A portion of Gwinnett in 1914 was taken and joined with parts of Hall and Jackson Counties to create Barrow County. In the mid-1950s, the Chattahoochee River backed up behind the NEW Buford Dam and Lake Lanier covered several hundred acres of Gwinnett County.

In 1820, Isham Williams built a temporary log courthouse for $56 on Land Lot 143 near what would later become Lawrenceville. Due to a failure to agree on a purchase price for Williams' land this was cause of yet another move for the courthouse.

Elisha Winn purchased 250 acres in Land Lot 146 for $200 from John Breedlove. A second temporary log courthouse was built on this land in what became Lawrenceville, and this temporary courthouse served until the first permanent courthouse was completed in 1824 at a cost of $4000.

The permanent courthouse burned in 1871, and many records were destroyed in the fire. A second permanent courthouse was built on the square in Lawrenceville in 1872. However, this building proved to be so inadequate that it was torn down in 1884 and replaced in 1885 with the building now known as the Historic Courthouse. The courthouse on the square served as the center of Gwinnett government operations until the opening of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in 1988.

GWINNETT TODAY -- According to the Atlanta Regional Commission, the county gained about 24,700 new residents in 1999, bringing Gwinnett’s population to approximately 523,900.