Upson County, Georgia

Upson County, Georgia
Upson County Courthouse (Built 1908), Thomaston
Location in the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location in the U.S.
Founded	December 15, 1824
Named for	Stephen Upson
Seat	Thomaston
Largest city	Thomaston
Area
• Total	328 sq mi (850 km2)
• Land	323 sq mi (837 km2)
• Water	4.1 sq mi (11 km2), 1.3%
Population
• (2010)	27,153
• Density	84/sq mi (32/km²)
Congressional district	3rd
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.upsoncountyga.org

Upson County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,153. The county seat is Thomaston. The county was created on December 15, 1824.

Upson County comprises the Thomaston, GA Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke County-Sandy Springs, GA Combined Statistical Area.

Upson County, in west central Georgia, was established by an act of the state legislature on December 15, 1824. The Treaty of Indian Springs (1821) between the United States and the Creek Indians gave the government the land that extended from the Ocmulgee River to the Flint River through middle Georgia. Upson County was created from Pike and Crawford counties. Many settlers were drawn to the area by the lottery system used to settle the acquired lands. The state's fifty-ninth county was named in honor of the noted Georgia lawyer Stephen Upson (1784/5-1824) just four months after his death. It is also the birthplace of John Brown Gordon, a major general in the Confederate army and a governor of Georgia and Eugene C. Gordon a Confederate major in the Alabama Cavalry who developed Decatur, Alabama.

In March 1825 the justices of the inferior court bought land lot 217 in the Tenth District to build the courthouse and the jail. Around this lot grew Thomaston, the county seat. Incorporated June 11, 1825, the town was named for General Jett Thomas, a hero of the War of 1812 (1812–15).