Chattooga County, Georgia

Chattooga County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Summerville
Year Organized: 1838
Square Miles: 314

Court House:

P.O. Box 211
County Courthouse
Summerville, GA 30747-0211

Etymology - Origin of County Name

takes its name from the Chattooga River, one of two Georgia rivers bearing that name.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Chattooga County was formed from parts of Floyd and Walker counties. It takes its name from the Chattooga River, one of two Georgia rivers bearing that name.

The county courthouse in Summerville was built in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Points of Interest

Much of the Armuchee Ranger District, a 65,000-acre section of the Chattahoochee National Forest, lies within the county. Taylor Ridge and Johns Mountain are two of its most prominent features. Over 6,400 acres of Johns Mountain were recently proposed as a National Scenic Area.

Some of the more popular recreational activities in the county include hiking, camping, mountain climbing and rappelling in the Lookout Mountain range, and canoeing down the Armuchee Creek. Genealogist and Civil War enthusiasts seek information from the various cemeteries and historical sites.

Chattooga Lakes Park is a new park about three miles southeast of Summerville.

Notable Citizens

Several famous people are from Chattooga County. George Guest, known as Sequoyah, was the leader of the Cherokees and is credited with developing the Cherokee written alphabet. Ralph "Country" Brown was a popular center fielder for the Atlanta Crackers baseball team. Brown was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Bobby Lee Cook, an internationally known and respected trial lawyer, grew up in Chattooga County and has built a major international practice as a defense attorney. Finally, the Reverend Howard Finster, the internationally acclaimed Visionary Artist has his artwork featured at Paradise Gardens.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Walker County
East: Gordon County
Southeast: Floyd County
Southwest: Cherokee County, Ala.
West: DeKalb County, Ala.

Cities and Towns:

- Lyerly	town	Incorporated Area
- Menlo	city	Incorporated Area
- Summerville (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Trion	town	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Chamber of Commerce http://www.chattooga-chamber.org/

Additional County Info http://www.georgiaplanning.com/CountyPortal/countyportal.asp?FIPS=13055

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Penn Foster High School

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