Fulton to Merge with Milton and Campbell Jan 1

Did you ever notice, or wonder why Fulton County looks so gerrymandered? You can look at a map of all Georgia counties and it sticks out like a sore thumb. You can tell someone was playing games a long time ago. (something looks odd about Charlton and Ware counties too). Well until 1932, Fulton County was a regular county, but they merged two other counties (Milton and Campbell) into it, hence the oddly-shaped boundaries.

Roswell, which was originally part of Cobb County, also got merged into Fulton County as part of this deal.

Fulton to Merge with Milton and Campbell Jan 1

New Union is Voted by 1,936 to 1,077 - County to Be Second Largest

Milton and Campbell Counties will be merged with Fulton on January 1, 1932, increasing the area of the county to 341 square miles and making it the second largest in the state, and bringing its population up to 334,317, far overtopping any other county in Georgia.

Voters of Fulton county Wednesday approved the Milton-Fulton merger 1,936 to 1,077 in a special referendum election in which little interest was displayed. More than 29,000 persons were qualified to vote. The city of Atlanta voted 1,220 to 566 for the merger, while the county precincts approved it 719 to 512.

Consolidation of Campbell county was approved by the voters of Fulton several months ago. Both Campbell and Milton counties voted for the mergers by far more than the necessary two-thirds majority. Only a simple majority of those voting was necessary in Fulton.

Milton County, created in 1857, was named for Homer V. Milton. It is the second smallest county in the state, with 137 square miles of territory, a population of 6,370, and taxable property values of $2,208,000. Campbell couty has an area of 211 square miles and a population of 9000.

All county offices in Milton and Campbell will be abolished January 1, 1932, when the mergers became effective on proclamation of Governow Richard B. Russell, Jr., and all litigation will be transferred to the courts of Fulton County. All county property also will be turned over to Fulton.

The double merger will reduce the number of Georgia Counties from 161 to 159, in line with the movement to cut the cost of government by consolidating political units.