# Screven County, Georgia

Screven County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,067. The county seat is Sylvania.

## History

The county was created on December 14, 1793, and was named for General James Screven, who died fighting in Georgia during the American Revolutionary War. Some wartime accounts used the alternate spelling of "Scriven" for the general, and the county's name was often spelled that way in its early history, as reflected on 19th-century Georgia maps.
Sylvania became the county seat in 1847, moved from Jacksonborough, by an act of State legislation. The Screven County Courthouse, built in 1964, is the fourth courthouse to serve Screven County.

## Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 656 square miles (1,700 km$^2$), of which 645 square miles (1,670 km$^2$) is land and 11 square miles (28 km$^2$) (1.6%) is water. The Savannah River borders the eastern side of the county, and the Ogeechee River borders the southwest portion. Elevation varies to around 40 feet on the Savannah river to 320 feet at the Bay Branch community, located a few miles west of Sylvania. Pine, oak, dogwood, and other trees prevalent to the South can be found in Screven County.
The very northern portion of Screven County, defined by a line running from Girard southeast and parallel to State Route 24 to the South Carolina border, is located in the Middle Savannah River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin. A north-central section of the county, from Sylvania north and centered on Hiltonia, is located in the Brier Creek sub-basin of the same Savannah River basin. The southern portion of Screven County, from Newington running northwest through Sylvania, is located in the Upper Ogeechee River sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin. The remaining southeastern corner of the county is located in the Lower Savannah River sub-basin of the larger Savannah River basin.

### Major highways

* US 301
* US 301 Bus.
* SR 17
* SR 21
* SR 21 Bus.
* SR 24
* SR 73

### Adjacent counties

* Allendale County, South Carolina (north)
* Hampton County, South Carolina (east)
* Effingham County (southeast)
* Bulloch County (southwest)
* Jenkins County (west)
* Burke County (northwest)

## Communities
### Cities

* Hiltonia
* Oliver
* Sylvania

### Towns

* Newington
* Rocky Ford

### Unincorporated

* Cooperville
* Dover
* Halcyondale
* Millhaven

## Demographics

Screven County racial composition as of 2020 :
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
| White (non-Hispanic) | 8,018 | 57.0% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 5,285 | 37.57% |
| Native American | 39 | 0.28% |
| Asian | 61 | 0.43% |
| Pacific Islander | 3 | 0.02% |
| Other/Mixed | 374 | 2.66% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 287 | 2.04% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,067 people, 5,098 households, and 3,395 families residing in the county.

## Politics

With the exception of 1928, Democrats carried the county in every election up until 1960. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton both carried the county twice. Since 2000, the county always votes with the Republicans.
United States presidential election results for Screven County, Georgia :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 4,325 | 62.50% | 2,581 | 37.30% | 14 | 0.20% |
| 2020 | 3,915 | 59.06% | 2,661 | 40.14% | 53 | 0.80% |
| 2016 | 3,305 | 57.83% | 2,300 | 40.24% | 110 | 1.92% |
| 2012 | 3,287 | 53.79% | 2,774 | 45.39% | 50 | 0.82% |
| 2008 | 3,423 | 52.77% | 3,024 | 46.62% | 40 | 0.62% |
| 2004 | 3,360 | 56.68% | 2,534 | 42.75% | 34 | 0.57% |
| 2000 | 2,461 | 52.15% | 2,233 | 47.32% | 25 | 0.53% |
| 1996 | 1,862 | 44.13% | 2,087 | 49.47% | 270 | 6.40% |
| 1992 | 1,705 | 39.05% | 1,940 | 44.43% | 721 | 16.51% |
| 1988 | 2,178 | 59.52% | 1,461 | 39.93% | 20 | 0.55% |
| 1984 | 2,583 | 59.65% | 1,747 | 40.35% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1980 | 1,490 | 40.67% | 2,117 | 57.78% | 57 | 1.56% |
| 1976 | 1,176 | 35.17% | 2,168 | 64.83% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1972 | 2,402 | 80.69% | 575 | 19.31% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1968 | 916 | 22.04% | 1,411 | 33.94% | 1,830 | 44.02% |
| 1964 | 2,260 | 60.98% | 1,446 | 39.02% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 957 | 39.11% | 1,490 | 60.89% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 521 | 28.12% | 1,332 | 71.88% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1952 | 692 | 30.40% | 1,584 | 69.60% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 172 | 11.37% | 838 | 55.39% | 503 | 33.25% |
| 1944 | 197 | 18.04% | 895 | 81.96% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 100 | 7.82% | 1,174 | 91.79% | 5 | 0.39% |
| 1936 | 61 | 6.05% | 933 | 92.47% | 15 | 1.49% |
| 1932 | 46 | 8.26% | 508 | 91.20% | 3 | 0.54% |
| 1928 | 706 | 70.18% | 300 | 29.82% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 288 | 25.15% | 821 | 71.70% | 36 | 3.14% |
| 1920 | 260 | 28.92% | 639 | 71.08% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1916 | 98 | 12.91% | 625 | 82.35% | 36 | 4.74% |
| 1912 | 138 | 22.29% | 460 | 74.31% | 21 | 3.39% |

## Notable people

* John Abbot, naturalist, entomologist, wrote The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia
* Lee Rogers Berger, explorer, paleoanthropologist
* Edward Junius Black, member of the United States House of Representatives (1839–1841; 1842–1845)
* Bucky Dent, New York Yankees shortstop (born in Savannah) but spent his early years in Sylvania
* Francys Johnson, senior NAACP official
* Macay McBride, Major League Baseball pitcher
* John R. McKinney, Georgia's most decorated World War II hero
* Louie De Votie Newton, pastor and president of the Southern Baptist Convention
* Sam Sommers, former NASCAR Driver, former Georgia Late Model Racing Champion, and Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member