DODGE COUNTY, GA - HISTORY Early History of Dodge County

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Dodge County History

Dodge County was created on Oct. 26, 1870 by an act of
the General Assembly (Ga. Laws 1870, p. 18). Formed
from portions of Montgomery, Pulaski, and Telfair
counties.Dodge County's borders with Pulaski and
Telfair counties were adjusted in 1872, 1874, 1875,
and 1876. 

Georgia's 136th county was named for former New York
congressman and industrialist William Dodge (1805-
1883). After the Civil War, Dodge served one term in
Congress and then began purchasing large amounts of
land in the area that would become Dodge County. Here,
he established a number of lumber mills and is
credited as one of the pioneers of Georgia's timber
industry.

The act creating Dodge County directed that its county
seat would be station No. 13 on the Macon & Brunswick
Railroad, which the act also recognized as being known
as Eastman. The community that would eventually become
Eastman was first settled around 1840. When the route
of the Macon & Brunswick Railroad came through after
the Civil War, the settlement became a train depot
known as Station No. 13. In 1870, the town was named
for William P. Eastman, a business associate of
William Dodge who settled here that year. Eastman was
incorporated on Oct. 27, 1870 by an act of the General
Assembly (Ga. Laws 1870, p. 187).