A year after Columbia County's creation, the General Assembly provided for commissioners to select the site and provide for construction of a courthouse and jail for the county (Ga. Laws 1791, p. 31). Cobbham briefly served as county seat, though it is not clear what was used as the courthouse. In 1791 or 1792, the small settlement of Kiokee (Kioka) was designated county seat, and a courthouse was built here. Around 1792, William Appling, who owned land some eight miles southwest of Kiokee, offered the county five acres on which a new courthouse and jail could be constructed. County officials accepted his offer and in 1793 erected a courthouse at the site which now bore Appling's name. In 1806, the General Assembly authorized Columbia County to levy a special tax for construction of a new courthouse (Ga. Laws 1806, p. 28), and again in 1807 (Ga. Laws 1807, p. 103). Finally, a new courthouse was completed in 1812. This structure became the core of a new courthouse built in 1856. The original solid wood doors from the earlier courthouse are still in use today.
By the 1970s, the old courthouse was in a terrible state of repair. The roof leaked, paint on the walls was peeling, and the building had neither air conditioning nor central heat. Also, the county was undergoing a population boom--and the small courthouse was no longer adequate to house county government. Third, Appling was now removed from the area near the Columbia-Richmond county boundary--where most of the population growth was occurring.
After the fire marshal condemned the courthouse was unsafe in 1977, the superior court judge ordered the county commission to undertake needed repairs and improvements. After repeated delays, commissioners finally authorized renovation of the upstairs portion of the historic courthouse (which was completed in 1980). However, in recognition of the population and economic growth taking place in the eastern potions of the county, commissioners authorized construction of a county government complex in Evans known as the Columbia County Government Center. As the county continued to grow in population, additional facilities were soon needed. A new Columbia County Government Complex Addition, built immediately behind the Government Center in Evans, was dedicated in Aug. 1994. One problem complicating the location of the courthouse in Columbia County was the long-standing requirement under Georgia law that superior court sessions must be held at the county seat and courthouse of each county not less than twice a year. This meant that Columbia County superior court had to be held at the courthouse in Appling, which is the legal county seat. However, the 1998 General Assembly enacted legislation providing that in any Georgia county where the county seat is located in an unincorporated area of the county, and that county's governing authority determines by resolution that the citizens of the county would be best served by constructing a courthouse annex or satellite courthouse outside the county seat, superior court sessions may legally be held at such annex or satellite. Because Appling lost its incorporated status in 1995, it was now legal for Columbia County to build a courthouse annex in Evans.
Following the passage of this legislation, Columbia County voters in 1998 approved a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) to fund construction of a new 70,000-square-foot Columbia County Courthouse Annex adjacent to the Government Center in Evans Construction of the facility began in November 1999. When completed in November 2001, this new facility will house the magistrate court, juvenile court, clerk of superior court, probate court, superior court judges, district attorney, probation office, and court administrator on the first floor. Located on the second floor will be a jury assembly room, a small courtroom, two medium-size courtrooms, and a large courtroom.
After the new Columbia County Courthouse Annex in Evans is completed, SPLOST funds will be used to restore the old 1856 courthouse in Appling so that superior court can meet there on a limited basis in the future.
County History: Columbia County was created from Richmond County on Dec. 10, 1790 by the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1790, p. 9). Georgia's 12th county was named for Christopher Columbus. Originally comprising the northern portion of Richmond County, the area initially was settled by Quakers who refused to fight in the Revolutionary War, Baptists, and others. After the war, many new settlers moved into Georgia's backcountry -- which soon led to pressure to move the county seat from Augusta to a more central and convenient location. The matter was finally resolved when the legislature decided to divide Richmond County into two counties. Shortly thereafter, the legislature created Warren County from western portions of Columbia County (Ga. Laws 1793, p. 10). In 1870, additional portions of western Columbia County were used to create McDuffie County (Ga. Laws 1870, p. 20).
An interesting newspaper article from The Augusta Chronicle (
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