United States, Georgia, Oconee County, 33.83494, -83.43705Cooksey, Elizabeth B.2005-11-11Encyclopedia article about Oconee County, Georgia. Oconee County comprises 186 square miles in northeast Georgia. The state's 137th county, it was created from part of western Clarke County in 1875 by the Georgia General Assembly. Oconee County was named for the river flowing along part of its eastern border, whose name in turn comes from a Native American word meaning "spring of the hills." The new county was created to satisfy western Clarke County residents' demand for their own county after the county seat moved from the less populous Watkinsville to the thriving university town of Athens in 1872.text/htmlengForms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/Forms part of the New Georgia Encyclopedia.Counties--GeorgiaOconee CountyText