Editing Alpharetta, Georgia (section)

==History==

In the 1830s, the [[Cherokee]] people in Georgia and elsewhere in [[Southern United States|the South]] were [[Cherokee removal|forcibly relocated]] to the [[Indian Territory]] (present-day [[Oklahoma]]) under the [[Indian Removal Act]]. [[Settler|Pioneer]]s and [[farmer]]s later settled on the newly vacated land, situated along a former Cherokee trail stretching from the [[North Georgia mountains]] to the [[Chattahoochee River]].<ref name="AlpharettaHistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.alpharetta.ga.us/index.php?p=73 |title=City of Alpharetta website &ndash; History |access-date=December 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213221418/http://www.alpharetta.ga.us/index.php?p=73 |archive-date=December 13, 2013 }}</ref>

One of the area's first permanent landmarks was the New Prospect Camp Ground (also known as the [[Methodism|Methodist]] Camp Ground), beside a [[natural spring]] near what is now downtown Alpharetta.<ref name="AlpharettaHistory" /> It later served as a [[trading post]] for the exchanging of goods among settlers.<ref name="AlpharettaHistory" />

Known as the town of Milton through July 1858, the city of Alpharetta was [[municipal charter|charter]]ed on December 11, 1858, with boundaries extending in a {{convert|0.5|mi|4=1|adj=on}} radius from the city courthouse.<ref name="AlpharettaHistory" /> It served as the [[county seat]] of [[Milton County, Georgia|Milton County]] until 1931, when Milton County merged with Fulton County to avoid bankruptcy during the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="AlpharettaHistory" />

The city's name may be a variation of a fictional Indian girl, Alfarata, in the 19th-century song "[[The Blue Juniata]]"; it may also be derived from [[alpha]], the first letter of the Greek alphabet.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgia.gov/cities-counties/alpharetta |title=Alpharetta entry at Georgia.gov |access-date=August 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810025008/http://georgia.gov/cities-counties/alpharetta |archive-date=August 10, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Simeon and Jane Rucker Log House]], built in 1833, was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1997.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref>

The inhabitants of the area, primarily Methodists and Baptists, engaged in various occupations such as farming, blacksmithing, milling, merchandising, carpentry, and ditching. A number of them possessed a small number of slaves. Throughout the [[American Civil War]] (1861–65), local men participated in combat or served in the home guard; however, Union forces did not advance north of Roswell, which is situated roughly six miles to the southwest.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Alpharetta|last=Dillman|first=Caroline Matheny|date=December 6, 2002|encyclopedia=[[New Georgia Encyclopedia]]|url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/alpharetta/|access-date=August 26, 2024}}</ref>