Bartow County is in the northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, its population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville. Traditionally considered part of Northwest Georgia, Bartow County is now included in the Atlanta metropolitan area, mainly in the southeastern part near Cartersville, which has become an exurb more than from downtown Atlanta on I-75. It has a sole commissioner government and is the largest county by population of the few remaining in Georgia with a sole commissioner.

History

Bartow County was created from the Cherokee lands of the Cherokee County territory on December 3, 1832, and named Cass County, after General Lewis Cass (1782–1866), Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, Minister to France and Secretary of State under President James Buchanan,Cass County kenkrakow.com p.36 who was instrumental in the removal of Native Americans from the area. However, the county was renamed on December 6, 1861, in honor of Francis S. Bartow, because of Cass's support of the Union, though Bartow never visited in the county, living away near Savannah all of his life. Cass had supported the doctrine of popular sovereignty, the right of each state to determine its own laws independently of the federal government, the platform of conservative Southerners who removed his name.

The Civil War first entered Bartow County on April 12, 1862, in the form of the Great Locomotive Chase. As a result of the Western & Atlantic Railroad’s (W&A RR) strategic war time value, Union soldiers boarded and stole a train named the General. Their plan was to take the stolen train north toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, destroying bridges, parts of the railroad, and telegraph lines along the way.

The raiders were unable to cause sufficient destruction to the railroad to make pursuit impossible, and William Fuller, the conductor of the stolen train, eventually caught up with them just north of Ringgold, Georgia.

The first county seat was at Cassville. After the burning of the county courthouse and the Sherman occupation, the seat moved to Cartersville, where it remains.

Bartow County was profoundly affected by the Civil War; an estimated one of three Bartow County soldiers died during the war as a result of wounds received, diseases caught, and in one case, as a result of a train accident. At the end of the Civil War, many residents were financially insolvent, the county seat was "in ruins", the transportation networks were severely damaged, and the citizens were starving due to several consecutive years of crop failures.

Prior to the Civil War, Bartow County's social order, and that of the South as a whole, was dominated by "a sense of white intraclass unity that rested upon a shared notion of racial supremacy." After the war, during Reconstruction, that world view was challenged, creating a period of racial tension. When the state of Georgia allocated $200,000 to purchase and transport corn into North Georgia, local officials solely distributed the corn to white families. When black families petitioned Bartow County for better educational and vocational opportunities, some local whites responded with violence, including Ku Klux Klan activity.

Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which or 2.2% are covered by water.

The bulk of Bartow County is located in the Etowah River sub-basin of the ACT River Basin (Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin). The northeastern portion of the county around Rydal is located in the Coosawattee River sub-basin of the same ACT River Basin, while an even smaller northwestern section around Adairsville is located in the Oostanaula River sub-basin of the larger ACT River Basin.

The Etowah is mostly part of Lake Allatoona in southeast Bartow and southwest Cherokee counties, with the Allatoona Dam near Cartersville also impounding Allatoona Creek into northwest Cobb county. The peninsula between the two major arms of the lake is home to Red Top Mountain State Park, east-southeast of Cartersville and just southeast of the dam.

Adjacent counties Gordon County – north Pickens County – northeast Cherokee County – east Cobb County – southeast Paulding County – south Polk County – southwest Floyd County – west

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Bartow County, Georgia – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)35,73550,11665,64479,80380,15987.67%89.64%86.35%79.68%73.61%Black or African American alone (NH)4,6865,0136,55810,02411,30911.50%8.97%8.63%10.01%10.38%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)611151922882540.15%0.21%0.25%0.29%0.23%Asian alone (NH)401373817051,1690.10%0.25%0.50%0.70%1.07%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census205440xx0.03%0.05%0.04%Other race alone (NH)119591024660.03%0.02%0.08%0.10%0.43%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census6411,4914,753xx0.84%1.49%4.36%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2275212,5247,69010,7510.56%0.93%3.32%7.68%9.87%Total40,76055,91176,019100,157108,901 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, 108,901 people, 40,045 households, and 28,529 families resided in the county.

