Much of Butts County and its cities were destroyed by the army of General William T. Sherman in its March to the Sea during the American Civil War. Butts County struggled for decades afterwards to become economically stable again. The arrival of the first railroad train on May 5, 1882 started the resurgence and growth followed. In 1898, caught up in the post-reconstruction fervor that had infected most Georgia counties, Butts County erected a monumental courthouse designed by Bruce & Morgan. This building is still in use as a courthouse to this day. The construction of the Lloyd Shoals dam in 1910 created Jackson Lake, a recreational lake located primarily in Butts County.