Today modern subdivisions like Cobblestone Farms are replacing the splendid agricultural land in Northeast Forsyth County, Georgia, and in the process erasing memories of what this beautiful area once was like. Let’s not forget about the rich history of our area by learning about the past, and why when you look at a modern-day Google Map, you’ll see a place named east of Cobblestone Farms: Chestatee, an unincorporated place in the northeast part of Forsyth County.

Two miles to the east of Chestatee, the Chestatee River and the Chattahoochee River converge, the two rivers flooded in 1956 to create Lake Lanier. The Chestatee River’s origin is north of Dahlonega at the intersection of US 19 and US 129 where Dicks Creek, Frogtown Creek, and Boggs Creek converge, just south of Blood Mountain. The most widely accepted theory for the name “Blood Mountain” is a fierce battle between the Cherokee and Creek Native American tribes, which historians think occurred sometime in the 15th or 16th centuries near Slaughter Gap on the Appalachian Trail. It’s believed that the mountain was stained red with the blood of the fallen warriors.

Chestatee is a Cherokee word meaning “pine torch place” or “place of lights,” and it originates from the practice of Cherokee people who built bonfires along the riverbanks to light their torches for nighttime hunting. The Cherokees called this area Atsunsta Ti Yi.

The Cherokee people had a deep-rooted connection to the land around the Chestatee River, as it was a central part of their culture and livelihood, providing a source of food and traveling by canoe. This land was their land until the 1829 discovery of gold in the area resulted in the influx of settlers seeking their fortune.

In 1832 Forsyth County was founded, so named for John Forsyth, Georgia’s governor from 1827 to 1829. The Georgia Gold Lottery of 1832 was a controversial event that further exacerbated tensions. The lottery distributed land grants within the Cherokee territory, leading to increased conflict.

In 1838, the Cherokees were forced to abandon the sacred land they had lived on for hundreds of years. They were rounded up at Fort Campbell in western Forsyth County, where today’s Old Federal Road begins, which was the start of what we know as the Trail of Tears, upon which the native Americans walked all the way to an Oklahoma Indian reservation.

The history of the Cherokees who lived on the very land where our homes are today is sadly erased, except for that wonderful place on the Google Map named “Chestatee” and just to the east Chestatee Elementary School.

Chestatee is where two main roads converge: Jot ‘Em Down Road and Keith Bridge Road. Chestatee once boasted a U.S. Post Office, a hub of community life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the post office closed in 1904, and mailing addresses to the west of Chestatee were thereafter served by Cumming post office, 13 miles to the southwest, and addresses east of Chestatee served by the Gainesville post office, so eastside residents must say they live in Gainesville, not Cumming, even though they actually live in Forsyth County.

Jot ‘Em Down road may be a nod to the popular radio show, Lum and Abner, that ran from the 1930s to the 1950s. It was a comedy centered around the lives of two bumbling but lovable characters, Lum and Abner, who owned and operated the Jot ‘Em Down Store in the fictional town of Pine Ridge, Arkansas.

The Jot ‘Em Down Store was more than just a place of business; it was the heart of the show. It was where Lum and Abner would engage in their humorous antics, interact with the colorful characters of Pine Ridge, and dispense their own brand of homespun wisdom.

The store was a general store, meaning it sold a little bit of everything, from groceries to hardware. This provided endless opportunities for comic situations and misunderstandings. It was a place where the community gathered to share news, gossip, and the occasional tall tale.

Older citizens near Chestatee say there indeed was a Jot ‘Em Down store and the likely location was where the post office was located, since nearby farmers had to come there to pick up their mail.

The other crossroad in Chestatee is GA 369, known as Keith Bridge Road, originally ran east following what today’s map calls Old Keith Bridge Road to cross the Chattahoochee River just south of where it converges with the Chestatee River, on the image above near Keith Bridge Park.

Just west of Chestatee lies a prominent geological feature: a mountain ridge called Pea Ridge stretching from the Country Land Golf Course seven miles to the southwest to Sawnee Mountain. The Cherokees likely considered this high ground to be a sacred spot. Today, the ridge immediately west of the Cobblestone Farm subdivision is topped by a Forsyth County radio tower and the water tower serving residents in the northeast part of the county. From here you can view the north Georgia mountains.