Summer Walk

Forsyth County History

Founding of Forsyth County

Forsyth County was created from Cherokee County on Dec. 3, 1832 by an act of the General Assembly. According to that act, Forsyth County was formed from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 14th districts in the first section of Cherokee County.

In way of background, by 1830, the Cherokee Nation consisted of most of northwest Georgia plus adjoining areas in Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Even while Cherokee Indians remained on their homeland in Georgia, the General Assembly on Dec. 21, 1830 enacted legislation claiming "all the territory within the limits of Georgia, and now in the occupancy of the Cherokee tribe of Indians; and all other unlocated lands within the limits of this State, claimed as creek land" (Ga. Laws 1830, p. 127). The act also provided for surveying the Cherokee lands in Georgia; dividing them into sections, districts, and land lots; and authorizing a lottery to distribute the land. On Dec. 26, 1831, the legislature designated all land in Georgia that lay west of the Chattahoochee River and north of Carroll county as "Cherokee County" and provided for its organization. However, the new county was not able to function as a county because of its size and the fact that Cherokee Indians still occupied portions of the land. On Dec. 3, 1832, the legislature added areas of Habersham and Hall counties to Cherokee County, and then divided the entire area into nine new counties -- Cass (later renamed Bartow), Cobb, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, and Union -- plus a reconstituted and much smaller Cherokee County.

Georgia's 81st county was named for former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Ambassador to Spain, U.S. Secretary of State, and Georgia Governor John Forsyth (1780-1841). In particular, it was Forsyth's insistence that Cherokee lands fell under the jurisdiction of Georgia state law that helped force the removal of the Cherokees to the West and the opening up their lands (including those from which Forsyth County was created) to white settlement.

In 1857, portions of Forsyth County were used to help create Milton County.

County Seat: The Dec. 1832 act creating Forsyth County provided for election of county officials -- including five judges of the inferior court -- in March 1833, with the election to take place in the home of William Hammons. The act further directed the inferior court judges so elected to pick a site for county seat and to provide for the erection of a courthouse and other county buildings. What served as county courthouse in 1833 and 1834 is not known. Sometime during 1833, a community known as Cumming was settled. In January 1834, the town got a U.S. post office. On Dec. 18, 1834, the General Assembly incorporated Cumming and designated it Forsyth county seat. The town was named for Col. William Cumming (1788-1863).
(Note - Information taken from Forsyth County Council web page.)

Recent Developments

The Cherokee Indians, who established a transportation pattern that still exists today, were the first inhabitants of Forsyth County. They traveled along the tops of the terrain's long ridges, causing most of the byways to cross the county from the east to the northwest. Settlements and commerce grew along these routes.

After gold was discovered in the southern portion of the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains in 1830, white settlers rapidly moved into the area. By mid-century many had drifted to greener pastures, and the county remained largely agrarian, rural and sparsely populated for the next 100 years.

The development of Lake Lanier by the Corps of Engineers in the late 1950s changed the face of Forsyth forever. Named for the 19th-century poet Sidney Clopton Lanier, the lake is one of the most heavily visited in the United States. It provides numerous recreational activities as well as improved flood control and hydroelectric power. Aside from Lake Lanier, nothing has affected the growth of Forsyth County as much as the Georgia 400 expressway.
(Note - Information taken from knowatlanta web page.)

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