Created in 1790 and named for Revolutionary War commander and Georgia governor Samuel Elbert, Elbert County pairs a proud granite heritage with wide-open lake country along the Savannah River.
Granite has shaped this county since its first quarry opened in 1882, and by the 1920s it had become the heart of the local economy. In Elberton you can trace that story at the Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit, then stroll the courthouse square, where the 1894 Elbert County Courthouse and the Elberton Commercial Historic District are both on the National Register of Historic Places.
On the eastern edge of the county, Lake Richard B. Russell and Richard B. Russell State Park offer a shoreline nature trail, disc golf, and an 18-hole golf course. History lovers can visit Bobby Brown Park, which marks the site of the old river town of Petersburg, and the replica of Nancy Hart's cabin, built in the 1930s with chimney stones from the original.
Local Highlights
Richard B. Russell State Park on Lake Richard B. Russell
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Elbert County
Elberton
Elbert County's seat has worn the title 'Granite Capital of the World' for generations. Its granite-trimmed courthouse square and historic commercial district make downtown a pleasure to wander.
Granite is part of everyday life here, from historic storefronts to the stone seats of the Granite Bowl.
Elberton Granite Museum and Exhibit (free admission)
A railroad town at the crossing of State Routes 17 and 172, Bowman grew up along the narrow-gauge line between Elberton and Toccoa. Its public square is a National Register historic district.
The historic well house on the square surrounds the town well, dug in 1879 when Bowman's first stores went up.
