Jasper, Georgia

"The county seat of Pickens County was named for Sergeant William Jasper, an American soldier of Revolutionary War fame, who died on Georgia soil. Before the town was incorporated in 1857, it was a small Long Swamp Valley community of pioneers. Early businesses included a lumber mill, marble plant, harness and shoe shop.

Geographically, the county was unsuited for large plantations of the type that made slave labor essential, and in 1860, this area contained almost no negroes. Thus, at the outbreak of the Civil War, a good many citizens of the County were opposed to Secession, and the Union flag was allowed to float from the courthouse at Jasper for some time after Georgia seceded."

...from the History of Pickens County by Luke E. Tate -- 1935

Old Pickens County Jail built in 1906--now a tourist attraction maintained by the Marble Valley Historical Society

Jasper, Georgia, 1876

In 1876 Jasper was a post village of Pickens County and the county seat. The population of Jasper was 110. The village was 38 miles to Cartersville on the Western and Atlantic railroad. The following businesses were found in the 1876-1877 Georgia State Directory.*

* Georgia State Directory, Containing a Full List of Names of Persons and Firms Engaged in Business in the Cities and Towns of Georgia; A Shipper's Guide; a United States Post Office Directory; State and County Officers; a New Map of the State; A Classified Index of all Business and Professional Persons of the State; and a Business Directory of Chattanooga, Tenn. (Nashville, Tenn.: Wheeler, Marshall & Bruce, 1876), 211-212.

Some postcard views of Jasper and vicinity