Of the residents, 23.3% were under 18 and 15.0% were 65 or older; the median age was 38.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.3 males, and for every 100 females 18 and over, there were 95.1 males. About 60.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 39.4% lived in rural areas.

The racial makeup of the county was 75.7% White, 10.6% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% Asian, 4.9% from some other race, and 7.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 9.9% of the population.

Of the 40,045 households in the county, 33.7% had children under 18 living with them, 24.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, 22.6% were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older.

The county had 42,435 housing units, of which 5.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 68.4% were owner-occupied and 31.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.7%.

2010 census As of the 2010 United States census, 100,157 people, 35,782 households, and 26,529 families were living in the county. The population density was . The 39,823 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 82.7% White, 10.2% Black or African American, 0.7% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 3.8% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 13.9% were American, 10.0% were Irish, 9.3% were English, and 7.8% were German.

Of the 35,782 households, 39.8% had children under 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 25.9% were not families, and 21.0% were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.77, and the average family size was 3.20. The median age was 36.2 years.

The median income in the county for a household was $49,216 and for a family was $56,281. Males had a median income of $42,835 versus $31,225 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,241. About 10.8% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under 18 and 12.1% of those 65 or over.

2000 census As of 2000, 76,019 people, 27,176 households, and 21,034 families lived in the county. The population density was . The 28,751 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 87.79% White, 8.68% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.62% from other races, and 1.10% from two or more races. About 3.32% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 27,176 households, 38.2% had children under 18 living with them, 61.9% were married couples living together, 11.1% were single woman households, and 22.6% were not families. Around 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.76, and the average family size was 3.14.

In the county, the page distribution was 27.9% under 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.4% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.90 males.

The median income in the county for a household was $43,660 and for a family was $49,198. Males had a median income of $35,136 versus $24,906 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,989; 8.6% of the population and 6.6% of families were below the poverty line, of which 9.6% were under 18 and 12.2% were 65 or older. Education Public education in Bartow County is administered by Bartow County School District and Cartersville City Schools.

Excel Christian Academy and the Trinity School are private institutions.

Politics Bartow County has voted Republican consistently in presidential elections since 1984.Sullivan, Robert David; ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’; America Magazine in The National Catholic Review; June 29, 2016 Mitt Romney carried the county in 2012 with 75% of the vote.

For elections to the United States House of Representatives, Bartow County is part of Georgia's 11th congressional district, currently represented by Republican congressman Barry Loudermilk. For elections to the Georgia State Senate, Bartow County is divided between districts 37 and 52. For elections to the Georgia House of Representatives, Bartow County is divided between districts 14 and 15.

Transportation

Major highways

Museums Bartow History Museum opened in 1987 and is located in the historic 1869 Courthouse in downtown Cartersville. Artifacts, photographs, documents and a variety of permanent exhibits focus on the settlement and development of Bartow County, Georgia, beginning with the early nineteenth century when the Cherokee inhabited the area. Early European settler life, the iron ore and bauxite industries, Civil War strife, post-war recovery, the Great Depression era, early textile industries and notable figures are depicted through interactive exhibits in the permanent gallery space. The museum offers a wide variety of educational programs and lectures. Booth Western Art Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is a museum located in Cartersville. Guests are invited to See America's Story through contemporary Western artwork, presidential portraits and letters, Civil War art, more than 200 Native American artifacts, and Sagebrush Ranch children's gallery. Open since August 2003, Booth Museum is the second largest art museum in the state, and houses the largest permanent exhibition space for Western art in the country. Tellus Science Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is a world-class museum located in Cartersville, just off I-75 at exit 293. The museum features four main galleries: the Weinman Mineral Gallery, the Fossil Gallery, Science in Motion and the Collins Family My Big Backyard. There is also a 120-seat digital planetarium and an observatory with a state-of-the-art 20-inch telescope located at Tellus. Euharlee History Museum is located adjacent to the Euharlee Covered Bridge in Euharlee, Georgia, about 9 miles west of downtown Cartersville. The museum opened in 1997 and is a cooperation between the Euharlee Historical Society and the City of Euharlee.