Clarke County, Georgia

Clarke County is a in the  of. As of the, the  is 101,489. The 2005 Census Estimate shows a population of 104,429. Its is, with which it is a.

The Athens-Clarke County (balance) is the principal city of and is included in the.

History
Clarke County was created in by an act of the  on. The county was named after hero  and included 250 square miles (640) of land that was originally part of Jackson County. Clarke was most recognized for being credited with the 1779 victory at the in. The Elijah Clarke Chapter of the erected a  in his name in the middle of Broad Street in Athens that still stands today.

As the population of the county grew alongside the in the early, its agricultural and  industries prospered. The adjacent s flowed through city mills and were bolstered by the natural resources of the. These early and  production operations were big industries in Clarke County and in Athens, particularly so once the  came to the area beginning in. Athens and Clarke County were second only to and  in  invested in manufacturing during the.

Two es took place in Clarke County during the in, one near  and the other off of Mitchell's Road. An occupation garrison arrived in Athens on and a provost-marshal government was set up temporarily. Formal of the area ended before the end of 1864, although federal occupation continued until early.

The original Clarke County Commission had selected, now in , as the. All county offices and county business, including the courts and jail, later moved north to Athens when the seat was moved on of. For four years, county meetings were held in the old in Athens until  when a new  was constructed in the area bounded by Prince Avenue, Hill Street and Pope Street. The current courthouse in use today was later erected on the corner of Washington and Jackson Streets downtown in.

On, , to placate county residents still angry over the relocation of the to  three years earlier, the state legislature created  from the southwest section of Clarke County and named  as its seat. gained one-third of Clarke's population and three-fifths of its land.

During this time, the title of "commissioner of roads and revenue" was proscribed by the legislature to what would be known as county commissioners. The county, as an extension of the state, would operate welfare and health programs, build and maintain roads and conduct courts of law that were part of the state justice system.

In, the Georgia legislature passed on  increasing the number of county commissioners from three to five and allocating a position for a county administrator.

In, the citizens of Athens and Clarke County voted to unify the two governments creating Athens-Clarke County, becoming only the second unified city-county government in the state of Georgia after -. The citizens of Augusta and Richmond County voted likewise to join their governments in 1996, creating the unified government.

Geography
Clarke County is located at °N, °W (33.955464, -83.383245).

According to the, the county has a total area of 314 (121 ). 313 km² (121 sq mi) of it is land and 1 km² (0 sq mi) of it (0.40%) is water.

Clarke County is the smallest of Georgia's 159 counties.

Major highways

 * [[Image:US 29.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 78.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:business plate.svg|20px]] [[Image:US 78.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:US 129.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:US 441.svg|25px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 8.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 10.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 10 Loop.svg|20px]] /
 * [[Image:Georgia 15.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 15 Alternate.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:Georgia 72.svg|20px]]

Adjacent counties

 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - west
 * - west
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 101,489 people, 39,706 households, and 19,694 families residing in the county. The was 324/km² (840/sq mi). There were 42,126 housing units at an average density of 135/km² (349/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 64.89%, 27.25% or , 0.21% , 3.13% , 0.04% , 3.08% from , and 1.41% from two or more races. 6.34% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 39,706 households out of which 22.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.60% were living together, 13.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.40% were non-families. 29.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county the population was spread out with 17.80% under the age of 18, 31.30% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 15.40% from 45 to 64, and 8.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 95.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,403, and the median income for a family was $41,607. Males had a median income of $30,482 versus $23,069 for females. The for the county was $17,123. About 14.80% of families and 28.30% of the population were below the, including 24.80% of those under age 18 and 13.40% of those age 65 or over. As a result, Clarke ranks among the poorest counties in the state and nation; it is the fifth-poorest county in the United States among those with populations over 100,000.