Cherokee
Indians controlled the area today known as
Fannin County when the first white settlements
appeared. Unlike much of the rest of Georgia,
Fannin County's first settlers did not come
from the East, but from the north. Written
accounts date these earliest settlements to
1790.
Crossing the Appalachian Mountains
to Fort Loudon (now Tennessee), the first
settlers followed the Tennessee River south,
where they took the Ocoee-Toccoa to the wide,
fertile valley that separates the Cohuttas
and the Blue
Ridge Mountains in Fannin County. Coastal
Georgians began to push the Cherokee further
west and this land was surrendered by the
Cherokee in 1835 under the terms of the Treaty
of New Echota. In 1838 the Cherokee were forced
to leave in a travesty today known as the
Trail of Tears.
Fannin County was created in 1854 from portions
of Union County and Gilmer County, with Morganton as the first county
seat. Col. James
Fannin, for whom the county is named, was a hero in the Texas War for
Independence.
Ordered by Sam Houston to pull back from a fortified position in Goliad,
Fannin was surrounded by forces under the command of Gen. José de
Urrea in the battle of Coleto. Fannin surrendered his force of about
400 men, who were later massacred.
Business in Fannin County
Appalachia
farmers in this area grew products that had
to be taken to a mill and "cracked"
before use, hence the term "cracker"
was frequently applied. Agriculture, and the
businesses supporting agriculture, have been
(and still are) a mainstay of the Fannin County
economy since its earliest days. After the
Civil War cotton became a mainstay of the
area. A push for diversification at the start
of the 20th century greatly expand the types
of crops raised. From the mid-1800's until
the start of the 19th century mining also
contributed to the economy, as did lumber
from 1900 until World War II.
The Marietta and North Georgia Railroad made an economic decision
to avoid Fannin's county seat of Morganton, building the railroad through
the long, relatively flat Toccoa River Valley. Col. Mike McKinney founded
the town of Blue Ridge in 1886 along the route of the railroad. When
it arrived in Fannin County it gave the county a market for its agricultural
products. What had taken days to deliver now took hours. In the early
1920's
construction began on U. S. Highway 76, further increasing
access
to this once remote area.
Tourism picked up with the completion of the railroad to Blue Ridge,
but this boon was short-lived. Starting in the 1950's tourism surged
again in the county. With the completion
of
the
Georgia
Mountain
Parkway
in 1986 this trickle became a flood.
Much of the land in Fannin
County is under Forest Service management.
Beginning as the Cherokee and later the Georgia
National Forest, today's Chattahoochee National
Forest is a gem in Fannin County's crown.
Managed for use by all Americans the land
creates jobs, offers recreational opportunities
and preserves ecologically sensitive areas
from overuse.
*The above information
is from the Fannin
County Chamber of Commerce website. Be
sure to visit their site for more detailed
information.
About Bob Marcy & Mountain Living
Now
If you are looking for a lakefront
cabin or a secluded mountain home in North
Georgia , then you will need a partner to
help you every step of the way. Bob Marcy
is an experienced North
Georgia realtor that has the local knowledge
you need and the passion to find your perfect
slice of North Georgia real estate. Bob knows
you have many North Georgia realtors to choose
from and he is committed to providing a level
of customer service that sets him apart from
the crowd. He can help you find North
Georgia lakefront cabins, North
Georgia land for sale, North
Georgia mountain homes, Blue
Ridge real estate, North
Georgia river homes, North
Georgia lake homes and Blue
Ridge cabins.
Bob loves living in Blue Ridge and selling
real estate all across North Georgia, Eastern
Tennessee and Western North Carolina . He
has developed this custom website to help
consumers explore all that this area has to
offer. You can search the entire
North Georgia MLS including all North
Georgia properties and land for sale, even
properties listed by other North Georgia realtors.
You can perform custom North Georgia real
estate searches or take advantage of the time
saving 1 click searches he has built into
the site such as North
Georgia cabins under $300,000, North
Georgia lakefront cabins & homes,
North
Georgia river homes, North
Georgia land for sale under 1 acre, North
Georgia mountain homes under $300,000 with
views and all
Blue Ridge homes under $300,000.
If you see something you like or if you have
a question about a property or maybe just
where the best place to eat is, give Bob a
call at 706-258-7375 or shoot
him an email at bob@mountainlivingnow.com
.
