Many men of Dawson County answered the call and went to fight in the Civil War.

Dawson County is known for its long involvement in auto racing, which was established in the 20th century; many of the original NASCAR racers came from this area, and Dawsonville is now one of a few areas considered to be the "birthplace of stock car racing".

[6] Local racing skills are said to have been developed by men who ran moonshine down Georgia State Route 9, also known as Thunder Road, to Atlanta.

This title is claimed by many other cities and communities, but is fiercely defended by residents of the area.

Allegedly, bootleggers took advantage of the county's relative isolation and the ability to move so much moonshine to the larger cities, especially Atlanta, during the United States Prohibition era.

[8] Several large, gated, private communities function similar to a municipality, providing many municipal-type services that operate independently of county government.

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 26,798 people, 9,041 households, and 6,491 families residing in the county.

Between 2021 and 2022, Dawson experienced a 5.8% growth in population, making it the fourth fastest growing county in the nation.