Towns County, Georgia

Towns County is a county in Georgia, United States, about 100 miles north of Atlanta in the
Blue Ridge Mountains, hard against the North Carolina line. It had a population of 12,493 at the
2020 census, an estimated 13,285 by 2025, and covers 172 square miles (450 km2) centred near
34°55′N 83°44′W.

Hiawassee is the county seat; its postal code is 30546. The county holds 2 cities, 1 census
designated place and 6 unincorporated communities, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is
13281.

Towns & Villages in Towns County

Towns County has 9 named places on record: 2 incorporated cities, 1 census designated place
(CDP) and 6 unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. Georgia has no
civil townships, so places here sit directly under county government.

Young Harris is the county’s largest incorporated place, ahead of the seat, Hiawassee —
its population grew around Young Harris College at the west end of the county. Tate City, in a
remote valley on the Tallulah River near the North Carolina border, is the smallest place on this
list at 27 residents.

ZIP Codes

• 30546 — Hiawassee (covers the county seat, Chatuge Lake’s south shore and Gumlog)
• 30582 — Young Harris (covers Young Harris College and Macedonia)

Tate City, Jacksonville, Mountain Scene, Campagne and Townsend Mill have no ZIP code of their
own; mail there is delivered under the Hiawassee or Young Harris code, depending on which side of
the county the community sits.

Geography

Towns County sits in the Blue Ridge Mountains of far northeast Georgia, the state’s
smallest county by area outside metro Atlanta’s inner ring. Of its 172 square miles, 167 are
land and 5.4 are water, about 3.2 percent — almost all of it Lake Chatuge, formed in 1942
when the Tennessee Valley Authority dammed the Hiwassee River. The lake straddles the Georgia
— North Carolina line and rings Hiawassee’s north side. Brasstown Bald, Georgia’s
highest point at 4,784 feet, rises just south of the county in neighboring Union and Towns
territory, and the Tallulah River cuts through Tate City’s valley in the county’s
northeast corner.

Clay County, North Carolina, borders Towns to the north across the state line. Rabun County
lies to the east, Habersham County to the southeast, White County to the south, and Union County
to the west. Clay County,
Rabun County, Habersham County, White County and Union County all border Towns
directly.

Demographics

Towns County had a population of 12,493 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 13,285 residents by 2025. Young Harris and Hiawassee are the two largest communities,
together accounting for a small share of the county’s mostly rural, unincorporated
population — more than four in five residents live outside either city limit. Median
household income runs $59,135 (2024, Data USA), well below Georgia’s statewide figure of
$74,632 (2023 ACS), reflecting the county’s retiree-heavy, mountain-resort economy. Median
age is 57.2, among the oldest in Georgia. Population density works out to roughly 75 people per
square mile of land, low even by rural-Georgia standards.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 576 people,
followed closely by retail trade at 572 and construction at 505. Chatuge Regional Hospital, in
Hiawassee, is the county’s main health care employer. Young Harris College, a Methodist-
affiliated liberal arts school founded in 1886, anchors the town of Young Harris with about 1,400
undergraduates and is one of the county’s largest employers outright. Tourism tied to Lake
Chatuge and the Blue Ridge Mountains — second homes, lake rentals, hiking on the Appalachian
Trail corridor to the north — drives much of the retail and service sector. The
county’s biggest annual event is the Georgia Mountain Fair, held each summer at the Georgia
Mountain Fairgrounds in Hiawassee.

History

Georgia’s legislature established Towns County on 6 March 1856, naming it for George W.
Towns, a lawyer, legislator and Georgia governor. Before the county was formed, the Unicoi
Turnpike ran through the area as a trade route, and a U.S. government fur-trade factory operated
nearby from 1807 to 1811 while the land was still Cherokee territory. Hiawassee was settled around
1820 and incorporated as a city in 1916. Young Harris took its name from Judge Young L. G. Harris,
a benefactor of the college founded there in 1886; the settlement was originally called McTyeire.
In 1942 the Tennessee Valley Authority dammed the Hiwassee River to create Lake Chatuge, flooding
farmland along the river valley and reshaping the county’s northern shoreline. Former
Georgia governor and U.S. senator Zell Miller was born in Young Harris and served as its mayor
from 1959 to 1960.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Towns County. U.S. Route 76 runs east–west through
Hiawassee, and Georgia State Routes 2, 17, 66, 75, 180, 288, 339 and 515 cross the county, with
US 76/GA 515 meeting at Young Harris.

• Blairsville — about 15 miles west
• Clayton — about 25 miles east
• Gainesville — about 60 miles south
• Atlanta — about 100 miles south

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, roughly 100 miles south, is the region’s
nearest major commercial hub. Amtrak has no station in the county; the closest stop is Toccoa, on
the Crescent line, about 45 miles southeast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Towns County located?
It sits in Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, about 100 miles north of Atlanta, against the
North Carolina line, bordered by Clay, Rabun, Habersham, White and Union counties.

What is the population of Towns County?
12,493 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 13,285 by 2025.

How big is Towns County?
172 square miles (450 km2), of which 167 square miles are land and 5.4 square miles are Lake
Chatuge and other water.

What is the county seat of Towns County?
Hiawassee, incorporated in 1916, is the county seat; Young Harris is the county’s largest
city.

How many towns and cities are in Towns County?
Two incorporated cities — Hiawassee and Young Harris — plus the Tate City census
designated place and six unincorporated communities: Gumlog, Jacksonville, Macedonia, Mountain
Scene, Campagne and Townsend Mill.

What ZIP codes does Towns County use?
30546 for Hiawassee and 30582 for Young Harris.

What is Towns County known for?
Lake Chatuge, Young Harris College and the Georgia Mountain Fair, held each summer in
Hiawassee.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Georgia.