Fort Mountain GA | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 2,850 ft (870 m) |
Prominence | 321 ft (98 m) |
Coordinates | 34°46′59″N84°42′33″W / 34.78306°N 84.70917°W |
Geography | |
Nearest city | Chatsworth, Georgia |
Area | 211.2 acres (85.5 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 77001587 [1] |
Added to NRHP | November 23, 1977 |
Fort Mountain is a mountain in northern Georgia, just east of Chatsworth. It is part of the Cohutta Mountains, a small mountain range at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. It also lies within the Chattahoochee National Forest.
A main feature of Fort Mountain is an ancient rock formation or ruin of unknown origin, from which the mountain takes its name. The site lies within Fort Mountain State Park and consists of a series of stone piles lying in a long uneven line that follows the contour of the mountainside. [2] Estimates of its length vary. In a previously published archaeological report, Philip E. Smith (University Of Georgia) gives 928 feet (283 m) as its length, [3] while the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (State Parks Division) estimates the length as 855 feet (261 m). [4]
A stone fire tower, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and located in the park, marks the summit of the mountain. A hiking path around the park leads up to a scenic overlook of Cool Springs Valley. [5] The park also has a mountain lake, cabins, camping, and public facilities.
Two main highways cross Fort Mountain connecting the counties of Murray and Gilmer, Georgia. A steep, curving scenic route, Georgia SR 52, runs east-west between Chatsworth and Ellijay, affording views of the Cohutta Mountains; there is at least one overlook with parking. [6] Organizations located on that route include Fort Mountain State Park and Global Youth Ministry. [7] [8] Southeast of Chatsworth, SR 282 crosses the mountain, running concurrently with SR 2/US 76 from Ramhurst to East Ellijay.
The most well-known feature of Fort Mountain is the rock formation around the crest, usually mentioned as the ruins of an ancient fort or other manmade structure, consisting of stone piles without mortar. Local stories sometimes attribute its construction to the Cherokee, but published sources date its construction to a more ancient culture of indigenous people.
Georgia's Department of Natural Resources site (State Parks and Historic Sites Division) states that "The mysterious 855-foot-long wall is thought to have been built by early Indians as fortification against more hostile Indians or for ancient ceremonies." [9] Rome News Tribune published an article by Stacy McCain in 1994, saying that anthropologists attribute the wall's construction to people of the Middle Woodland era. [10] The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, for its archaeological potential as a source of information about prehistoric eras. [11]
There are other theories as to the origin of the stone piles that comprise the wall. Stone formations may occur naturally, caused by the thrust that makes a ridge crest during the mountain's formation. In the 19th century, people speculated that Hernando de Soto built it as a fort to defend against the Creek people around 1540. In 1879 George Little, Georgia's state geologist, published a description of the state's mountains, including Fort mountain, in The Cartersville Free Press. He referred to the ruins as "fortifications erected by DeSoto and his followers as they journeyed to the Mississippi." [12] This theory was contradicted as early as 1917, as a historian pointed out that de Soto was in the area for less than two weeks. [13] [14] One persistent legend attributes Fort Mountain's stone piles to a race of moon-eyed people, said to predate the Cherokee. Such stories were picked up by historians and made their way into park histories, tourism brochures and markers. [15]
Murray County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,973. The county seat is Chatsworth. Murray County is part of the Dalton, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Chattanooga-Cleveland-Dalton, TN-GA-AL Combined Statistical Area.
Chatsworth is a city in and the county seat of Murray County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Dalton, Georgia, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 4,874 at the 2020 census, up from 4,299 in 2010. The city is the site of the coldest recorded temperature in Georgia, −17 °F (−27 °C) on January 27, 1940.
Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley.
Etowah Indian Mounds (9BR1) are a 54-acre (220,000 m2) archaeological site in Bartow County, Georgia, south of Cartersville. Built and occupied in three phases, from 1000–1550 CE, the prehistoric site is located on the north shore of the Etowah River.
Fort Mountain State Park is a 3,712-acre (15.02 km2) Georgia state park located between Chatsworth and Ellijay on Fort Mountain. The state park was founded in 1938 and is named for an ancient 885-foot-long (270 m) rock wall located on the peak. The nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places describes the wall as "more of a marker than a fortification, separating the north peak from the southern end."
Fort Frederica National Monument, on St. Simons Island, Georgia, preserves the archaeological remnants of a fort and town built by James Oglethorpe between 1736 and 1748 to protect the southern boundary of the British colony of Georgia from Spanish raids. About 630 British troops were stationed at the fort.
Fort Frederick State Park is a public recreation and historic preservation area on the Potomac River surrounding the restored Fort Frederick, a fortification active in the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The state park lies south of the town of Big Pool, Maryland. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal runs through the park grounds. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
The Chief Vann House is the first brick residence in the Cherokee Nation, and has been called the "Showplace of the Cherokee Nation". Owned by the Cherokee Chief James Vann, the Vann House is a Georgia Historic Site on the National Register of Historic Places and one of the oldest remaining structures in the northern third of the state of Georgia. It is located in Murray County, on the outskirts of Chatsworth in northwest Georgia, which has a commanding view of the land around it and of the Cohutta Mountains, about 10 miles (16 km) to the east.
