Emanuel County, Georgia

Emanuel County, Georgia
Emanuel County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location in the U.S.
Founded	1812
Named for	David Emanuel
Seat	Swainsboro
Largest city	Swainsboro
Area
• Total	690 sq mi (1,787 km2)
• Land	681 sq mi (1,764 km2)
• Water	9.6 sq mi (25 km2), 1.4%
Population
• (2010)	22,598
• Density	33/sq mi (13/km²)
Congressional district	12th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	Emanuel County, Georgia

Emanuel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,598. The county seat is Swainsboro.

The County was created on December 10, 1812, by an act of the Georgia General Assembly from land originally in parts of Bulloch and Montgomery counties. Emanuel County is named in honor of former Governor of Georgia David Emanuel.

Portions of Johnson (1858), Jenkins (1905), Toombs (1905), Candler (1914), and Treutlen (1918) counties were taken from Emanuel's original borders.

Emanuel County has had seven courthouses in its 200 years of existence. In the county's early years, the court met at Steven Rich's home. Emanuel County's first courthouse was erected in 1814 and burned in 1841. It wasn't until 1854, the same time that the city of Swainsboro was formally incorporated, that the county was allowed to build a replacement. In a string of bad luck, this new courthouse burned in 1855 and was replaced by another courthouse, which burned in 1857. Emanuel County's fourth courthouse burned in 1919 and was replaced by a three-story brick structure which, characteristically, burned in 1938. The next courthouse, a two-story marble structure, was built in 1940 and was the first courthouse in Emanuel County's history not to be destroyed by fire. However, by the 1990s, the courthouse's cramped and deteriorating condition caused several county offices to vacate the courthouse and move into vacant office space surrounding the courthouse square. The courthouse was demolished in the spring of 2000, leaving only the sheriff's office annex. In the late 1990s, the Emanuel County commissioners purchased the former U.S. Post Office building, which was built in 1936, to serve as an interim courthouse. In 2000, the county commission acquired land adjacent to the old Post Office to build a new courthouse and sheriff's office. Emanuel County's current courthouse, a large, single story brick structure incorporating the old Post Office building, was completed in 2002, and a city square was built on the former courthouse site with the old sheriff's office renovated to serve as the city's visitors' center as well as the office for Swainsboro-Emanuel County Chamber of Commerce.