In 2005 the Putnam County Board of Commissioners appointed a committee to begin preparations for Putnam County’s bicentennial celebration in 2007 – and Putnam County’s history and heritage over the past 200 years give the county much to celebrate. Eatonton and Putnam County have successfully joined the old with the new, and those looking to step back in time without going too far from modern
conveniences won’t be disappointed.
Experts say that Putnam County was first inhabited about 5,000 years ago by Archaic Indians. It was during this time that another culture was also settling down in Putnam, the Woodland Indians. The Woodland Indians are believed to have built the Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk effigies.
Originally part of Baldwin County – ceded by the Creek Nation in 1805 – Putnam County was incorporated on December 10, 1807. Putnam County was named for General Israel Putnam, the Revolutionary War hero of Bunker’s Hill – famous for the quote, "Don’t one of you fire until you see the whites of their eyes."
Eatonton was named for William Eaton, the diplomat and adventurer who, during the Tripolitan War, marched 600 miles through the Libyan desert with six U.S. Marines and a raised army of Arabs, Greeks and some Americans. They took and held the city of Derne in Tripoli and secured a place in history in the Marine’s Hymn: "… to the shores of Tripoli …” The city’s incorporation in 1807 made Eatonton the official county seat and today it is the only municipality located in Putnam County.
In 1808, surveyors laid out the streets and blocks of Eatonton, and lots
were sold at a public auction on April 15, 1808. These lots were auctioned off to the public.
The oldest portion of the county courthouse was built in 1824. The county courthouse is still surrounded by the original square. The current building was built on the same site in 1905. In 2005, wings were added to the east and west sides of the courthouse.
Farmers represented the majority of the county's original settlers and cotton quickly became the dominant crop. A cotton factory opened in 1836, and by 1849, the county possessed fourteen sawmills and five gristmills to service the area's other agricultural products and natural resources.
Life during the period of 1820-1850s came closest to the idealistic picture of plantation and small town life in the Old South. By the latter part of the 1840s, a rapid increase in building took place. More new and improved houses appeared within the short span of about eight years than at any other time. Brick buildings including Temperance Hall, the Oddfellow’s Lodge, the Branch Bank building and were built at this time. One-storied Greek revival houses appeared in town and the county.
The Civil War saw two wings of Sherman’s army pass through Putnam County, leaving a path of destruction behind. All buildings of a productive nature were burned; the cotton mill, the tannery and shoe factory, gins, flour mills, grain filled barns and other outbuildings. What the soldiers could not carry away was destroyed. Pilfering in town was confined to the business area for the most part, but the soldiers swarming through the town caused considerable turmoil. There were no actual battles in Putnam County since there were no able bodied men left to resist. No dwelling houses were burned in the town or the country and many of the private residences in town pre-date the Civil War.
Putnam County experienced difficulty recovering from the war. The wealth of the great plantations had disappeared, and the county spent the remaining decades of the nineteenth century trying to revive its economy. Putnam County had relied heavily on its cotton crops. However, top soil depletion and the boll weevil had combined to cut cotton production in Georgia in half. A solution came at the turn of the century when dairy production emerged as an economic force. In 1876 Benjamin Hunt brought fifteen Jersey cows to the region and created Panola Farm, an experimental dairy facility that helped to establish the dairy industry in Putnam County. By 1901 Putnam had become the third-leading dairy county in Georgia, shipping cream to Athens and butter to Atlanta. The Eatonton Creamery, a cooperative created by fifty-eight local farmers in 1909, made various dairy products including "Sweet Clover" butter, which was served to U.S. president Howard Taft on a visit to Georgia. The dairy industry continues to play a part in the county's economy. The county continues to celebrate the Dairy Festival each June.
The creation of Lake Sinclair in 1953 and Lake Oconee in 1979 helped give birth to the tourism and recreation industry in Putnam County. The lakes provide opportunities to fish, hike and camp. Several world renown golf courses have been created in the area bolstering the tourism industry in Putnam County.
