Clarke County, Georgia
| Clarke County, Georgia | |
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Clarke County courthouse in Athens
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 Location in the U.S. state of Georgia |
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 Georgia's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1801 |
| Named for | Elijah Clarke |
| Seat | Athens |
| Largest city | Athens |
| Area | |
| • Total | 121 sq mi (313 km2) |
| • Land | 119 sq mi (308 km2) |
| • Water | 1.8 sq mi (5 km2), 1.5% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 123,912 |
| • Density | 979/sq mi (378/km²) |
| Congressional districts | 9th, 10th |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | www |
Clarke County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 116,714. Its county seat is Athens, with which it is a consolidated city-county.
Clarke County is included in the Athens-Clarke County, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA Combined Statistical Area.
Clarke County was created in 1801 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 5. It was named for Revolutionary War hero Elijah Clarke and included 250 square miles (647.5 km2) that was formerly part of Jackson County. Colonel Clarke played a leading role the 1779 victory at the Battle of Kettle Creek in Wilkes County. The Elijah Clarke Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument to him in Broad Street in Athens.
As the population of the county grew in the early 19th century, its agricultural and cotton industries prospered. The adjacent plantation harvests flowed through city mills. Manufacturing and textile production operations were the major industries in Clarke County, especially after the railroad reached Athens in 1841. Athens and Clarke County were second only to Savannah and Chatham County in the amount of capital invested in manufacturing in the 1840s.
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