Pike County was created from Monroe County in west central Georgia by the state legislature. Later, parts of Pike County were used to create Upson (1824), Spalding (1851), and Lamar (1920) counties. Pike County, which comprises 218 square miles, and its county seat, Zebulon, are named after Zebulon Pike, a general in the War of 1812 (1812-15) and an explorer of the Louisiana Territory.

Agricultural and forest products have traditionally been the economic mainstay in Pike County. Early crops were cotton and peaches. Later, poultry and soybeans became important farm products as well. Beginning in the 1970s, the county emerged as one of metropolitan Atlanta's bedroom communities. By 2000 more than 75 percent of Pike County's residents were employed outside the county.