Houston County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 139,900. Its county seat is Perry. The county was created on May 15, 1821, as one of five counties in the state, and later reduced in size with the formation of Bibb, Crawford, Pike, Macon, and Peach counties. It was named after Georgia governor John Houstoun, with the spelling being a common 19th-century variation.