- Pike County
Created by Act of Dec. 9, 1822 from Monroe County, Pike County originally contained part of Spadling, Upson and Lamar Counties. It was named for Zebulon Montgomery Pike (1779-1813), leader, in 1805, of an expedition to trace the Mississippi River to its source. Later he explored the interior of Louisiana. Made a Brig. Gen. in 1813, he was killed at Toronto, Canada, while commanding American forces there. First officers of Pike County, commissioned Feb. 25, 1823, were: Willis WHATLEY, Sheriff; John H. BROADNAX, Clk. Sup. Ct.; William MYRICK, Clk. Inf. Ct.; Joel MOORE, Coroner; James LOWERY, Surveyor, was commissioned Jan. 9, 1824. (In Zebulon.)
- Old Newnan
In 1823 the Inferior Court Justices of Pike County selected the center lot in the county near here as the site for the county seat. This land was laid out into town lots and named Newnan to honor Major General Daniel NEWNAN, a Revolutionary War hero. A temporary court house, a tavern, several stores and many dwellings were built. The town became a place of considerable trade, Indians coming from beyond the Flint River to barter their furs. In 1824 Upson County was cut from Pike and Crawford counties. The territory cut off threw Newnan too far from the center of the county to continue as the county seat and a new site was chosen and called Zebulon. The justices who selected the site of Newnan were Lewis WINN, William DUKE, Thomas LEWIS and William MITCHELL. William MYRICK was Clerk of the Inferior Court. The legislature chose as the first Commissioners of the town Samuel MITCHELL, William Mitchell, William Myrick, William JOHNSON and Hugh F. ROSE, who then lived in Newnan. This marker was erected at the request of the Lamar-LaFayette Chapter N.S.D.A.R. (US 19 (Ga 3) about 3.5 miles south of Zebulon.)
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2002-2008
This page was last modified on 27 Mar 2008.