Summary History of Forsyth County
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Note:  I am not a historian, but I have great interest in these areas where I sell homes.
The following information is culled from a variety of sources.
Although I can not guarantee accuracy within those sources,
I took care to write the following with as much accuracy as I could achieve.
 
Forsyth County
  
       Forsyth County is one of ten Georgia counties that were carved out of an “early” version of Cherokee County that was combined with parts of Habersham and Hall Counties.  The Georgia legislature enacted this measure on December 3, 1832, and some sources list Forsyth as officially the 81st county in Georgia.  The eastern and southern boundaries for this new county were set at the center line of the Chattahoochee River.  The county is named for John Forsyth, who served as Attorney General and subsequently Governor of the state of Georgia, and then was elected to multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as to the U.S. Senate.  Further, Mr. Forsyth was Minister to Spain, and served as Secretary of State under two Presidents (Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren).
  
       Since John Forsyth was one of the most accomplished statesmen ever to serve in Georgia, it’s worthwhile to highlight a couple other interesting facts about him.  First of all, after attending Springer Academy in Georgia he graduated from “the College of New Jersey” (now known as Princeton).  Returning to Augusta Georgia he studied law, was admitted to the Bar, and married Clara Meigs, daughter of Josiah Meigs … the first President of the University of Georgia.  Although very popular and elected to numerous public offices (see above paragraph), three years after his last election to the U.S. Senate he became embroiled in the “Nullification Crisis.”  This was a claim by South Carolina that they had the right to nullify a law passed by the federal government (in this case having to do with a tariff which they believed improperly favored the northern states).  Senator Forsyth believed federal law superseded state law, and thus was opposed to the action that South Carolina was taking.  At Georgia’s own anti-tariff convention in 1832 Forsyth led a band of people opposing this form of state’s rights, and succeeded in influencing the Georgia convention to only oppose, but not nullify, the tariff.  For this stance, Forsyth was burned in effigy in some Georgia locations.  In 1833 Senator Forsyth voted for the “Force Bill” which gave the U.S. President the right to use army and navy forces against a state in order to enforce federal law.  President Jackson rewarded Forsyth by making him U.S. Secretary of State, and he was re-nominated for that position under the next president, Martin Van Buren.  Until Dean Rusk in 1961, Forsyth was the only Georgian to serve as Secretary of State.   (By the way, during the Nullification Crisis, President Jackson was prepared to send the military against the state of South Carolina if that state had not backed-down from its threat to nullify their payment of federal tariffs.  Perhaps it is not a surprise that just a few decades later South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union as the Civil War began).
  
       And now back to focusing on Forsyth County. … The land that now comprises Forsyth County has been called by some the “Gateway to the Cherokee Nation.”  As early as 1731 a path that traders used to reach the Cherokee Indians ran through this area.  Activity in this region grew, and by 1797 settlers and traders wanted this path upgraded to the level of a full road.  The U.S. government began to negotiate for creation of such a road, and by 1803 there was an initial agreement (although not yet complete) with the Cherokee Indians.  James Vann, a mixed blood Cherokee, helped with these negotiations and as a result received the rights to one of the lucrative ferry crossings over the Chattahoochee River, with a tavern next to the crossing.  That tavern still exists, and is now located at the former capitol of the Cherokee Nation, New Echota (in New Echota State Park).  This important road that was about to be built was initially called the Georgia Road, but after General Andrew Jackson’s soldiers improved it in 1819 it was termed the Federal Road or Federal Highway.  After initial completion of the road (and before a county was formed), it is said that sometimes white travelers would see a plot of land that they liked, and they’d just stop and claim it as their homestead.  Because the Indians did not have the concept of private land ownership, they often would allow this to happen. --- You’ll read more about the Federal Road in just a moment, but first a paragraph about how the land was allocated once this area became a county.
  
       The land in Forsyth County was given to people through the Georgia Gold Lottery of 1832.  The Gold Lottery consisted of 40-acre lots, measuring one-quarter by one-quarter mile in size.  In contrast, the Georgia Land Lottery in 1832 consisted of 160-acre lots.  Forsyth County was thought to contain land where gold might be present, so that is the reason for the lot size being only 40 acres.  It was felt that a 40 acre lot which might contain gold was roughly equal in value to a 160 acre lot where it was felt certain gold did not exist.  Although Cherokee Indians, as well as Spanish explorers and later miners, were panning for gold in the Chattahoochee River hundreds of years earlier, the North Georgia gold rush began in earnest in the late 1820’s with gold found near Dahlonega.  (Note: Regarding the Lottery, some winners of land in the Georgia Gold Lottery sold their lots without ever seeing them.  And in some instances lottery winners had to dispossess the people, often Indians, who were residing on that property.)
  
