History
Clinch County was created on February 14, 1850, by an act of the Georgia General Assembly, and was named for General Duncan L. Clinch, a decorated United States brigadier general and Georgia Congressman who had recently died. Clinch, Georgia’s 95th county, was formed from land originally inhabited by the Oconee Indians and consolidated portions of Ware County and Lowndes County. The Act creating the county named Elijah Mattox, Simon W. Nichol, Timothy Kirkland, Benjamin Sumon, and John J. Johnson as commissioners charged with selecting a county seat and constructing a courthouse.
The designated commissioners quickly settled on a site just southwest of the present day Homerville and in memory of President James K. Polk decided to name the county seat Polk. Two years later, however, the Georgia General Assembly inexplicably changed the name of the county seat to Magnolia, just as the county’s first court house was completed. The first courthouse was quite small and was destroyed in 1856 when a citizen presumably dissatisfied with legal proceedings brought against him, decided to destroy the courthouse by fire.
In February of 1853, Dr. John Homer Mattox and his family moved from their former home on the Suwannee River and settled on a track of land adjacent to the Magnolia stage route. In recognition of his family name, he called the settlement “Homerville.” Shortly thereafter the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad expansion replaced the stage route and Mattox’s settlement was simply known as “Station No.11.”
Overtime the settlement grew and in 1860 approximately 275 citizens of Clinch County petitioned the Georgia General Assembly to move the county seat of the county from the nearby Magnolia to Mattox’s settlement. Later the same year, the legislature relented and officially named Station No. 11 as the county seat of Clinch County. It would take approximately nine more years for the legislature to officially recognize the name Homerville and incorporate the city.
Dr. John Homer Mattox’s original dwelling is now the home of the Clinch County Chamber of Commerce and Welcome Center. The home recently underwent an extensive restoration that not only restored many of the rooms to their former glory but also added modern plumbing and central heat and air for the convince of visitors. The structure now holds the administrative offices of the chamber and a museum dedicated to the early days of Clinch County.
Read more about this topic: Homerville, Georgia
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