Editing Commerce, Georgia (section)

==History==
=== Native American history ===
Before European settlers arrived, the area around present-day Commerce was inhabited by the [[Muscogee|Creek]] and the [[Cherokee]] people.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Gustavus James Nash |title=The Early History of Jackson County, Georgia: "The Writings of the Late G.J.N. Wilson, Embracing Some of the Early History of Jackson County". The First Settlers, 1784; Formation and Boundaries to the Present Time; Records of the Talasee Colony; Struggles of the Colonies of Yamacutah, Groaning Rock, Fort Yargo, Stonethrow and Thomocoggan |date=1914 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1165799794 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/stream/earlyhistoryofja00wil/earlyhistoryofja00wil_djvu.txt |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref> Historians describe a territorial war between the Creeks and Cherokees over the land in the county during the 1770s.<ref>Wilson, Gustavus, ''Early History of Jackson County, GA''. Atlanta: White Publishing, 1911.</ref>

The Lacoda Trail, which extended from present-day [[Athens, Georgia|Athens]] to the north Georgia mountains, was a significant trade and travel route through this area. ([[Georgia State Route 334]], which follows a {{convert|9|mi|adj=on|0}} section of this ancient trail, was designated the "Lacoda Trail Memorial Parkway" by the [[Georgia General Assembly]] in 1998.)

The Cherokee ceded their disputed lands east of the [[Oconee River]] in the Treaty of Augusta (1783) and the Creeks did likewise in their own Treaty of Augusta (1783) and the Treaty of Galphinton (1785).<ref>{{cite web |title=Creek Indian Land Cessions |url=https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/learn/historyculture/upload/Accessible-Creek-Land-Cessions.pdf |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref>Walter, Williams (1979). "Southeastern Indians before Removal, Prehistory, Contact, Decline". Southeastern Indians: Since the Removal Era. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.</ref>

===Early settlement===
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The first permanent white settlement in Jackson County began near present-day Commerce on January 20, 1784, when [[German Americans|German]] immigrant William Dunson was awarded a land grant on Little Sandy Creek. The settlement was named "Groaning Rock",<ref name="Wilson"/> supposedly because of a nearby hollow rock formation that produced a moaning sound when the wind passed over it. (Descendants of William Dunson are still living on the original tract of land.)

A trading post was established by Eli Shankle near Groaning Rock in 1808, named "Harmony Grove". The common explanation is that the name is a play on his wife, Rebecca's, maiden name: Hargrove. There is also an old Appalachian [[hymn tune]] called "Harmony Grove", found in an 1830 book called ''[[The Virginia Harmony]]''. This tune is popular today as the melody to "[[Amazing Grace]]".

The Harmony Grove Female Academy, the first all-female school chartered in the state of Georgia, was chartered by the state legislature on December 20, 1824.

The Harmony Grove post office was established on October 14, 1825; Russell Jones was its first postmaster.

On September 1, 1876, the [[North Eastern Railroad (Georgia)|North Eastern Railroad]] opened its line from Athens to [[Lula, Georgia|Lula]], which passed through the heart of Harmony Grove. The railroad line had the most significant impact on the shape of the city, which began expanding both directions along the line. These tracks are now owned by the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]].

=== City history ===
The Harmony Grove community was officially incorporated as a town on December 24, 1884, including all areas within a one-mile radius of the railroad depot, one half mile east, and 400 yards west.

Harmony Grove Mills, Inc. was organized under the laws of Jackson County on April 3, 1893, for the purpose of processing and producing cotton [[textile]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://commercega.gov/experience/about-us|title= History of Commerce|publisher= City of Commerce Website |accessdate= July 11, 2023}}</ref> It served various purposes over the years, including the manufacture of [[denim]] overalls and the earliest production of electricity in the city. The mill village created to house employees makes up a significant portion of the homes on the southeast end of Commerce today. The mill had been in operation under various corporations until the spring of 2004, when it closed operations and was sold; it has been used for warehouse storage space since, and is currently for sale. The building is still a major feature of the city.

Near the end of the 19th century, many began to feel that the name "Harmony Grove" was too long to write and sounded too much like a country village. In addition, many didn't like the fact that mail frequently went to another post office by the same name in [[Dawson County, Georgia|Dawson County]]. Harmony Grove was reincorporated and renamed "Commerce" on August 6, 1904, in an effort to address these concerns and reflect the city's commercial dominance in the north Georgia cotton trade.<ref>{{cite book |title=Weird, Wacky, and Wild Georgia Trivia |last1=Watson |first1=Stephanie |first2=Lisa |last2=Wojna |year=2008 |publisher=Blue Bike Books |isbn=978-1-897278-44-4 |pages=60}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/c.pdf |title=Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins |publisher=Winship Press |author=Krakow, Kenneth K. |year=1975 |location=Macon, GA |pages=49 |isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>

In 1959, a series of controversial town hall meetings were held to try to convince members of the federal Interstate Highway System to re-route the proposed [[Interstate 85]], originally planned to go through [[Gainesville, Georgia|Gainesville]] ([[Hall County, Georgia|Hall County]]), through Commerce and [[Lavonia, Georgia|Lavonia]] ([[Franklin County, Georgia|Franklin County]]). The proposal was changed, and the interstate was routed through Jackson County. Even more so than the railroad nearly a century before, this major transportation artery brought tremendous commercial advantage to Commerce, at a time it desperately needed it.