Pickens County, Georgia

Pickens County, Georgia
Pickens County Courthouse, Jasper
Location in the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location in the U.S.
Founded	December 5, 1853
Named for	Andrew Pickens
Seat	Jasper
Largest city	Jasper
Area
• Total	233 sq mi (603 km2)
• Land	232 sq mi (601 km2)
• Water	0.7 sq mi (2 km2), 0.3%
Population
• (2010)	29,431
• Density	127/sq mi (49/km²)
Congressional districts	9th, 14th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	pickenscountyga.gov

Pickens County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,431. The county seat is Jasper.

Pickens County is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Georgia General Assembly passed an act on December 5, 1853 to create Pickens County from portions of Cherokee and Gilmer counties. Pickens received several more land additions from Cherokee (1869) and Gilmer Counties (1858 and 1863); however several sections of Pickens County have also been transferred to other counties: Dawson County (1857), Gordon County (1860), and Cherokee County (1870).

Pickens County is named for American Revolutionary War General Andrew Pickens.

Most of Pickens County's early industry revolved around the marble industry. Georgia Marble Company is located in Marble Hill near Tate. The Tate Elementary school is built out of marble. The marble was also used to make the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. Most of the marble is white, but there is also very rare pink marble. It is one of the few places in the world where pink marble is found. The marble is also used for tombstones for the United States Military.

Pickens County has seen very rapid growth with the building of Georgia State Route 515, locally referred to as the '4 lane'. Many new businesses and residents continue to move to Pickens County.