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Lime Kilns can be seen just above center right in this Civil War era map. During the Civil War, old maps show two lime kilns located just east of Kingston. By the early 20th Century, Georgia State Geology publications mention the Akin Lime Kiln as being located near Cave Station in Bartow County. The Akin lime kiln stands mostly in decent shape. A lime kiln is a giant furnace used to convert limestone (Calcium Carbonate) into quick lime (Calcium Oxide). The Akin lime kil

Charles Walker's conceptual drawing of an Indian Removal fort. Nearly 190 years ago, in what is now Cherokee County, more specifically in an area near Lake Allatoona and Bridgemill, an Indian Removal fort was built in 1838. Eight years earlier, Camp Hinar was established when a Federal Lieutenant named Abram Fowler destroyed 19 buildings built by prospectors and gold miners who had illegally entered the Cherokee Territory. The Indian Removal Act was passed in May, 1830. Dis

On the afternoon of April 2nd, 2025, Pickens County resident Jessica McCabe found a cannonball near the bridge off Swan Bridge road

Charles Wallace Howard was born in 1811 in Savannah, Georgia. After graduating from college he attended seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister and, in 1838 traveled to England to research the colonization records for the State of Georgia. Reverend Charles Howard In the late 1830s Charles Howard moved to Cass County and bought 800 acres of land north of Kingston and along the Connesaga River. During that time the county lines were redraw

The history of violence, especially when used to protect tradition, and/or fighting against a centralized power structure is frequently found in the historical record. A common perception is that all, if not nearly all of the violence committed by vigilantes groups in the United States was inspired by racism. (K.K.K., Christian Nationalist Movement, Black Panthers) And while this is historically accurate, the anti-revenuer groups of North Georgia during the late 1800s did

John Azor Kellogg wrote a memoir of the time he spent with the people of north Georgia that his family published after his death. He was...

Reported photo of Elias Allred My late grandfather John Richards Davis, in speaking about his ancestry, said that he knew little of the Allreds except that their lineage had been traced many times. He was correct although, with such a big and far flung family, much remains unknown about its many branches. Some of what is in print is incorrect. One of the m

In 1850, Tate, Atkinson, and Company opened a marble quarry near the Georgia Marble Company's present location. Three years later, Pickens County was officially formed. After the Civil War, the Tate family was operating a sawmill on Long Swamp Creek in the section that is colloquially called Pendley Creek. At the time, a main road came north from Tate and bisected the old Dawsonville Jasper Highway (Cove Road) before heading directly to the sawmill. Afterward, the road

The home guards remain one of the most confusing aspects of the history of the Civil War in Georgia. Family tales and reminiscences...

This blast furnace was built in 1852 in Bartow County off Stamp Creek. Originally called the Union Furnace, its ownership changed hands more than a half dozen times between its start and 1880. In 1875, this site was the first furnace in the United States to produce a commercial, high-quality ferro-manganese product at 67 percent purity. Its one-time owner, Willard P. Ward, had trained in Europe before venturing into the business in the United States. Ferromanganese is use

During the heart of the Civil War, Pickens County was torn between sides. The flag that flew over the courthouse yard was a Union flag. Yet, many of the residents fought on each side. Many of the Darnell family fought for the North, while those from the Fields side predominantly fought for the South. And while many neighboring counties were far more aligned with the Confederacy, as with Pickens's history with race and slavery, Pickens was more of a mixed bag. There we

During the Civil War and for several decades that followed, criminals and vigilantes from various places around the United States would don Klan-like outfits and terrorize citizens. In many newspapers, they were commonly referred to as Night Riders. They were named after their preferred time to commit crimes while on horseback. The Night Riders, like the Home Guards, gangs, and Irregular units of the Confederate Army, frequently harried and preyed upon law-abiding citizen

The Keith Plantation of Cherokee County The overgrown entrance to the Keith Plantation. Note the main house in the background According to local sources, the Keith Plantation near Canton, GA, in present-day Keithsburg* during the Civil War. The property held over 3,300 acres along the Etowah River two miles north of Etowah. (Note: At one point in the past, Canton was named Etowah) The plantation had a large brick house made from a kiln with red clay from the Etowah River.

In 1890, a small hamlet in south-central Pickens County named Jockey arose near the Cagle Mills on Sharp Mountain Creek. A post office was created in the same building as the local merchandise store, thereby designating Jockey as a ‘post-hamlet.’ An October 11, 1890, Pickens County Herald article detailed the creation. The Postmaster of the newly appointed post office was John Wesley Cagle. He was appointed under the term of President Harrison. According to Alonzo Cagle

A few years ago, I ran across a reference for a reported moonshine still in a North Georgia gated community. Initially, I had doubts about the location. However, this was before I knew much about moonshining. I walked up a draw (def - a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them) about 500 yards uphill into the woods. There were remnants of an ephemeral stream about six inches from the abandoned rock furnace. The rock furnace

In 1804, the Cherokee Indians had negotiated the terms of the creation of a Federal Road that ran between Tennessee to Augusta, Georgia. In exchange for settlers' passage through the Cherokee Territory, the Indians were allowed to operate taverns along their old Cherokee highway. In less than 30 years, in 1832, the Cherokee Territory was mapped out at the request of the government with the purpose of dividing the land into lots, giving away lots by a lottery system creating

Peter Cantrell's grave marker, not at actual site of his murder, placed by Dutch Cantrell of Canton. Located on private property on LL 114. During and immediately after the Civil War tensions were high in Pickens County and roving bands of men, sometimes assigned to Home Guards (informal companies of men) would kill their enemies in the county. Peter Cantrell was one of perhaps a dozen men that were