Pike County was created in 1822 from Monroe County by the state legislature. Later, parts of Pike County were used to create Upson (1824), Spalding (1851), and Lamar (1920) counties. Pike County, which comprises 218 square miles, and its county seat, Zebulon, are named after Zebulon Pike, a general in the War of 1812 (1812-15) and an explorer of the Louisiana Territory. Pike's name was made famous by his discovery of a Colorado mountain, subsequently named Pikes Peak.
Zebulon was incorporated in 1825, and a two-story wood-frame building was constructed to serve as a courthouse. This building served the county until 1844, when a brick building in the "Greek Temple" style replaced it. This structure was, in turn, replaced by the present courthouse in 1895. Other incorporated towns in Pike County are Concord, Meansville, Molena, and Williamson.
Early white settlers to the area used Indian trails in lieu of roads, but in the 1830s they improved the main trail by laying down planks that could support stagecoaches. This route became known as the Old Plank Road. Another old stagecoach line in Pike County came from Columbus, traversed Pike County up to Indian Springs, and then continued to Augusta. This was known as the Old Alabama Road.
