Formed from part of Baker County, Mitchell County was created on December 21, 1857, by an act of the Georgia legislature and is the state’s 123rd county. It was named either for Henry Mitchell, a general in the Revolutionary War (1775-83), or for David B. Mitchell, who served twice as Georgia’s governor in the early 1800s; historical sources differ. Camilla, the county seat, was incorporated on December 14, 1858.

Three other incorporated cities lie within Mitchell County’s 512 square miles: Baconton, Pelham, and Sale City. County government consists of a commission with an administrator. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 21,755. Agricultural output consists primarily of cotton, peanuts, pecans, sweet corn, and soybeans. In addition to the 134-acre Camilla Industrial Park South, the county seat has a public airport with a 4,000-foot lighted asphalt runway, aircraft tie-down, and an airframe and power plant repair facility.

Pecan Grove
Pecan Grove
Courtesy of Georgia Archives.

Southwest Georgia Technical College (later Southern Regional Technical College) maintains a satellite campus in Camilla.

Local attractions include the restored railroad depots in Camilla and Pelham and the Hand Trading Company building in Pelham. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places are the Bacon Family Homestead; the James Price McRee House, a Classical Revival–style house built at the turn of the twentieth century; and the Mount Enon Church and Cemetery, built in the mid-1800s and no longer in use. Other nationally recognized sites include historic districts in Baconton, Camilla, and Pelham, as well as the South Railroad and the Walton Street–Church Street historic districts, both in Baconton.

Mitchell County Courthouse
Mitchell County Courthouse
Courtesy of Don Bowman

In addition to historic landmarks, Mitchell County was the site of the Camilla Massacre. On September 19, 1868, during Reconstruction, a Republican political rally brought a large group of African Americans to Camilla, where local whites opened fire on them, killing about a dozen men and wounding some thirty more.

Gnat Days Festival
Gnat Days Festival
Courtesy of Camilla Chamber of Commerce

Mitchell County hosts a Christmas parade, the Gnat Days Festival in May, and the Camilla Pro Invitational Tennis Tournament, which has attracted dozens of touring tennis professionals each June since 1970.

Share Snippet Copy Copy with Citation

Updated Recently

A More Perfect Union

The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Image

Pecan Grove

Pecan Grove

A farmer stands in a Mitchell County pecan grove in the early twentieth century. The grove was one of the first to be planted in the county. Pecans, along with cotton, peanuts, and soybeans, continue to be an important agricultural product in Mitchell County.

Courtesy of Georgia Archives, Vanishing Georgia, #
mit009.

View on partner site

Mitchell County Courthouse

Mitchell County Courthouse

Completed in 1937, the Mitchell County Courthouse includes elements of both art deco and stripped classical architectural styles. It is the fourth courthouse to be built in the county.

Courtesy of Don Bowman

Gnat Days Festival

Gnat Days Festival

Shoppers browse the "Gnat Market" in downtown Camilla during the 2005 Gnat Days Festival. The festival takes place each May and includes a 5K run/walk, a bicycle race, and a pet show.

Courtesy of Camilla Chamber of Commerce