       In the 1830’s and 1840’s Forsyth County prospered, certainly due in part to gold, but also due to the “Federal Highway” that ran through this county.  The term Federal Highway refers to the first road that could conveniently handle horse traffic and then stagecoaches, connecting Georgia with western settlements and helping to open those territories to exploration and development.  Such “roads” were part of the federal government’s “internal improvements” project, with the goal of bringing together all the parts (old and new) of the young nation.  The first road in Northwest Georgia that could handle stagecoaches went through Athens Georgia and through Forsyth County to Tennessee.  A primary goal was to link Savannah with Knoxville.  As it approached Tennessee it broke into two legs, one going to Knoxville and the other going to Ross Landing (later named Chattanooga).  Using the Treaty of Tellico (1805) with the Cherokee Nation and the Treaty of Washington with the Creeks, the government gained the right to open and operate routes through Indian lands (note: there have been questions regarding the legitimacy of these treaties).  Surveying for the road through Forsyth County began in 1810.  Although this was to an extent a federal government initiative, the federal government contributed little money to the endeavor through the Cherokee Indian lands.  It was left up to the states of Georgia and Tennessee, plus some individual entrepreneurs, to fund and complete the roads.  For the road that was started the next year which ran further to the south through Creek Indian lands, the federal government did participate to a greater degree.  (Note: The Federal Road/Federal Highway in North Georgia also served as the first postal route for this area.)
  
       In 1834 Cumming was selected as the county seat.  Some say it was named for a prominent Augusta lawyer, Colonel William Cumming.  Others say the community was named by local Cherokees for Sir Alexander Cumming of England, who settled in this area around 1730 and became a Cherokee leader.
  
       A number of roadside inns and taverns sprang up in Forsyth County along the Federal Road.  And commerce was brisk.  But by the end of the 1840’s things had changed.  Production of gold in North Georgia had begun to decrease, and in 1849 when the word spread about gold in California most prospectors abandoned Georgia and headed west.  Important as well, railroads were being built and in concert with that new roads were also being built that would more effectively connect with railway stops.  All of this brought an end to the commerce, shops, and inns along the Federal Highway.
  
       Luckily much of the devastation during the Civil War bypassed Forsyth County.  However, after the war it suffered economically and in other ways, as did much of the state during post war years.  The county remained primarily rural, with cotton being one of its primary crops.
  
       In 1946 the Army Corps of Engineers was considering several locations for a dam.  Mason Young examined the Chattahoochee River valley at the boundary of Gwinnett and Forsyth Counties.  He said of this area, “This is a storybook site for a dam.  I’ve seen similar sites in the Northeast but there is always a city a few miles away.  Here we have the site with no such complications.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better site for a dam.”  And thus Buford Dam and Lake Sidney Lanier was conceived and completed, with dedication on October 9, 1957.  The Lake is named in honor of Sidney Clopton Lanier, because of the tribute he gave to the Chattahoochee River in his poetry, with the poem “The Song of the Chattahoochee” cementing his legacy as a beloved Georgia poet.   Lake Lanier has won the Best Operated Lake Of The Year award in 1990, 1997, and 2002.  (By the way, the date chosen for official ground breaking of this project was the birthday of Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield, because it was thought by many that Mayor Hartsfield’s work was a key factor in bringing this project to reality.  Mayor Hartsfield even had a dream of connecting Atlanta to the Gulf of Mexico by creating water projects all along the Chattahoochee River that would make that waterway navigable to the sea.  Due to some obstacles even beyond his control that portion of his dream did not become reality.)
  
       Now Forsyth County had a major project along its eastern and southeastern boundary.  This lake alone has brought tremendous growth to the area in terms of recreational commerce, but also in terms of Atlanta area residents wanting to move here either for a primary residence or a second home.  More and more industry has opened operations in the county as well, including New York Life, Scientific Games, and Tyson Foods.

     From The U.S. Census Bureau
 

ESTIMATED 2006 Population:
  
2000 Population:
  
Population change (April 1, 2000 to
July 1, 2006):
  
Median Household Income 2004:
  
Housing Units 2005:
  
Home Ownership Rate 2000:
  
Households 2000:
  
Persons per Household 2000:
  
2000 Land Area (sq miles):
  
2000 Persons per Sq Mile:
   		150,968
 
98,407
 
53.4%
 
 
74,379
 
51,536
 
88.0%
 
34,565
 
2.83
 
225.80
 
435.4

 
     Resources for constructing this summary included:
  
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress website, page for John Forsyth:   http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000284

The New Georgia Encyclopedia website, John Forsyth page:   http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2821

The New Georgia Encyclopedia website, Forsyth County page:   http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2334&hl=y

Forsyth County GA History and Records website:   http://www.rootsweb.com/~gaforsyt/

Forsyth County GA History and Records website, Welcome to Forsyth County, Georgia History page:   http://www.rootsweb.com/~gafchs/donnaparrish/history/history.html

The Roadside Georgia website, Archives of Forsyth County page:   http://roadsidegeorgia.com/county/forsyth.html

About North Georgia website, North Georgia’s Gold Rush page:   http://ngeorgia.com/history/goldrush.html

The History of Lake Sidney Lanier, History of the Project page:   http://www.lakelanierhistory.com/html/history.htm

The History of Lake Sidney Lanier, The Chattahoochee River page:   http://www.lakelanierhistory.com/articles/july99.htm

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website, Lake Sidney Lanier:   http://lanier.sam.usace.army.mil/history.htm

U.S. Census Bureau website, Forsyth County, Georgia page:   http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13117.html

  
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