Lowndes County was created from Irwin County in 1825. The name honors William Lowndes of South Carolina who won nomination as vice president but died before the election. Valdosta, the county seat, bears the name of one of Governor George Troup's plantations which he, in turn, had named for Val D'Osta, an Alpine valley in Italy. Lowndes' State Senator William A. Knight and State Representative Jonathan Knight, his son, became the first father/son team to serve simultaneously in the state legislature.