Historic Sites in Dooly County

The history of Dooly County

Dooly County was created in 1821 by the land lottery act that divided territory the Muscogee (Creek) had been forced to surrender that year in the first Treaty of Indian Springs. It is named for John Dooly, a Revolutionary War regimental commander who was killed in his own home by Loyalists. The county seat, Vienna, had been settled for years before it took the name of the Austrian capital in 1841, and it was incorporated in 1854; the current courthouse was completed in 1892. The antebellum economy rested on enslaved labor, a history visible in the 1859 William H. Byrom House, built with the work of enslaved people by the founder of Byromville. After the Civil War, railroads reshaped the county: the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway and the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad each gave rise to new towns along their tracks. Agriculture has remained the county's foundation, and Dooly has long ranked among Georgia's major producers of cotton and peanuts. The Georgia Forestry Commission also operates a large tree nursery here that grows tens of millions of tree seedlings each year. Dooly County has produced a notable roster of public figures, including U.S. Senator Walter F. George, Governor George Busbee, Jimmy Carter's press secretary Jody Powell, and Olympic gold medal hurdler Roger Kingdom.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.org