Upson County was founded in 1824 by act of the Georgia legislature and named for a well known and liked young lawyer, Stephen Upson, who had died before reaching his full potential. In 1825 the area was open to more settlement following the ceding of Lower Creek Indian lands to the State of Georgia by Chief William McIntosh. McIntosh was the son of a Creek woman named Senoia and Tory Captain William McIntosh of Savannah. Interestingly, Chief McIntosh was a commissioned Brigadier General in the US Army and first cousin to then Georgia Governor, George M. Troup. Chief McIntosh was killed by fellow Creeks because of his collaboration with the government for personal gain.  The city of Thomaston was created in 1825. Thomaston was named for War of 1812 hero, General Jett Thomas.

A few large plantations worked by slaves were located in the southern part of Upson County, but most of the farms in Upson were small. Because Upson is on the geologic "fall line," there are many swift flowing creeks. On these creeks there were water driven grist mills, saw mills and cotton gins. The county even had a large water powered textile mill located in the now disappeared town of Waymanville. Although the railroad never went through Upson County, a spur was opened in 1856, going from Thomaston to Barnesville, that connects to the Central of Georgia Railroad. The city of The Rock, located between Thomaston and Barnesville, obtained its name at this time as the train would leave the mail bag on a large rock by the tracks and people began to address the mail to that area as simply "the rock."

In April of 1865, a unit of Wilson's Raiders Calvary came through Thomaston and burned many of the mills and cotton stores. In June of 1865, the Union occupiers brought many of the slaves to the courthouse and announced to them that they had been freed. This day was marked by an annual celebration that is still celebrated by the descendants of the slaves of Upson County. The Thomaston Emancipation Celebration is one of the oldest in the country. One of Upson County's most well known natives, John B. Gordon, was a product of the Civil War. Gordon rose to the rank of General in the Confederate Army and at the end of the war he was a trusted aid to Robert E. Lee . Gordon later became a U.S. Senator and Governor of Georgia. 

Following the Civil War and reconstruction, Thomaston recovered and became the largest mule trading center in the state. Several of the textile mills were rebuilt eventually leading to the founding of Thomaston Mills in 1899.

As Thomaston Mills prospered in the early 1900's so did Thomaston. Thomaston Mills created an entirely planned community locally referred to as East Thomaston or simply the "mill village." In the late 1920's the B.F. Goodrich company made an agreement with the Hightower family, who operated Thomaston Mills, to build a large manufacturing plant. Following its completion, this new large plant was then purchased by the B.F. Goodrich Company. The plant was named "Martha Mills" after Martha Hightower. At the time of its completion it was said to be the worlds largest textile plant. The B.F. Goodrich Company also built housing for its employees and this "mill village" was named Silvertown.  Large numbers of people came from south Georgia seeking the new jobs. Although Thomaston felt the great depression like the rest of the country, its effects were greatly diminished by the development brought by the textile mills in the late 1920's.

At the onset of World War II, production greatly increased at Thomaston Mills and Martha Mills. Martha Mills was especially busy as it produced tire cord. Many young men went off to war: some to be welcomed home as  heroes in joyful celebrations, others were never to return and buried as heroes in foreign lands. Following World War II, Thomaston prospered with the rest of the nation.

The 50's were happy times in small town America, but in the southern part of Upson County a "different world" came into existence. As officials began to close down all of the casinos, bars and bordellos in Phenix City, Alabama, these illicit businesses moved into Upson County. The place referred to as "south of town" quickly began teaming with activity. To go there today one would never guess there was ever anything there. Believe it or not, there was even a five story hotel of which there is no trace today. During this time, Upson County became a large producer of illegal alcohol. One can still find the remnants of old stills scattered throughout the county. Thankfully, by the early 70's all of this was mostly a thing of the past.

Thomaston was largely unaffected by the strife of the antiwar movement of the 60's. In the late 60's and early 70's the community was finally forced to deal with school desegregation. Race relations in Thomaston were always relatively good. With this said, most in the white community were not in a hurry to integrate and many in the black community were not in a hurry to give up their schools. Integration did eventually happen, and to the community's credit, it happened with very little incident.

As Thomaston-Upson entered the 21st century, it saw the closing of the major textile plants and other manufacturing facilities. Like the national economy, the local economy shifted to a more service-based economy. Most of the people who lost their jobs in the plant closings soon found jobs in smaller companies, or began to commute to jobs in larger areas. Strangely, the population size of Thomaston has changed very little from the late 1950's.

Learn more about Thomaston-Upson history by visiting the archives located at 301 S. Center St. one block south of the square or by joining the Upson Historical Society.