore our old city halls and courthouses around the state," Elliott said. "In the meantime, it's a project that has to be done on the local level."

Cook said the group hopes to open the new museum in 2009.

*************************************************************************************

Historical Sites in Crawford County

Crawford County in Retrospect

Georgia Masonic Lodge

Laws & Ordinances of Roberta, Georgia for 1904

Original Settlers of the County

Greatest Tragedy in Crawford County History