For pre-formatted natality & mortality data please see Vital Statistics Reports (VSR).

For other health data resources please see the Health Data & Info section.

Health Care
Lamar County had 8 licensed nursing home beds per 100 persons in 1999, compared with the state average of 5.5 per 100 persons. In 1999, the number of physicians in the county per 10,000 persons was 3.4, compared to the state average of 19.3. For more community indicators, please go to OASIS .

History*

Lamar County was created in 1920 from portions of Monroe and Pike counties and is named for Lucius Quintus Cinncinatus Lamar, a Confederate Army colonel, Secretary of the Interior under Grover Cleveland, and a Supreme Court Justice.

Lamar County is home to Gordon College, a two-year unit of the University System of Georgia. Gordon College had a 1992 enrollment of 1,914. It was known as Gordon Military College from 1927 to 1972.

The history of Barnesville includes a period in which the city was designated "Buggy Capitol of the World." Around the turn of the century, Barnesville had four buggy companies. The "Barnesville Buggy Days" festival has grown to become one of Georgia's largest, attracting over 50,000 people.