Editing Cherokee County, Georgia (section)

==History==

===Original territory===
[[Image:Cherokee1822.jpg|thumb|An 1822 map of Cherokee lands in Georgia]]
Cherokee County was created by an act of the [[Georgia General Assembly]] on December 26, 1831, covering a vast area northwest of the [[Chattahoochee River]] and [[Chestatee River]] (except for [[Carroll County, Georgia|Carroll County]]). It was named after the [[Cherokee|Cherokee people]] who lived in the area at that time.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/c.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030710215157/http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/c.pdf |archive-date=July 10, 2003 |url-status=live |title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins |publisher=Winship Press |author=Krakow, Kenneth K. |year=1975 |location=Macon, GA |pages=41 |isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>

The discovery of gold in local streams accelerated the push of European Americans to expel the Cherokee from their land.

In 1832, the State of Georgia implemented the [[Georgia Land Lotteries|Cherokee Land Lottery]], which gave deeds of land that had previously belonged to the Cherokee people to white male citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/countyboundaries/cherokeeboundaries2.htm |title=GeorgiaInfo has moved :: Carl Vinson Institute of Government |publisher=Cviog.uga.edu |access-date=July 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511172224/http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/countyboundaries/cherokeeboundaries2.htm |archive-date=May 11, 2008}}</ref> The forcible [[Indian removal|removal of the Cherokee people]] to [[Indian Territory]] west of the Mississippi River began during this year.

===Partition===

[[Image:Cherokee1834.jpg|thumb|An 1834 map of counties created from Cherokee land]]The General Assembly passed a law on December 3, 1832, which created the counties of [[Forsyth County, Georgia|Forsyth]], [[Lumpkin County, Georgia|Lumpkin]], [[Union County, Georgia|Union]], [[Cobb County, Georgia|Cobb]], [[Gilmer County, Georgia|Gilmer]], [[Murray County, Georgia|Murray]], Cass (now [[Bartow County, Georgia|Bartow]]), [[Floyd County, Georgia|Floyd]], and [[Paulding County, Georgia|Paulding]] from area that had previously been part of Cherokee County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/coundate.htm |title=GeorgiaInfo has moved :: Carl Vinson Institute of Government |publisher=Cviog.uga.edu |access-date=July 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218012756/http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/coundate.htm |archive-date=February 18, 2008}}</ref>

[[Canton, Georgia|Etowah]] was declared the county seat in 1833. Its name was later changed to Canton, which is still the county seat today.

In 1857, part of the southeastern corner of the county was ceded by the General Assembly to form [[Milton County]] (now the cities of [[Milton, Georgia|Milton]], [[Alpharetta, Georgia|Alpharetta]], [[Roswell, Georgia|Roswell]], and parts of [[Sandy Springs, Georgia|Sandy Springs]], within north [[Fulton County, Georgia|Fulton County]]).

===Development===
In the 1890s, The Atlanta & Knoxville Railroad (later renamed the Marietta & North Georgia Railroad when it could not be completed to [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]]) built a [[branch line]] through the middle of the county. When this line was bought by the [[Louisville & Nashville Railroad]] in the following decade, the L&N Railroad built [[railroad station|station]]s at [[Woodstock, Georgia|Woodstock]] and [[Holly Springs, Georgia|Holly Springs]].

Cherokee County began to see rapid population growth following the construction of [[Interstate 575]], the first phase of which opened in 1979. The freeway bisects the county and serves as its primary thoroughfare, running from [[Kennesaw, Georgia|Kennesaw]] north through [[Woodstock, Georgia|Woodstock]], [[Holly Springs, Georgia|Holly Springs]], [[Canton, Georgia|Canton]], and [[Ball Ground, Georgia|Ball Ground]]. Today, the county is most densely populated in its southern areas, which are closest to the [[Atlanta|City of Atlanta]].