Map of Georgia highlighting Coweta County.
Coweta County is a county located in the state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 127,317. The county seat is Newnan.
History[]
The land for Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta, and Carroll counties was ceded by the Creek people in the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs. The counties' boundaries were created by the Georgia General Assembly on June 9, 1826, but they were not named until December 14, 1826. Coweta County was named for the Koweta Indians (a sub-group of the Creek Indian nation), who had several towns in and around present day Coweta.
Government and politics[]
The legislative body of Coweta County is the Coweta County Commission. The commission consists of five members elected from numbered districts. The commission chairmanship rotates among the members, Coweta County is the only in Georgia that operates with a rotating chairmanship.
| District | Commissioner | Party | Term of Office | Seat Up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st. | Paul Poole | Republican | 2005–present | 2020 |
| 2nd. | Tim Lassetter | Republican | 2007–present | 2022 |
| 3rd. | Bob Blackburn | Republican | 2011–present | 2022 |
| 4th. | Rodney Brooks | Republican | 2009–present | 2020 |
| 5th. | Al Smith (chairman) | Democrat | 2009–present | 2020 |
Coweta is a R+24 county according to Cook-PVI. Republicans have won the county in every presidential election since 1984.
Republicans have won every countywide elected office in Coweta since the early 1990's.
Currently, Coweta is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Drew Ferguson.
Coweta is represented in the Georgia State Senate by Matt Brass, who lives in Newnan.
Geography[]
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 445.98 sq. mi., of which 442.62 sq. mi. is land.
Adjacent counties[]
- Fulton County – northeast
- Fayette County – east
- Spalding County – southeast
- Meriwether County – south
- Troup County – southwest
- Heard County – west
- Carroll County – northwest
Notable residents[]
- Ellis Gibbs Arnall, Governor of Georgia from 1943 to 1947.
- William Yates Atkinson, Governor of Georgia from 1894 to 1896. Founded Georgia State College for Women, now Georgia College & State University.
- Margaret Anne Barnes, author, best known for her novel Murder in Coweta County, which was later made into a made-for-TV movie starring Andy Griffith and Johnny Cash.
- Steve Bedrosian, former Major League baseball player and the National League Cy Young Award winner in 1987.
- Buford Boone, publisher and writer; awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1956.
- Keith Brooking, football player who played for the Atlanta Falcons, now plays for Dallas Cowboys.
- Erskine Caldwell, author of the novels Tobacco Road and God's Little Acre.
- Lewis Grizzard, newspaper columnist, author, and humorist, of Atlanta, Ga.
- Drew Hill, played for the pro football Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Rams, and Atlanta Falcons.
- Alan Jackson, country music singer and musician.
- Joe M. Jackson, colonel, U.S. Air Force, Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
- Warren Newson, played pro baseball for the Chicago White Sox.
- Stephen W. Pless, major, U.S. Marine Corps, Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
- Lamar Potts, Sr., the sheriff of Coweta County who brought John Wallace to justice for the murder of William Turner in 1948.
- Charles Wadsworth, retired director of the Chamber Music Society at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
- Jerome Walton, former Major League baseball player and the Rookie of the Year in the National League in 1989.