Treutlen County ( ) is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the southern portion and Magnolia midlands portion of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,406. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Soperton Soperton is a city in Treutlen County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,889 in 2020. The city is the county seat of Treutlen County. History A post office was established at Soperton in 1902. The city was named after Benjamin Frank ...

. Treutlen County is host to the Million Pines Arts and Crafts Festival which takes place during the first weekend in November.

History

Before colonization, the area was home to the

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

. Following the American Revolution, the location's

wiregrass Wiregrass is a common name for several plants Wiregrass may refer to: * Poaceae grasses ** ''Aristida'' (three-awns), especially ''Aristida stricta'' (Pineland Three-awn), '' Aristida junciformis'' and ''Aristida purpurea'' (Purple Three-awn), of ...

(''

Aristida stricta ''Aristida stricta'', known as wiregrass or pineland three-awn grass, is a warm-season grass native to North America. The species dominates understory vegetation in sandhills and flatwoods coastal plain ecosystems of the Carolinas in the Southeas ...

'') attracted settlers, and a timber industry began to develop around the area's

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

forests, supporting occupations from

cabinetmaking A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a Bathroom cabinet, medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically mad ...

and milling to

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

and other

naval stores Naval stores refers to the industry that produces various chemicals collected from conifers. The term was originally applied to the compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sailing ships. Presently, the naval stores industry are used to ...

production. The area's landscape made it difficult to build roads, resulting in a sparse population until after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

when railroads arrived. In 1902, the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad completed its extension from Macon to Vidalia and constructed a railroad depot near Lothair. The newly incorporated town of

quickly outgrew Lothair due to the new rail link. An official process to create Treutlen County was spearheaded by

Neil L. Gillis Neil Lee Gillis (March 12, 1864 October 27, 1933) was an American banker and politician known as the "father of Treutlen County" after his efforts spearheading its creation in 1918. Gillis served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 19 ...

, known as the "father of Treutlen County" due to his efforts. The state constitutional amendment to create Treutlen County was proposed by the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

on August21, 1917, and ratified November5, 1918, officially making it Georgia's 154th county. The county is made up of former sections of Emanuel and Montgomery counties, and is named for

John A. Treutlen John Adam Treutlen, born Hans Adam Treuettlen (January 16, 1734 – March 1, 1782) was a German-born politician and businessman who served as the first elected governor of Georgia, from 1777 to 1778. He was a leader in Georgia during the Americ ...

, Georgia's first state

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

following adoption of the state Constitution of 1777. By this time, as Soperton had become larger than Lothair, it was the clear choice for county seat. During the 1920s, a local cotton farmer named James Fowler planted over 7million pine trees across 10,000 acres of land. Fowler worked together with scientist

Charles Herty Charles Holmes Herty Sr. (December 4, 1867 – July 27, 1938) was an American academic, scientist, and entrepreneur. Serving in academia as a chemistry professor to begin his career, Herty concurrently promoted collegiate athletics including cre ...

, who developed a process to use

pine pulp A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

to create paper.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water. Approximately 90% of the county is forested. The western portion of Treutlen County, west of

, is located in the Lower

Oconee River The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it join ...

sub-basin of the

Altamaha River The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It flows generally eastward for from its Source (river or stream), origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Oce ...

basin. The eastern portion of the county is located in the

Ohoopee River The Ohoopee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 21, 2011 river in east-central Georgia in the United States. It is a tributary of the Altamaha River, which ...

sub-basin of the larger Altamaha River basin.

Major highways

* (Interstate 16) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * (unsigned designation for I-16)

Adjacent counties

Emanuel County Emanuel County is a county located in the eastern portion, or "Classic South" region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,768. The county seat is Swainsboro. History The county was created on December 10, ...

(northeast) *

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Montg ...

(southeast) *

Wheeler County Wheeler County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Wheeler County, Georgia * Wheeler County, Nebraska * Wheeler County, Oregon Wheeler County is a county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

(southwest) * Laurens County (west) * Johnson County (northwest)

Communities

City

(county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Lothair * Orland

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 6,406 people, 2,490 households, and 1,654 families residing in the county.

Politics

References

{{Coord, 32.40, -82.57, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-GA_source:UScensus1990 Georgia (U.S. state) counties 1918 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Populated places established in 1918