| County: | Ware County |
| State: | Georgia |
| Seal: | WareCountyGAseal.png |
| Seal Size: | 90px |
| Seat Wl: | Waycross |
| Largest City Wl: | Waycross |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 908 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 892 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 16 |
| Area Percentage: | 1.7% |
| Census Yr: | 2020 |
| Pop: | 36251 |
| Density Sq Mi: | 41 |
| District: | 1st |
| Ex Image: | Ware County Courthouse, Waycross, GA, US.jpg |
| Ex Image Cap: | Ware County Courthouse in Waycross |
| Time Zone: | Eastern |
| Named For: | Nicholas Ware |
Ware County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,251.[1] The county seat and only incorporated place is Waycross.[2] Ware County is part of the Waycross, Georgia micropolitan statistical area.
Ware County, Georgia's 60th county, was created on December 15, 1824, by an act of the Georgia General Assembly from land that was originally part of Appling County.
The county is named for Nicholas Ware, the mayor of Augusta, Georgia from (1819–1821) and United States Senator who represented Georgia from 1821 until his death in 1824.
Several counties were later created from parts of the original Ware County borders:
Ware County was home to Laura S. Walker (1861-1955) a noted author and conservationist. Walker promoted a comprehensive program of forestry activity, including the establishment of forest parks. She erected markers and monuments along old trails and at historic sites, in Waycross and Ware County so that local history would not be forgotten. Walker wrote three books about the land and history of her home. They are: History of Ware County, Georgia[3] About "Old Okefenåok"[4] and Doctors of Primitive Times and Horse and Buggy Days of Ware County.[5]
An effort to recognize her work culminated in President Franklin D. Roosevelt issuing a proclamation to establish the Laura S. Walker National Park, located in Ware County, in her honor. She was the only living person for whom a state or national park was named.[6] In 1937, the federal government purchased distressed farmland for the park.[7] Work on the park was undertaken by the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1941, the national park was deeded over to Georgia, becoming the State's 13th state park.[8]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and (1.7%) is water.[9] It is the largest county in Georgia by area. A large portion of the county lies within the Okefenokee Swamp and its federally protected areas.
More than half of Ware County, made up by the western half of the southern portion of the county, the land bridge to the northern portion of the county, and the southern and western portion of the northern section of the county, is located in the Upper Suwannee River sub-basin of the Suwannee River basin. The eastern half of the southern portion of Ware County is located in the St. Marys River sub-basin of the St. Marys-Satilla River basin. The rest of the county, from just southeast to north and west of Waycross, is located in the Satilla River sub-basin of the same St. Marys-Satilla River basin.[10]
| White | 22,275 | 61.45% | |
| Black or African American | 10,703 | 29.52% | |
| Native American | 77 | 0.21% | |
| Asian | 333 | 0.92% | |
| Pacific Islander | 18 | 0.05% | |
| Other/Mixed | 1,233 | 3.4% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,612 | 4.45% |