Brooks County, Georgia

Brooks County
County
Brooks County Courthouse in Quitman
Location within the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 30°43′44″N 83°42′54″W / 30.7289°N 83.715°W / 30.7289; -83.715
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Founded	December 11, 1858; 165 years ago (1858-12-11)
Named for	Preston Brooks
Seat	Quitman
Largest city	Quitman
Area
• Total	498 sq mi (1,290 km2)
• Land	493 sq mi (1,280 km2)
• Water	4.8 sq mi (12 km2)  1.0%
Population  (2020)
• Total	16,301
• Density	33/sq mi (13/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	8th
Website	www.brookscountyga.gov

Brooks County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia, on its southern border with Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,301.^[1] The county seat is Quitman.^[2] The county was created in 1858 from portions of Lowndes and Thomas counties by an act of the Georgia General Assembly and was named for pro-slavery U.S. Representative Preston Brooks, after he severely beat abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner with a cane for delivering a speech attacking slavery.

In the peak lynching era, from 1880 to 1930, this county had 20 lynchings, the third-highest number of any county in Georgia, which was the state with the highest number of lynchings in the country. All of the victims in Georgia were black, including at least 13 killed in the May 1918 lynching rampage in this county, starting with the murders of Hayes Turner, and shortly after of his pregnant wife Mary Turner.

Brooks County is included in the Valdosta metropolitan statistical area.