Editing Lumpkin County, Georgia (section)

== History ==
This area was settled by the [[Cherokee]], who also occupied areas of what became delimited as southeastern [[Tennessee]] and western [[North Carolina]].

Lumpkin County was created on December 3, 1832.<ref>{{Cite book|title="I remember Dahlonega" : Volume 3 memories of growing up in Lumpkin County|last=Amerson, Anne Dismukes|date=1994|publisher=Chestatee Publications|oclc=32506267}}</ref> The county was named for [[Wilson Lumpkin]], who at the time was [[Governor of Georgia]].<ref name="lumpkinco">{{Cite web|url=http://georgia.gov/cities-counties/lumpkin-county|title=Lumpkin County|access-date=May 29, 2012|publisher=State of Georgia|year=2012|author=State of Georgia}}</ref>  Lumpkin's daughter, Martha Wilson Lumpkin Compton, was the namesake of the town named [[Marthasville, Georgia|Marthasville]], the early-1840s name for [[Atlanta]] in Fulton County; this was designated as the capital of the state after the Civil War.

In the 1830s, [[Georgia Gold Rush|gold was discovered in the county]] near [[Auraria, Georgia|Auraria]], leading to a rush of miners and development. The [[Dahlonega Mint|U.S. government established a mint]] in [[Dahlonega, Georgia|Dahlonega]], operating for 23 years until the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]].  State contractors later acquired gold from Lumpkin County to gild the dome of the current [[Georgia State Capitol|state capitol building]] in Atlanta.

===20th century to present===
[[Agriculture]] and [[agritourism]] are top business industries. In addition, vineyards have been developed here and, since the mid-1990s, Lumpkin County has been recognized as "the heart of Georgia wine country."{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} The county features several [[vineyard]]s and five licensed [[Winery|wineries]], which attract many tourists. In 2015, state senator [[Steve Gooch]] introduced Georgia Senate Resolution 125, officially recognizing Lumpkin County as the Wine Tasting Room Capital of Georgia.

The historic Dahlonega Square is also a popular destination. It has gift shops, restaurants, art galleries and artists' studios, and additional tasting rooms.

Lumpkin County is the home of the [[U.S. Army]]'s Camp Frank D. Merrill, the base of the 5th Ranger Training Battalion of the U.S. [[75th Ranger Regiment|Army Ranger]] School's mountain phase. Camp Frank D. Merrill is located in the northern end of the county, within the [[Blue Ridge Wildlife Management Area]] of the [[Chattahoochee National Forest]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.benning.army.mil/ |title=› Organizations › 5th RTBn Home |access-date=March 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419141716/http://www.bragg.army.mil/default.aspx |archive-date=April 19, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Three veterans' organizations are located in Lumpkin County, to serve the veterans and the community: the Heyward Fields [[American Legion]] Post 239, the US Army Mountain Ranger Association, and the Lumpkin and White County [[Veterans of Foreign Wars]] Post 5533.

Lumpkin County has an agency to help veterans, the Lumpkin County Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee. This group is in charge of the Lumpkin County Veterans Memorial and the twice yearly veterans' memorial crosses, which are installed to line both sides of the major roads in Dahlonega from mid-May through the Fourth of July, and again for the month of November. The crosses are adorned with the names of the county's veterans who have died, some in combat (marked with KIA), and those who returned home and later died.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lumpkincountyveteransadvisory.com/ |title=Lumpkincountyveteransadvisory.com |access-date=February 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115191629/http://www.lumpkincountyveteransadvisory.com/ |archive-date=January 15, 2012 }}</ref>