Pickens County is the Marble Capitol of Georgia, and is also the seventh fastest growing county in the state.

Established in 1853, Pickens County was named for South Carolina military leader and politician Andrew Pickens, who fought the Cherokee in 1760 and 1782. During the Revolution he was awarded a sword for the victory at Cowpens. He also served in the state house. Some locals claim that the name is something of a joke and was actually taken because the county got the "pickin's", a Georgia term implying the best, of Cherokee and Gilmer Counties when parts of both counties were split off to form Pickens.

At the beginning of the Appalachian Mountains, the story of present-day Pickens County begins with the Cherokee Indians, who had a major settlement here (The Long Swamp Branch). These American Indians were forced to cede land further east as punishment for siding with the British during the Revolutionary War. In 1782, Col. Pickens hung 6 loyalists near present-day Nelson. Pickens was one of the earliest counties with white encroachers (probably pre-Revolution) near Talking Rock. These early settlers later ran inns and taverns to accommodate the travelers on the Old Federal Highway which bisected the county. In the spring of 1838 the tribe was rounded up, along with other Cherokee and herded into Talking Rock Fort (also known as Fort Newnan) and Fort Buffington(near Canton, Ga.), Removal Forts until they moved north to Rattlesnake Springs (now Tennessee) and began a journey to Oklahoma on The Trail of Tears.

Sam Tate, a settler from Gainesville, won parcels of land in Pickens County during the Land Lottery of 1832. Packing twelve children and his wife in a wagon, Tate moved to the county and built a home. As early as 1836 marble was being quarried in Jasper. Over the next 25 years this area changed little. In 1861, to protest the secession of the state, residents here flew the Union flag for nearly a month. During the Civil War Pickens County remained strongly pro-Union, even after the initial Confederate victories.

The North Georgia railroad reached Jasper in 1883. Although this gave local farmers an additional outlet for the agricultural products raised in the area, moonshine would be economically important well into the 20th century. About this time Stephen Tate, son of Sam Tate, began to mine significant amounts of marble. Col. Sam Tate, named for his grandfather, inherited his father's marble quarry upon his death. He began to combine local quarries into a company he called Georgia Marble. By 1917 the consolidation was complete and in 1923 he began work on his palatial estate known as the "Pink Palace" on the site of the Harnage House. He personally selecting the marble used to build the home from a streak of rare pink marble from local quarry over a 4-year period. Today Pickens is enjoying a new boom. Jasper has become a popular retirement community, serviced by I-575. Marble production continues to this day, and the western part of the county supports significant agriculture.