Dade County, Georgia

Dade County, Georgia
Dade County Courthouse in Trenton
Location in the state of Georgia
Georgia's location in the U.S.
Founded	1837
Seat	Trenton
Largest city	Trenton
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	174.16 sq mi (451 km²) 173.98 sq mi (451 km²) 0.18 sq mi (0 km²), 0%
PopulationEst.  - (2005)  - Density	16,040 87/sq mi (34/km²)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4

Dade County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population is 15,154. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 16,098.^[1] The county seat is Trenton.^[2]

Dade County is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 174.16 square miles (451.1 km²), of which 173.98 square miles (450.6 km²) (or 99.90%) is land and 0.18 square miles (0.47 km²) (or 0.10%) is water.^[3]

Major highways

• Interstate 24
• Interstate 59
• U.S. Route 11
• State Route 58
• State Route 136
• State Route 157
• State Route 189
• State Route 299
• State Route 301

Adjacent counties

• Marion County, Tennessee (north)
• Hamilton County, Tennessee (northeast)
• Walker County (southeast)
• DeKalb County, Alabama (southwest)
• Jackson County, Alabama (west)

National protected areas

• Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (part)

Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 15,154 people, 5,633 households, and 4,264 families residing in the county. The population density was 87 people per square mile (34/km²). There were 6,224 housing units at an average density of 36 per square mile (14/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.51% White, 0.63% Black or African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 0.90% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,633 households out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.70% were married couples living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.30% were non-families. 21.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.80% under the age of 18, 11.80% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,259, and the median income for a family was $39,481. Males had a median income of $31,534 versus $21,753 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,127. About 7.50% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.40% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Main article: Trenton, Georgia#Education

History

Dade County was established in 1837 and was named for Major Francis Langhorne Dade, who was killed in the Dade Massacre by Seminole Indians in December, 1835.

The first settlers of Dade County won the land in Georgia's land lottery and came to work in coke and coal mines.

Georgia did not have a road connecting to Dade County until the purchase of Cloudland Canyon in 1939. The county could only be accessed through Alabama and Tennessee until then.

Covenant College, founded in 1955 in California, needed to expand into new facilities after just one year. Several professors helped Covenant move to St. Louis, Missouri where it grew for eight years and in 1964 the institution outgrew its facilities and moved to Lookout Mountain.

Dade County had a short-lived state secessionist movement during the civil war. Dade Countians wanted to secede from the Union but the State of Georgia was cautious. Legend has is that in 1860, the people of Dade County were so impatient on their state to secede from the Union, they simply seceded by themselves. On July 4, 1945, a telegram from President Harry S. Truman was read at a celebration marking the county's rejoining the Union. Historians believe, however, that Dade County seceded with the State of Georgia and reentered the Union with it.^[5][6]

Quarter Controversy

Georgia State Quarter without Dade County.

Shortly after the Georgia State Quarter was released, Dade County gained attention over an apparent mistake in the quarter. The outline of the state of Georgia on the quarter appears to have accidentally left out Dade County, which is in the extreme northwestern part of the state. It has also been suggested that the exclusion was intentional, in reference to the local legend of Dade County's secession from Georgia.^[7]

Georgia water supply

Dade County lies just south of Nickajack Lake on the Tennessee River, which is created by the Nickajack Dam, part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The water source has been desired by Atlanta, Georgia to supplement water drained from Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona. Georgia lawmakers wished to change the Tennessee-Georgia state line because it is based upon a flawed 1818 survey that mistakenly placed Georgia's northern line just short of the Tennessee River.^[8][9]

Cities and towns

• New England
• Rising Fawn
• Trenton
• Wildwood

See also

State of Georgia portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Dade County, Georgia
• Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
4. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
5. ^ http://www.dadesentinel.com/content.aspx?module=ContentItem&ID=174489&MemberID=1338
6. ^ See Coulter, E. Merton. "The Myth of Dade County's Seceding from Georgia in 1860." http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gadade/resources.htm
7. ^ http://www.valuable-coin-stories.com/georgia-quarters.html
8. ^ Bluestein, Greg - Forgotten Ga. county now in spotlight over water rights. Associated Press, April 28, 2008
9. ^ Shearer, Lee - Tennessee-Georgia border dispute derided. The Athens Banner-Herald, March 3, 2008

Coordinates: 34°51′N 85°30′W / 34.85°N 85.50°W / 34.85; -85.50