PAGE 22D
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, September 27,1998
Rush for gold, Rush
for land: Frogtown
By Alton Bridges
Staff Writer
The first discovery of gold in
Georgia was in Habersham County,
now White County, in 1828 or 1829.
With the discovery, thousands of
people came to the area seeking a
fortune.
The area was called Cherokee
Country and the. ~
discovery of gold J
created not
only a rush
for gold, y 18,
but
a rush for land. The rush for land
and gold created a lot of problems
for Georgia and the United States.
On May 6, 1829, Gov. Gilmer
wrote to Georgian John
McPherson Berrian, then Attorney
General of the United States, “I am
in doubt as to what ought to be
done with the gold-diggers. They,
with their various attendants, for
ager, and suppliers, make up
between six and ten thousand per
sons. They occupy the country
between the Chestatee and Etowah
Rivers, near the mountains, gold
being found in the greatest quanti
ty, deposited in the small streams
which flow into the rivers.”
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CThmikmroom a ■ mnra t
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v* NIGH mME: Sunday through Thursday, 5 PM to 9:30 PM.
Friday and Saturday, SPMto 10 PM.
In June the following year, Gov.
Gilmer issued a proclamation pro
hibiting gold mining in Cherokee
Country and many miners evaded
the law and came into the area for
gold, even though soldiers were sta
tioned in forts throughout the area.
Hundreds of miners came to
jwhat was
later Forsyth
County
I the soldiers in
L this
„ -U&JF area
stationed at Camp Gilmer, a 28-acre
plot located in the area known as
Frogtown.
Frogtown was a thriving com
munity. The area was home to both
Cherokees and miners. Rising
Fawn’s home was a few miles west
of Frogtown and south of Hwy. 369
today, and a sacred Indian area was
located where Old Federal Road and
Etowah river intersect. Frogtown
School was located at the intersec
tion of Old Federal Road and Hwy
369.
To the west of Frogtown was
Hightower, which was larger than
Cumming until the Indians were dri
ven out and the miners left.
HISTORY OF FORSYTH
Gold Diggers Road: Here to Auraria
By Alton Bridges
Staff Writer
When gold was discovered in
North Georgia, many squatters
rushed into what is today North
Georgia and Forsyth County. The
discovery of gold in North
Georgia was not the first discov
ery of gold in the United States,
but all previous discoveries of
gold were on property where there
was no question of ownership.
People began searching for the
precious metal in the streams and
hills of the “Cherokee Territory”
because there was no clear title to
any of the real estate in the area.
Forsyth County was one of 10
counties that was a part of
“Cherokee Territory.”
When Forsyth County was
created, Auraria was already a
busy town.
The town had a rough and
rowdy society and an unlawful
community that included thieves,
gamblers, and murders who were
No Digging No yardwork HHkSHI
No Mess Less Cost
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Cftedt 7%& Ors
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770-889-2708
often drunk, malicious and look
ing for a fight.
In 1832 a squatter named
William Dean built a cabin on the
ridge and soon a tavern was built
by Nathaniel Nuckolls. The name
of the place once known as
“Deans’” became “Nuckollsville.”
“Gold Diggers Road” ran
north and south through the town.
Gold Diggers Road started at the
Chestatee River, or the River of
Flickering Lights, and went
through Auraria, Dahlonega,
Cleveland, Clarkesville and
Toccoa and connected to the
South Carolina line. Much of the
road has been abandoned today.
But Hwy. 9-E, which runs into
Gold Diggers Road in Auraria,
runs into Highway 19 at Coal
Mountain, at Fork in the Road
Church in Forsyth County. Also
Hwy. 9-E can be entered from Ga.
400 at several exits in North
Forsyth, Dawson and Lumpkin
counties.
Today, not much is left of the
once booming town and county
seat, except the Graham Hotel,
which is in a sad state of repair,
the old tavern, which is today
Woody’s Store and the old bank
building across the road, which is
covered with kudzu. The red
house that is standing nearby is
known as the “Old Emory
Brackett homeplace.”
Only ten months after the first
white settler built a cabin in the
area, the town had a hundred
houses, twenty stores, a newspa
per, fifteen law offices and several
hotels and taverns.
Approximately 25,000 people
lived in the area during the gold
rush and 10,000 people made
Auraria their home permanently.
With the influx of people came
some of the best legal minds in
the country because lawyers were
needed to establish a chain of title
of the property and to settle dis
putes among the settlers.
See COLD, Page 26D
