Place:Evans, Georgia, United States

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Evans County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia in an area known as the Magnolia Midlands within the Historic South region. A bill creating the county was passed in the Georgia General Assembly on August 11, 1914, and later, on November 3, 1914, an amendment was ratified by a vote of the people which formally created the county. The current Evans County Courthouse was created in 1923 and, in 1940, the people of Evans County elected their first female sheriff. Later, in the 1950s and 1960s, new growth came to the county with the building of Evans Memorial Hospital and the Claxton-Evans County Airport. In 2000, the population was 10,495; however, the 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 11,505. The county seat is Claxton.

Evans County is bordered on the northwest by Candler County; on the northeast by Bulloch County; on the east by Bryan County; on the southeast by Liberty County and on the southwest by Tattnall County. The county sits firmly within Georgia's coastal plain region and has predominantly sedimentary rock and red and yellow clays. The Canoochee River is the major body of water flowing through the county. With a total area of 187 square miles (484.3 km2) Evans County is ranked 145th out of 159 counties in Georgia. There are 57 people per square mile in the county with a large majority of the residents in Evans County of American or English descent followed by African. Whites make up 61.69% of the county population with Blacks following at 32.98%.

Manufacturing, educational, health and social services make up much of Evans County's diverse economy. Major employers in the county include Camellia Health and Rehabilitation, Claxton Poultry Company, Georgia Department of Corrections, Nesmith Chevrolet Company, Pinewood Christian Academy, and Valmont Newmark. The county is ranked 64 out of 71 Tier 1 counties with a 7% sales tax. Businesses in the county are 100% exempt on all classes of certain business inventory from property taxes.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

On August 11, 1914, the Georgia General Assembly proposed a constitutional amendment to create Evans County from Bulloch and Tattnall counties. Georgia voters ratified the proposed amendment by a vote of 36,689 to 9,789 on November 3, 1914, which marks the official date of Evans County's creation.

The push to create Evans County came about for various reasons, most notably the desire to not have to travel so far to the court house; more office jobs; increase in businesses coming to the area, especially in regard to hotels and eating establishments and a belief that there was a minority in Reidsville, Georgia - the county seat in Tattnall County - which controlled the county.^[1] However, not everyone was for the creation of a new county. Some of the arguments against the creation of a new county included: the idea that the difficulties with distance to the courthouse were being overcome; also, the tax burden would override any benefits from new jobs.^[1] Evans County was approved through the constitutional amendment process because of an earlier amendment from 1904 which limited the number of counties to 145. In order to get around this amendment, a new amendment was passed which allowed for the creation of Evans County.^[2]

The current Evans County courthouse was completed in 1923. The courthouse is in Claxton and was designed in the neoclassical revival tradition by architect J.J. Baldwin.^[1] Prior to the building of the current courthouse, all of the county's business was held in the White Building, a three-story edifice built by Mr. R. King White and later bought by Mrs. Ben Daniel. Mrs. Daniel's husband, Dr. Ben Daniel, used the building as his office.^[1]

The first female sheriff in Evans County was Mrs. Josie Mae Durrence Rogers, who was appointed after the death of the late sheriff, her father Jesse C. Durrence. Later, on June 24, 1940, she was elected sheriff by the people of the county. Not long after, in July 1940, Camp Stewart - which would eventually become Fort Stewart - was created after the United States government bought up several tracts of land in various counties, including Evans County. In all, it is estimated that approximately 1,500 people were displaced by the creation of the camp.

The late 1950s and the 1960s were a time of growth in Evans County, especially in regards to health care and transportation. Beginning in 1958, Dr. Curtis Gordon Hames began research on the Evans County Heart Study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health; this study would continue until 1995 and resulted in 560 published papers on heart disease, genetics, cancer and other areas.^[3] In 1964, the FAA approved a site for the construction of an airport in the county, just three miles (5 km) northeast of Claxton.^[1][4] On December 7, 1967, after two decades of effort, Evans Memorial Hospital was opened.^[1]

In November 1975, B.G. Tippins, a teacher at Claxton High School, worked with 15 students to build a Miller Lil' Rascal, a two-seat sporting biplane. This plane was the only one of its kind built.

On October 16, 2006, the Evans County Sheriff's Department was presented with seven bullet-proof vests by the Georgia Fraternal Order of Police.

Timeline

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Research Tips

External links

www.rootsweb.com/~gaevans/