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Clinch County
Clinch County, in southeast Georgia, is the state's third largest county. Clinch comprises 809 square miles and includes a portion
of the Okefenokee Swamp, which extends over the eastern border of the county. Clinch County was formed in 1850 from land that came from parts of
Lowndes and Ware counties; portions also came from Appling County. (In subsequent years Clinch lost some of its territory to Atkinson, Coffee, Echols, and Lanier counties.) The county was named for Duncan Lamont Clinch, a veteran of the War of 1812 (1812-15) and later a Georgia congressman who was defeated in the 1847 gubernatorial campaign.
The region
was originally inhabited by Oconee Indians. The first white settlers established small farms, but by the nineteenth century,
the county's economy focused on timber products, with a very active turpentine distillation industry.
According to the 2010 U.S. census, the county population is 6,798, a slight decrease from the 2000 population of 6,878.
The county seat is Homerville, which began as a stagecoach stop and was first incorporated in 1869. The
town became important to the developing turpentine industry, and several major sawmills were established in and around Homerville
after the Civil War (1861-65). The current county courthouse, built in 1896, was extensively renovated and extended in 1936 by the Works Progress
Administration. During the Great Depression, Company 1413 of the Civilian Conservation Corps was encamped at Homerville, where its members worked in forestry and photography. In the late twentieth century, the town
established a thriving honey industry, based on a deeply aromatic honey from bees who gather their nectar in the Okefenokee
Swamp.
There are three other incorporated towns in Clinch County—Argyle, DuPont, and Fargo. Established in 1885, Argyle was
first known as Saussy, after Clement Saussy, an heir to Gasper J. Fulton of Savannah, who had previously owned the land. The town was located on the A.C.L. Railroad and in its first years was little more than
a railroad station. In 1899 the town took its current name, which honors Fort Argyle, the earliest of James Oglethorpe's coastal forts, and in 1901 the town was incorporated. DuPont was first known as Suwannoochee, after a nearby creek. Settled in 1858 by
Captain J. P. A. DuPont of Darien, the town was renamed Lawton. It did not take its current name until 1874, when it was incorporated. The town of Fargo was
established on the banks of the Suwannee River and incorporated in 1992.
Notable residents of Clinch County have included U.S. congresswoman Iris Faircloth Blitch, who was the first woman to serve
two terms in the Georgia senate, actor Ossie Davis, and Methodist bishop Arthur J. Moore.
Places of interest include Stephen C. Foster State Park, inside the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is home to numerous mammals, birds, and reptiles and amphibians, many of which can be seen from the trails.
The largest festival in the county is the Timberland Jubilee, held each spring to showcase the contributions the timber industry
has made to the local economy.
Suggested Reading
Susan R. Boatright and Douglas C. Bachtel, eds., Georgia County Guide (Athens: Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, University of Georgia, annual).
Kenneth W. Bennett, A Chronicle of Clinch County (Waycross, Ga.: Brantley Printing, 1991).
Folks Huxford, History of Clinch County, Georgia (Macon, Ga.: J. W. Burke Co., 1916).
Elizabeth B. Cooksey, Savannah
Updated 11/15/2011
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