Providence Canyon State Outdoor Recreation Area is a 1,003-acre (405.90 ha) Georgia state park located in Stewart County in southwest Georgia, United States. The park contains Providence Canyon, which is sometimes called Georgia's "Little Grand Canyon". It is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. It is also home to the very rare plumleaf azalea.
Washington State Park is a public recreation area covering 2,147 acres (869 ha) in Washington County in the central eastern part of the state of Missouri. It is located on Highway 21 about 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Potosi or 7 miles (11 km) southwest of De Soto on the eastern edge of the Ozarks. The state park is noted for its Native American rock carvings and for its finely crafted stonework from the 1930s.
State Route 2 (SR 2) is a 165-mile-long (266 km) east-west State highway in the far North-northern part of Georgia. The highway serves southern suburbs of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as much of the mountains in the northern part of the state. It traverses the counties of Walker, Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Fannin, Union, Towns, and Rabun. It connects Flintstone, in the northwestern part of the state, with the South Carolina state line southeast of Clayton in the northern part and the northeastern part of the state. It also travels through Fort Oglethorpe, Ringgold, Ellijay, Blue Ridge, Blairsville, and Hiawassee. Parts of the highway in the Whitfield and Murray county area are designated as the Cohutta–Chattahoochee Scenic Byway.
State Route 52 (SR 52) is a 124.697-mile-long (200.680 km) state highway that travels west to east through portions of Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Dawson, Lumpkin, Hall, Banks, and Jackson counties in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway extends from its western terminus at Interstate 75 (I-75) in Dalton to its eastern terminus at SR 98 in Maysville.
Fort Rock Cave was the site of the earliest evidence of human habitation in the US state of Oregon before the excavation of the Paisley Caves. Fort Rock Cave featured numerous well-preserved sagebrush sandals, ranging from 9,000 to 13,000 years old. The cave is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Fort Rock near Fort Rock State Natural Area in Lake County. Fort Rock Cave was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Red Clay State Historic Park is a state park located in southern Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The park preserves the Red Clay Council Grounds, which were the site of the last capital of the Cherokee Nation in the eastern United States from 1832 to 1838 before the enforcement of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This act resulted in a forced migration of most of the Cherokee people to present-day Oklahoma known as the Cherokee removal. At the council grounds, the Cherokee made multiple unsuccessful pleas to the U.S. government to be allowed to remain in their ancestral homeland. The site is considered sacred to the Cherokees, and includes the Blue Hole Spring, a large hydrological spring. It is also listed as an interpretive center along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.
The Nacoochee Mound is an archaeological site on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in White County, in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Georgia. Georgia State Route 17 and Georgia State Route 75 have a junction near here.
State Route 61 (SR 61) is a 107.1-mile-long (172.4 km) state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Carroll, Douglas, Paulding, Bartow, Gordon, and Murray counties in the western and northwestern parts of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway connects the Carrollton area with the Tennessee state line, via Villa Rica, Dallas, Cartersville, and Chatsworth. The portion of the highway from just northeast of Carrollton to Villa Rica was formerly the path of US 78S. When that highway was decommissioned, it was redesignated as US 78 Alternate.
Carters Lake is a man-made reservoir located on the Coosawattee River in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Gilmer and Murray counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the state's deepest lake.
U.S. Route 76 (US 76) is a 150.7-mile-long (242.5 km) east–west U.S. highway in the U.S. state of Georgia. It begins at the Tennessee state line, east of Lakeview, Georgia, where the roadway continues concurrent with US-41/SR-8 toward Chattanooga. It ends at the South Carolina state line, where US 76 continues toward Anderson. In Georgia, the highway travels within portions of Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Fannin, Union, Towns, and Rabun counties. It travels through North Georgia and connects Ringgold, Dalton, Chatsworth, Ellijay, Blue Ridge, Blairsville, and Clayton. Most of the highway is part of the Lookout Mountain Scenic Highway, a highway that travels through northern Georgia and through the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.
The moon-eyed people are a legendary group of short, bearded white-skinned people who are said to have lived in Appalachia until the Cherokee expelled them. Stories about them, attributed to Cherokee tradition, are mentioned by early European settlers in America. In a 1797 book, Benjamin Smith Barton explains they are called "moon-eyed" because they saw poorly during the day. Some stories claim they created the area's pre-Columbian ruins, and they disappeared from the area. Barton cited as his source a conversation with Colonel Leonard Marbury, an early settler of Georgia. Marbury, a Revolutionary War officer and a Congressman in the Second Provincial Congress of Georgia (1775), acted as intermediary between Native American Indians in the state of Georgia and the United States government.