The county seat, Jackson, was named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson, who had in 1818 spent a few weeks in the area before continuing on to Florida to fight the Seminoles in the First Seminole War. Much of the town, including an earlier courthouse, was burned by Sherman's troops during the Civil War (1861-65).

The current courthouse was built in 1898 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Other incorporated towns in the county are Flovilla and Jenkinsburg. Flovilla was incorporated in 1885, having changed its name from Indian Springs. One of Butts County's attractions, the Old Flovilla Schoolhouse (used from 1885 to 1932), is located in the town. William Ferguson Smith, newspaper editor, author, and prime mover behind the development of Butts County, came from Flovilla. Jenkinsburg, incorporated in 1889, was named after William Jenkins, whose 1881 grant of land to the Southern Railroad allowed the company to build track through the town. Pepperton started out as an African American village near a well-known field of red peppers and became a mill town. It was incorporated in 1897 but was annexed by Jackson in 1996 and is now referred to as East Jackson.

Indian Springs State Park was originally inhabited by mound builders and then Creek Indians, the county celebrates the region's first inhabitants with annual festivals and maintains concrete reminders of them, including Indian Springs State Park. Established in 1927, Indian Springs State Park claims to be the oldest state park in the United States.

Points of interest, in addition to Indian Springs, include the J. R. Carmichael House in Jackson and several recreational facilities: High Falls State Park; Lloyd Shoals Dam Reservoir, also called Jackson Lake, and Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 1939 and protects 35,000 acres of loblolly pine and hardwood forest habitat for the wild animals living there.

Recurring events sponsored by the Butts County Historical Society as fundraisers for their projects include a quilt show in March, the Dogwood Festival in April, the Annual Invitational Fine Arts Festival in May, the Freedom Celebration in July, the Native American Festival in September, Indian Summer in October, Veterans Days at Indian Springs in November, Civil War Days, the "Home for the Holidays" celebration, and the Scottish Festival.