County
Profile
Incorporated: December 15, 1818
Population: 35,902
Total Area: 278.2 Square miles
Cities and Towns
• Clarkesville(County Seat)
• Alto
• Baldwin
• Cornelia
• Mount AiryHabersham County was created in 1818 from Indian
treaty lands. Georgia's 43rd county was named for Major Joseph
Habersham, who fought in the Revolutionary War, was Mayor of
Savannah, served in Congress and was President George
Washington's Postmaster General.
A Civil War iron works in the county produced guns and cannons
for the Confederacy. Most of Habersham County was spared from
pillage after Confederate troops turned back Union Calvary in a
skirmish near Currahee Mountain.
Habersham's mountains, lakes and rivers make it a nature
lover's paradise. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge
Mountains, the county is crossed by parts of the Chattahoochee
National Forest, and the Tallulah and Tugaloo Rivers. Part of
Tallulah Gorge, considered to be the Grand Canyon of the South,
is located in Habersham County. Previously diverted underground
for hydroelectric purposes by the Georgia Power Company, the
Tallulah River is once again flowing through the gorge over a
series of breathtaking waterfalls.
Annual events in Habersham County include the Mountain Laurel
Festival held in Clarkesville every May. Clarkesville also hosts
the Chattahoochee Mountain Fair each September. Cornelia hosts
the Big Red Apple Festival during October. |