Georgia was founded in 1733 and consisted of 12 parishes at the time of the American Revolution.
Counties were not formed until 1777, covering at that time only a portion of Georgia's present jurisdiction. Eventually as Native American land was aquired, new counties were created. Land records were recorded with the Clerk of the Superior Court in each county. Probate records were recorded with the Clerk of the Ordinary Court, as were marriages. Most civil court cases were handled completely by the Superior Court.
The Goergia Archives has nearly all of the state's pre-1900, bound, county records on microfilm and has several collections of loose, original records. Choose from the counties below to view the county information.
The destruction of courthouses greatly affects genealogists in every way. No only are these historic structures torn from our lives, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others. Once destroyed they are lost forever. Even if they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn too. The most heartbreaking side of this is the fact that many of our courthouses are destroyed at the hands of arsonist. However, not all records were lost.
Below is a list of Georgia Counties and the years the Courthouses were subjected to a disaster. This does NOT mean that ALL RECORDS were lost. Often, folks took their documents again in for recording after a disaster and later deeds will contain long chains of title, etc.
