Editing Cumming, Georgia (section)

=== Modern history ===
During the 1830s and 1840s, Cumming benefited from the gold mining industry as many businesses were created to meet the needs of the miners. However, the [[California Gold Rush]] in 1849 put the city into an economic depression. Newly built railroads bypassed the city and took traffic from the [[Federal Road (Cherokee lands)|Federal Road]] that ran near Cumming. The city was spared during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] because [[William T. Sherman]] did not pass through the city during his [[Sherman's March to the Sea|March to the Sea]]. In 1900, the county courthouse was destroyed in a fire after being struck by lightning; it was rebuilt in 1905.<ref name="source1"/><ref name="source2"/>

==== 1912 racial conflict of Cumming ====
{{main|1912 racial conflict in Forsyth County, Georgia}}
In 1912, Governor [[Joseph Mackey Brown|Joseph M. Brown]] sent four companies of state militia to Cumming to prevent riots after two reported attacks of young white women, allegedly by black men. A suspect in the second assault, in which the victim was also raped and later died, was dragged from the Cumming county jail and lynched. The governor then declared martial law, but the effort did little to stop a month-long barrage of attacks by night riders on the black citizens. This led to the banishment of blacks, and the city had virtually no black population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaforsyt/articles/1912news.html |title=1912 September and October |website=Rootsweb.ancestry.com |access-date=January 23, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102171333/http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaforsyt/articles/1912news.html |archive-date=January 2, 2011 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2024}}

{{main|1987 Forsyth County protests}}
Racial tensions were strained again in 1987 when a group of black people were assaulted while camping at a park on [[Lake Lanier]]. This was widely reported by local newspapers and in Atlanta. As a result of this, a local businessman{{refn|group=note|Some sources specify that the march was revived by Dean and Tammy Carter, while another credits Dean Williams.}} decided to hold a "Peace March" the following week. Civil rights leader Reverend [[Hosea Williams]] joined the local businessman in a march along Bethelview and Castleberry Road in south Forsyth County into the City of Cumming where they were assaulted by whites. The marchers retreated and vowed to return. During the following "Brotherhood March" on January 24, 1987, another racially mixed group returned to Forsyth County to complete the march the previous group had been unable to finish. March organizers estimated the number at 20,000, while police estimates ran from 12,000 to 14,000. Hosea Williams and former senator [[Gary Hart]] were in the demonstration. A group of the [[Georgia National Guard|National Guard]] kept the opposition of about 1,000 in check. [[Oprah Winfrey]] featured Cumming and Forsyth County on her ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]''. She formed a [[town hall meeting]] where one audience member said:

{{cquote|I'm afraid of [blacks] coming to Forsyth County. I was born in Atlanta, and in 1963, the first blacks were bussed to West Fulton High School. I go down there now and I see my neighborhood and my community, which was a nice community, and now it's nothing but a rat-infested slum area because they don't care.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/slideshow3_ss_celebrate/2 |title=Memorable Guests |website=Oprah.com |date=2006-01-01 |access-date=2011-01-23}}</ref>}}

[[Image:USACE Buford Dam Georgia.jpg|thumb|left|Buford Dam, impounding Lake Lanier on the [[Chattahoochee River]] southeast of Cumming]]
However, most of the audience members agreed that Forsyth County should integrate. Williams was excluded from Oprah's show and arrested for trespassing.

==== City growth ====
Today, the city is experiencing new growth and bears little resemblance to the small rural town it was mere decades ago. The completion of [[Georgia State Route 400|Georgia 400]] has helped turn Cumming into a [[commuter town]] for metropolitan [[Atlanta]]. The city holds the Cumming Country Fair & Festival every October. The Sawnee Mountain Preserve provides views of the city from the top of [[Sawnee Mountain]].<ref name="source1"/> In 1956, [[Buford Dam]], along the Chattahoochee River, started operating. The reservoir that it created is called [[Lake Lanier]].<ref name="source2"/> The lake, a popular spot for boaters, has generated income from tourists for Cumming as well as provides a source of drinking water.