Fannin County, Georgia: History
Before European colonization, the area that is now Fannin County was inhabited by the Cherokee people and other Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.
Fannin County was founded on January 12, 1854, taken from 396 square miles that were previously part of Gilmer and Union counties. The county is named for Georgia native James W. Fannin, who fought and died during the Texas Revolution.
Although the county was majority pro-secession at the beginning of the Civil War, wartime conditions inspired a notable number of anti-Confederate "Tories" as early as 1862, many of whom re-located to pro-Union areas of Tennessee for the duration. This contributed to the postwar establishment of a countywide Republican Party earlier and more sustained than almost any other county in Georgia. Fannin County was the only county in Georgia to vote against Franklin Roosevelt's Democratic Party in the 1936 and 1940 elections.