County Formed December 28, 1838

County Seat Summerville

Incorporated Cities Lyerly, Menlo, Summerville and Trion

History

• Chattooga County was formed from parts of Floyd and Walker counties. It takes its name from the Chattooga River, one of two Georgia rivers bearing that name.
• The county courthouse in Summerville was built in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Points of Interest

• Much of the Armuchee Ranger District, a 65,000-acre section of the Chattahoochee National Forest, lies within the county. Taylor Ridge and Johns Mountain are two of its most prominent features. Over 6,400 acres of Johns Mountain were proposed as a National Scenic Area.
• Some of the more popular recreational activities in the county include hiking, camping, mountain climbing and rappelling in the Lookout Mountain Range, and canoeing down the Armuchee Creek or the Chattooga River. Genealogist and Civil War enthusiasts seek information from the various cemeteries and historical sites.

Notable Citizens

• Several famous people are from Chattooga County, George Gist, known as Sequoyah, was the leader of the Cherokees and is credited with developing the Cherokee written alphabet. Ralph “Country” Brown was a popular center fielder for the Atlanta Crackers baseball team. Brown was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
  

  Howard Finster's captivating art

  Bobby Lee Cook, an internationally known and respected trial lawyer. grew up in Chattooga County and has built a major international practice as a defense attorney. Finally, the Reverend Howard Finster, the internationally acclaimed Visionary Artists has his artwork on display at the Smithsonian.

Demographics

• According to the 2000 Census, in Chattooga County, 86.7% of the residents were white and 11.2% were black. Hispanics, who can be identified as either white or black in the Census data, made up 2.1% of the county’s population. Statewide, 65.1% of residents were white, 28.7% were black and 5.3% were Hispanic.
• In Chattooga County, 22.9% of the county’s residents were age 18 or younger, while 14.3% were age 65 or older. Statewide, 26.5% were age 18 or younger and 9.6% were age 65 or older.
• The 2000 Census reports 6.5% of Chattooga County’s households were headed by females with children under 18 years of age, compared with 9.0% statewide. Total households with children under 18 comprised 30.8% of all households in the country and 35.0% of those in the state.
• The 1999 index crime rate (crimes per 1,000) for Chattooga County was 0.4. Statewide, in 1999, the rate was 3.4. Of the total index crimes reported, 1.0% were violent crimes, while 99.0% were property crimes.

Community		Population						Growth (%)
		1980		1990		2000		1980-1990	1990-2000
Lyerly		482		493		488		2.3%	-1.0%
Trion		1,732		1,661		1,993		-4.1%	20.0%
Summerville		4,878		5,025		4,556		3.0%	-9.3%
Chattooga County		21,856		22,242		25,470		1.8%	14.5%
Menlo		611		538		485		-11.9%	-9.9%

Government

• Chattooga County collected $8.1 million in total revenues in 1996. In 2000, the county received $9.6 million, an increase of 18.0%. Total revenue in 2000 equaled $376 per capita. The statewide revenue per capita for this same year was $679.
• From 1996 to 2000, own source revenues for Chattooga County rose from $7.3 million to $8.9 million, an increase of 22.6%. Own source revenues include revenues from property taxes, sales taxes, excise and special use taxes, and service charges and fees. Per capita own source revenues amounted to $351 in 2000. This compares to a statewide per capita amount of $611.
• The county collected an average of $154 per capita in property taxes during the past five years. This amount was less than the average of $156 per capita collected by similarly-sized counties. For the same period, the average per capita amount of county property tax collected in Georgia was $190. On average, property taxes accounted for 43.7% of the county’s own source revenue during the period of 1996 to 2000.
• General operating expenditures for Chattooga County in 1996 equaled $7.9 million, or $343 per capita. In 2000, general operating expenditures rose by 11.0% to $8.8 million, which was $345 per capita. General operating expenditures per capita for similarly-sized counties was $351 in 2000. The statewide average was $404 per capita during the same period.
• Historically, the top three expenditure categories for counties are public safety, administration, and health and human services. In 2000, Chattooga County spent $2.1 million or 22.0% of total county spending on public safety which includes spending for law enforcement, fire services and jails. Spending for administration totaled $882,000, amounting to 9.2% of total expenditures. The county spent $992,900 or 10.4% of total spending on health and human services.
• From 1996 to 2000, Chattooga County had no long-term debt outstanding each year. Similarily-sized counties held an average of $90.64 per capita during the period.

Source of information: Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Share on Facebook