Editing Gilmer County, Georgia (section)

==History==
This was long inhabited by cultures of indigenous peoples. It was part of the homeland of the Cherokee. They had a village, ''Elatseyi'', meaning "new ground".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n116 117]}}</ref> Other sources say it means "green place".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yyMxAAAAIBAJ&pg=5700%2C4457103 | title=The Names Stayed | work=Calhoun Times and Gordon County News | date=August 29, 1990 | access-date=April 29, 2015 | pages=64}}</ref> It was sometimes spelled "Elejoy" on 18th-century colonial maps. It was located at the confluence of the [[Ellijay River|Ellijay]] and [[Cartecay River|Cartecay]] Rivers, which create the [[Coosawattee River]]. The later European-American town of Ellijay developed at this site.

In 1832, Gilmer County was organized as Georgia started to encroach on Cherokee territory.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/g.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917124916/http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/g.pdf |archive-date=September 17, 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=94 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref> Ellijay was designated as the county seat in 1834.

On January 12, 1854, parts of Gilmer County, as well as parts of neighboring [[Union County, Georgia|Union County]], were taken to form the newly created [[Fannin County, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/f.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030917111250/http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/f.pdf |archive-date=September 17, 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=76 | isbn=0-915430-00-2}}</ref>

[[File:CartecayRiverGA panorama.jpg|thumb|400px|Blackberry Falls rapid on the Cartecay River near Ellijay]]
This is still a primarily rural county, with agriculture and forests supporting the economy. It also has a growing tourist sector, some based on [[whitewater kayaking]] and canoeing on the rivers in the area.