The earliest census we have for Baldwin County is the 1820 census, but land grant lists and militia lists exist as early as 1784. In 1783, the Oconee River Basin was the western boundary of Georgia and a source of opportunity for those heading west. George Galpin, a trader from the Augusta area, established a trading post at Old Town on the Ogeechee River to the east in the 1760's. His daughter, Martha H., married John Milledge in 1786 and Abner Hammond, also from the Edgefield County area, was one of the early settlers.
Early forts in the area included Rock Landing (1789 -1793) Fort Fidius (1793 - 1797), and Fort Wilkinson (1797 - ? 1850).
Many of Georgia's most notable residents have called Milledgeville home. U.S. representative Carl Vinson, who served for fifty years in the U.S. Congress, was born in Baldwin County. Comedian Oliver Hardy began his career in the Milledgeville Opera House. Acclaimed novelist and short-story author Flannery O'Connor wrote many of her works while living in Milledgeville. O'Connor is buried in her family plot in Milledgeville's historic Memory Hill Cemetery.
