The 91st county, it was named for the then-recently deceased General Nathaniel Macon[4] of North Carolina, who served in the U.S. Congress for 37 years and ran for U.S. vice president.

The Georgia General Assembly (state legislature) designated it on December 29 of that year and incorporated it as a town.

As a result, the Georgia Assembly called for a referendum on moving the Macon County seat to Oglethorpe in February of both 1854 and 1856.

In the late period of the war, Georgia also had difficulty supplying its own troops and people with food.

The Andersonville National Cemetery, established for the many Union dead, is at the southwestern tip of the county.