Henry County: History

Henry County was formed in 1821 from Creek Indian lands. Georgia's 50th county was named for Patrick Henry, whose powerful rhetoric helped push the Colonies into the Revolutionary War. McDonough, the county seat, was named for Captain James McDonough, the victor over the British on Lake Champlain in the War of 1812. The other municipalities are Hampton, Locust Grove and Stockbridge.

Famous individuals from Henry County include James Weldon Johnson, founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and Martin Luther King, Sr., who was born and raised on a farm near Stockbridge.

Henry County hosts several major sporting events each year. The Chick-Fil-A Charity Championship, a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour Event, is held at the Eagles Landing Country Club each April. The Atlanta Motor Speedway, located in Hampton, is home to two major National Association of Stock Car Racing (NASCAR) events.

Several communities in the county host annual fairs or cultural events. The Henry County Fair is held each October in McDonough. McDonough also hosts the Geranium Festival in May. Stockbridge is home to the Old Stockbridge Days Festival in May and Locust Grove celebrates Old Locust Grove Days in May, as well. The Fairview Fall Festival is held each year in early October.

There are several historic places throughout Henry County. The Brown House in McDonough is home to the Henry County Historical Society. Built in 1826, the building was the home of Andrew McBride, a Revolutionary War Veteran from South Carolina. The home became the Brown House Hotel after it was expanded in 1874. The Romanesque style county courthouse, built in 1897, is also located in McDonough. Locust Grove features a century-old hardware store that has been owned and operated by four generations of the Gardner family.

The Panola Mountain State Conservation Park is located east of Stockbridge on the county's border with Rockdale County. The 537-acre park surrounds Panola Mountain, a million-year-old granite monadnock. The South River, which eventually flows into Lake Jackson, also flows through the park.

Henry County: Demographic Information

According to the 1990 Census, the population of Henry County was 58,741 persons. The county's population grew between 1980 and 1990 at a rate of 61.8%, compared with a state average growth rate during the period of 13.2%. The county's projected population for the year 2000 is 84,810 persons.

In Henry County, 88.7% of the residents were white and 10.3% were black, according to the 1990 Census. Hispanics, who may also be identified as either white or black in the Census data, constituted 0.8% of the county’s population. Statewide, 71% of residents were white, 27% were black and 1.7% were Hispanic.

In addition, 30.3% of the county’s residents were age 19 or younger, while 8.4% were age 65 or older. Statewide, 30% were age 19 or younger and 10% were age 65 or older.

In Henry County, the 1990 Census reports 4.5% of households were headed by females and had children under 18 years of age, compared with 8% statewide. Total households with children under 18 comprised 41.8% of all households in the county and 36% of those in the state.

The 1990 Census indicates that 38.1% of the adult population in Henry County had completed high school, which was greater than the state average of 29.6%. A total of 34.8% of the county’s population had at least some college level education compared with the 41.3% state average.

Between 1991 and 1995, an average of 7.3% of students in grades 8 to 12 dropped out of school each year in the county. Statewide, the average percentage of dropouts was 6.7% for the same time period.
Henry County spent an average of $3,607 per pupil for public education each year between 1990 and 1994. This expenditure was less than the statewide average of $4,002.

Between 1989 and 1993, the infant mortality rate (infant deaths per 1,000 live births) was 7 for the county. The statewide rate was 11.3 during the same period.

In 1992, the number of physicians in the county per 1,000 population was 0.55, compared with the 0.8 state average. Henry County had 2.1 hospital beds per 1,000 population in 1994, which was less than the statewide average of 3.6 beds per 1,000 population.
According to the 1990 Census, 78.5% of the housing units in the county were owner occupied. The median value of these units was $81,200. Across the state, 76% of housing units were owner occupied, with a median value of $70,700.

Between 1990 and 1994, the county’s index crime rate (crimes per 100,000 population) was 3,585. Statewide, when moving from the highest index crime rate to the lowest, Henry County ranked number 49. Of this five year average, 7.5% were violent crimes, while 92.5% were non-violent crimes.

In 1992, 72.1% of the adult population in the county was registered to vote. Of those registered, 79.2% voted in the 1992 general election. Statewide, in 1992, 67% of eligible Georgians were registered to vote. Of those registered, 73% voted in the general election that year.

Henry County: Economic Information

According to the Georgia Department of Labor, the largest non-government employers in the county include: Kroger Company, NEC Technologies, and Snapper Power Equipment.

Between 1990 and 1994, Henry County’s annual unemployment rate was lower than the state’s mark, averaging 5% compared with the state’s average of 5.7%. Nationwide, unemployment for the same period averaged 6.5%.

In 1990, 30% of the county’s workforce was employed within the county while the balance, 70%, commuted out of Henry County for employment.

The county per capita income in 1992 was less than that of the state and was less than that of the nation. Henry County’s per capita income was $16,512, as compared with $18,549 for the state and $20,105 for the United States.

Henry County’s median household income in 1989 was $37,550. This amount was greater than the state’s median household income of $29,021 in that same year. Nationally, the median household income in 1989 was $30,056.

In 1993, taxable sales in the county amounted to $8,630 per capita. This amount was less than the $10,636 per capita figure for the state as a whole.

Henry County had 935 business establishments in 1991. In the six-year period of 1986-1991, the number of business establishments in the county increased by 37%. Statewide, the number of business establishments increased by 6% during the same period.

According to the Georgia Department of Revenue’s Net Property and Utility Digest, Henry County’s assessed property value amounted to $985,235,185 in 1992, resulting in a per capita assessed property value of $16,773. At the state level, per capita assessed property value in 1992 equaled $16,112.

The newspaper with the largest daily circulation in Henry County is the Atlanta Journal/Constitution. The county is considered part of the Atlanta television market.

During 1989, 6% of the county’s population lived below the poverty level, compared with a statewide level of 15% and a U.S. rate of 13%. In addition, 6% of the children under the age of 18 in the county lived in poverty and 14% of the elderly, persons over age 65, lived below the poverty level. Statewide, in 1989, 20% of all children and 20% of the elderly lived in poverty. Nationally, 19% of all children and 11% of the elderly were considered to be impoverished.

Residents of Henry County received total government transfer payments amounting to $2,029 per capita in 1992, compared with $2,708 per capita statewide.

Henry County: Government Information

From 1991 to 1995, Henry County's average own source revenue per capita was $333. This amount was greater than the average of $325 per capita reported by other counties of similar size and was greater than the overall county average of $326.

Henry County collected an average of $182 per capita in property tax during the past five years. This amount was greater than the average of $162 per capita for other similarly sized counties. For the same period, the average per capita amount of county property tax collected in Georgia was $155. On average, property taxes accounted for 55% of the county's own source revenue during the period of 1991 to 1995.

Between 1991 and 1995, Henry County's yearly general operating expenditures averaged $289 per capita. This amount was greater than the overall county average of $274 per capita during the same period. The average yearly general operating expenditures per capita for similarly sized counties was $254 between 1991 and 1995.

From 1991 to 1995, Henry County had an average of $3,479,000 in long-term debt outstanding each year, resulting in an average per capita debt burden of $53. This amount was less than the $84 per capita average among the 135 counties with outstanding debt during the period and less than the $68 per capita average for the 20 similarly sized counties with outstanding debt.

In 1996, Henry was designated as a tier three county under Georgia's Job Tax Credit Program. Under this classification, eligible companies may receive $500 in tax credits for each new job created in the county.

According to the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, Henry County has a 6-member board of commissioners, with the chairman elected by the voters. The county seat of Henry County is McDonough.