Historic Sites in Randolph County

The history of Randolph County

Randolph County was created on December 20, 1828, from Lee County as Georgia's seventy-fifth county, in southwest Georgia land taken from the Muscogee (Creek) and opened to white settlers by the 1827 land lottery. It was named for John Randolph of Roanoke, the Virginia congressman, whose name the legislature had earlier removed from present-day Jasper County because he opposed the War of 1812. Lumpkin was the first county seat, but when Stewart County was formed in 1830 the town became Stewart's seat, and in 1831 the legislature named Cuthbert the seat of Randolph. Conflict between settlers and Creek people continued for years, and part of the Creek War of 1836 was fought within the county. By 1850 the largely agricultural county had 12,868 residents. Cuthbert became a center of women's education with Baptist Female College, founded in 1852, and Andrew Female College, founded in 1854; both served as hospitals during the Civil War, and Andrew College still operates today. After the war, Howard Normal School opened in 1867 to educate African Americans, and in 1876 Richard R. Wright became its headmaster. Jazz bandleader Fletcher Henderson was born in Cuthbert in 1897, the son of longtime Howard Normal principal Fletcher H. Henderson Sr., and the family's home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.orggeorgiaencyclopedia.orgen.wikipedia.org