Name derivation:Named in honor of Lord Effingham, a friend of James Oglethorpe and member of the House of Lords who refused to serve the crown in America. He is generally viewed a being pro-Independence.
Acquisition: Creek cession of May 20, 1733
Taken from: Original county; parishes of St. Matthew and St. Philip before the Revolution
Counties created from:Screven County
Cities: Springfield (county seat)
Web sites:
National Register of Historic Places in Effingham County, Georgia
Effingham County, Georgia, links

History and descriptionOne of the oldest inhabited places in the western hemisphere, Effingham County can also lay claim to being the location of the second town in Georgia. James Oglethorpe had newly arrived Salzburgers (Lutherans who lived in the German town of Salzburg and were persecuted by the Catholic majority) sail up the Savannah River to a place they called Ebenezer. They relocated the town to New Ebenezer. In 1741 Effingham was included in Savannah County when the trustees split the state into 2 counties. The two counties ended in 1743. In 1758 St. Phillips and St. Marks Parish were formed to assist the royal governor. Effingham was carved from these two parishes.

Effingham, a village in county Surrey, is an old English name. Lord Effingham, for whom the county is named, refused to serve the British Army when ordered to lead troops in America because he agreed with the colonists.