Community Description and Interpretation of Data
Gwinnett County, in the Atlanta Metropolitan area, has been one of the fastest growing counties in the United States since the 1970s. According to the 2012 U.S. census, its population is 842,046, a significant increase from the 2000 population of 588,448. As of 2012, there are 1,871 people per square mile (population density). According to st53.34% are white, 23.34% black, 10.50% are Asian, 0.50% is Native American, 11.95% claim other, 20.12% claim Hispanic ethnicity. 40.14% of people are married and have children, 15.15% have children but are single. Avrage household size is 2.98% with median age 33.7. Gwinnett County's close proximity to downtown Atlanta, along with its commitment to expansion of both economic and civic infrastructures, has contributed to its rapid growth. Interstates 85 and 985 traverse the county, as do numerous highways. Created from land ceded by the Chorekee and Creek Indians, Gwinnett was established on December 15, 1818. By 1820 Georgia's forty-fourth county had a population of 4,589. Lawrenceville, the county seat, was incorporated on December 15, 1821, and is the oldest city in the county. Other incorporated cities in Gwinnett are Berkeley Lake, Buford, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lilburn, Norcross, Snellville, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, as well as parts of Auburn, Braselton, Loganville, and Rest Haven.
The county was named Button Gwinnett, one of Georgia's three signers of the Declaration of Independence. Farming, particularly, cotton was the main industry, with slave labor contributing to the wealth of the area. The Civil war (1861-65) destroyed much of that economic prosperity but actually caused little physical damage in the county. With the completion of the Southern Railroad in 1871, and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1892, Dacula, Lilburn, and other new towns began to spring up. By 1900, the population had more than doubled to 25,585 people. In 1957, the Buford Dam was completed. It blocks the Chattahoochee River (which forms the northwest border of the county) to form Lake Lanier, thereby occasioning the rise in tourism as a significant industry for Gwinnett County.
Gwinnett County boasts numerous recreational opportunities. Outdoor options include the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Vines Botanical Gardens in Loganville, the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn (home of General Beauregard Lee, the groundhog prognosticator of spring for the South), and Stone Mountain Park, on Gwinnett's border with DeKalb County. Sporting venues include the Road Atlanta raceway and the Ice Forum. Museums are as diverse as the Lanier Museum of Natural History in Buford, the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, and the Gwinnett History Museum in Lawrenceville, housed in the circa 1855 Lawrenceville Female Seminary. The Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center in Duluth is a convenient venue for exhibitions (such as woodworking, craft, and home and garden shows) and performances in the Arena and the Performing Arts Center. The county also includes three sizable indoor malls, including the Mall of Georgia in Buford, the largest mall in the