A Gazetteer of the State of Georgia: Embracing a Particular Description of the Counties, Towns, Villages, Rivers, and Whatsoever Is Usual in Geographies, and Minute Statistical Works

The third edition of Sherwood's Georgia gazetteer delivers far more than its title might suggest. To be sure, roughly half of the volume is devoted to detailed descriptions of places in Georgia of every conceivable size and shape--counties, towns, villages, post offices, rivers, streams, creeks, mountains, ridges, peninsulas, islands, missionary stations--many of which are no longer in use but are likely to crop up in a genealogical investigation. Preceding the gazetteer itself is an excellent overview of Georgia history and an account of the institutions and living conditions in evidence at the time of the book's original publication in 1837. Included are chapters on the founding of Georgia, the state's role in the American Revolution and thereafter, and lists of federal and state officials. Sherwood also outlines Georgia's principal geographical and geological features, climate, and flora and fauna, as well as the state of its economy. There is a handy table giving the population of ninety Georgia counties in 1837, the names of each county capital, and the various other villages and public places. This feature is supported by an appendix to the volume with biographical sketches of the ninety distinguished Georgians for whom the counties were named. The reader should also look to the appendix for a history of Georgia's newspaper industry, schools, and religious denominations.