Dooly County was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on May 15, 1821. It was one of the original landlot counties created from land ceded from the Creek Nation. The County Seat is Vienna, Georgia.
The entire county of Crisp and parts of Macon, Pulaski, Turner, Wilcox and Worth counties were formed from Dooly's original borders.
The County is named for Colonel John Dooly, a Georgia revolutionary war hero who helped prosecute Tories in 1779 and was murdered by them the following year.
Notable Dooly County residents include former governor George Busbee; former U.S. senator Walter F. George; Jody Powell, press secretary and aide to Jimmy Carter during his governorship and U.S. presidency; and Roger Kingdom, an Olympic gold medalist in track and field.
Recently, Dooly County has enjoyed some measure of fame due to the success of rookie NASCAR driver David Ragan, who originally hails from Unadilla, GA. Ragan presently drives the #6 AAA Ford car in the Nextel Cup circuit for Jack Rousch's Rousch-Fenway Racing team.
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,525 people, 3,909 households, and 2,767 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile (11/km²). There were 4,499 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 45.97% White, 49.54% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 2.88% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. 4.66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 3,909 households out of which 33.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.10% were married couples living together, 20.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.20% were non-families. 25.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 22.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 109.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.70 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $27,980, and the median income for a family was $35,337. Males had a median income of $26,670 versus $19,076 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,628. About 18.00% of families and 22.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.50% of those under age 18 and 21.20% of those age 65 or over.