City of Covington Ga Zip codes: 30209, 30267 Population in 1990: 10,000 dwellings: 4000 Land area: 12 sq miles County seat of Newton County, North Central Georgia, 35 miles East South East of Atlanta
Orginally incorporated 1822, as a city in 1854 and as a County Seat in 1882. Once part of the Creek Indian Nation, Covington was founded in 1822 and named in honor of General Leonard Covington, an American Revolutionary soldier. Early economics based on cotton with mill in Porterdale on the Yellow River.
Covington Ga was involved in the Civil War when on the evening of July 20, 1864, Union forces under Brigadier General Kenner Garrard was ordered to burn bridges over the Yellow and Alcovy Rivers by General Sherman, and to destroy the railroad. This cut trade and communication between Augusta and Atlanta. This was part of Sherman’s infamous “March to the Sea.”
The town square in Covington Ga was a frequent movie backdrop for the TV show “In the Heat of the Night” and “The Dukes of Hazard” was filmed nearby. The square is surrounded by antebellum and Victorian-era homes, churches, parks, and the Downtown Square.
In early history the Creek Indians roamed the land as the first English settlers landed on the coast of Georgia in 1733. In 1813 Georgia Governor Thorp negotiated a treaty whereby the Creek Indians relinquished all claim to the land.. Named in honor of Sergeant John Newton, a Revolutionary Soldier, Newton County was formed by the Georgia General Assembly on December 24, 1821. First called Newtonborough, Covington was renamed for General Leonard Covington of the American Revolution, the Indian War and the War of 1812.
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