Historic Sites in Warren County

The history of Warren County

Warren County was created by an act of the legislature on December 19, 1793, from parts of older counties in east-central Georgia, and it was named for General Joseph Warren, the Massachusetts patriot killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Long before, the Muscogee (Creek) had used this Piedmont country, and the Upper Trading Path linking Augusta with the interior crossed it. Some white settlers held land grants issued in the colonial era under King George III. Warrenton became the county seat and was incorporated as a town in 1810. Court first met in private homes, and after fires destroyed earlier buildings, the present neoclassical courthouse was completed in 1910. At Ogeechee Falls, an early iron works and woolen mill is claimed to have been the first of its kind in Georgia. One of Warrenton's most unusual residents was David Bushnell, the inventor of the Turtle, a submarine used during the Revolutionary War, who moved to Warrenton after the war, taught at Warrenton Academy, and died there. In the 1830s the Georgia Railroad was built across the county, and a depot named for railroad leader James Camak grew into the town of Camak. Agribusiness, textiles and kaolin mining have supported the economy in more recent times.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.orggeorgiahistory.comen.wikipedia.org