Home to the ancestors of the Creek Indians and named for noted Savannah lawyer and mayor Charles Harris, Harris County was created from Muscogee and Troup counties in 1827 by an act of the General Assembly. Hamilton was incorporated and designated county seat in 1828.

Harris County has a wealth of very significant historic structures, ranging from pre-antebellum to high Victorian. The Harris County Courthouse, Duke Log House, Hamilton Baptist Church, Sweet Home Plantation and Callaway Home are among the Harris County buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The historic Mountain Hill Schoolhouse was a restoration project taken on by a citizen-led group. The school was where the legendary Chet Atkins (guitar player and innovator of the "Nashville" sound in country music) attended school and first performed. Facing the demolition of this historic building, this group raised government-matched funds to restore the building, and it has now found new life as a library.

All of these historic places help keep the Southern culture of Harris County alive.

The surrounding geology of Harris County holds a unique place in the Earth’s history. Pine Mountain Ridge and Oak Mountain Ridge, which start near the Chattahoochee River on the west and run east to the Flint River, are theorized to be among the oldest mountains in the world.

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