Banks County, Georgia

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History/Timeline

1755 Taliwa Battle occurred when Kingfisher of the Deer Clan was killed in battle. His wife, "Nanyhi" or Nancy fought in his place. The Cherokee won this battle which drove the Creeks out of Northern Georgia region.. Due to her bravery, a village was named Nancytown. Her tribe appointed her a "Holy Woman", which gave her the power to determine life or death for captives. ^[1]

1774 Settlers began settlement here prior to the American Revolution.^[2]

late 1700'-1800's Hebron Presbyterian and New Lebanon Presbyterian churches began.^[3]

1780 Nancy Town Creek is located east of Baldwin. The Creek is joined by Wofford Creek, then spilling into the Middle Fork of the Broad River.. Nancy also supplied food and help to the settlers during the American Revolution. ^[1]

Banks Co. Marker

1782 - American Revolution - A battle was fought in this county near the Broad River. The overwhelming amount of British and Indian troops were defeated by the Patriots, who were commanded by Elijah Clarke (led the Transoconee Expedition). ^[2]

Oct., 1782- the Cherokees formed a "Long Swamp Treaty", (Oct., 1782) with Georgia. The majority of the Indian lands now composes Banks County. The treaty specified a 20-ft easement between the settlers and the Cherokee. After this white settlers still spread into the Cherokee portions.^[2]

Marker for the Indian Treaty

1783 Land here was obtained from the Cherokee Indian Nation and USA. A strip of felled trees marked the strip formed the the Treaty of Augusta, 1783 dividing Georgia from the Cherokee lands. Georgia had its western border from Currahee Mountain North part to the southernmost branch of the Oconee River.. The northern boundary was the Chattahoochee National Forest. ^[4]

1783 -1798- The earliest white settlement was Woffords Settlement on Nancytown Creek was in the Indian Territory. . The line was skewed to include Woffords Settlement. Line Baptist Church received its name from this line. Forts were built to protect early settlers that lived in this area. They were fortress type buildings surrounded by high fences usually located near a spring to provide water for people and animals. These Forts were on Rivers in what is now Banks County. ^[1][2]

Hudson River

Col. Jones Fort, Black's Fort, Wilkins Fort

Nealls(Nails) Creek-

Trimbles Fort, Bush's Fort, Norris Fort

Middle Fork of Broad River above Leatherwood Creek-

Hollingsworth Fort, Wofford's Fort

Tugalo River

Walton's Fort, Ward's Fort

Choggee Creek and Tugalo River- Col. Benjamin Cleveland's Fort.

1804 James Vann was the agent, acting in good faith for the Cherokee tribe sold the land to General William Wofford. ^[2]

1804-1818 during this timespan this strip of land was the boundary between Georgia and the Cherokee. Some call this the Hawkins Mile or the Four Mile Line, others call it the Wofford Tract. Settlers eventually spread upon the Cherokee "Enchanted Land."^[2]

Dec 11, 1858-59 Georgia formed Banks County from Franklin and Habersham counties and named it for Dr. Richard E. Banks who was a circuit riding physician treating white settlers as well as the Cherokee Indians with smallpox.. ^[5][4][2]Mark Anthony Cooper who established Etowah in Bartow County is responsible for the Friendship Monument to honor Dr. Banks. ^[6]

Feb 1, 1859 The city of Homer began its existence near the crossroads of the early trade routes. The Old Federal Highway, connected Nashville, Tennessee with Augusta, Georgia. Franklin and Habersham lost land for the creation of Banks County, since Georgia legislature worried about the number of days involved in the travel to a county seat. When it reduced the county sizes, that reduced the travel time to conduct county business. ^[2][6] The county was formally split from Franklin and Habersham county lands as Georgia's 129th county.. Homer, Georgia replaced New Lebanon as its county seat. Kenneth Krakow says the town, of County Seat was named for Homer Jackson.^[4][7]

1863 -- Banks first courthouse was built in 1863, utilizing $6,600 in Confederate currency to fund it. During the Civil War at least one minor skirmish occurred here. ^[4][2][7]

Battle of Narrows marker

Oct 12,1864 --BATTLE OF NARROWS- A Confederate drill field was near this site, The battle between Confederate troops and Union Cavalry on a mountain pass occurred on a mountain pass... The Victory by the Confederates helped save Habersham county from destruction by the Union troops and camp followers.. The victory prevented the destruction of the grain fields for Confederates.. This is also called Battle of Currahee, since it was near Currahee mountain. There were low number of casualties and neighbors took care of the wounded.^[8]

1866 - The Narrows is a small farming community with 100 people.. It boasts it was birthplace of Ty Cobb, a Baseball Hall of Famer, there. This is on state Hwy 105 near the broad River in the N part of Banks County. ^[5]

1866 New Lebanon was renamed Homer Presbyterian church. ^[1]

Post 1866 -the Economy depended on cotton for its single crop. Three factors caused the county to cease growing cotton in the 1920's. ^[6]

grist mill.

1)The land was worn out by the boom-bust cycles of a single cop economy (continually planting cotton and wearing out the soil.. ^[6]

2) Boll weevil hit the area

3) 1925 -- Drought hit and halted cotton proeuction. The county had difficulties in its hard economic times 1920-1940's.^[2]

1876 - The Banks County Academy was opened for male and female students in Homer, Georgia. Tuition fees were $15.00-$30.00/term for the area of study.^[9]

Newspapers in the county are Banks County News, and Mainstream News, Inc. The oldest church is Hebron Presbyterian Church (1796) Banks county has the Atlanta Dragway here.

^[5]

Parts of other incorporated towns lie in the county: Alto (once known as Lulah), Baldwin, Gillsville, Lula, and Maysville. ^[4]

Covered bridge.

1915 -Well known landmark of Banks county is the Covered bridge. It is one of the smallest bridge bridge in Georgia and is the smallest in the USA.. Located on private property south of Lula in Banks County, this covered bridge is the smallest in Georgia and one of the smallest in the United States. The Bridge was used from 1915-1969, and has been renovated in 1975..^[4]

Commercial forestry once was prime economy. One of the main economic producers now are small poultry farms.. Manufacturing in textiles and apparel production is the second economic producer.^[4]

1987 A Banks county high School student raised the money to preserve the old courthouse. It currently is used as museum and community meeting hall. ^[4]

Towns in Banks county are Alto, Arp, Carlan, Erastus, Five Points, Gillsville, Hebron, Hollingsworth, Jewelville, Maysville, Mount Pleasant, Nancytown (historical), Odis Crossroads, Pinefield Crossroads, Pruitt, Uvena, Woffords Settlement (historical), and the county seat, Homer.^[10]

Ty Cobb Statue

2000 The county currently has a population of 14,422, per the U.S. Census Bureau's statistics for 2000, which is increased from 10,308 persons in 1990. ^[11]

Government Offices

Temporary County Seat New Lebanon served as temporary county seat until the inferior could could designate a permanent site.^[6] 1st County seat, 1863 Judges selected Homer as county Seat. The County began building a new courthouse 1860. The Civil war interrupted this until 1863. This building lasted until 1980's. ^[6] Its first courthouse was built in 1863, reportedly with $6,600 in Confederate currency; it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. ^[4]

2nd County Seat, 1980

Banks Co. Courthouse, 1980

By 1980 Banks county needed a new courthouse.The 1863 building was too small and needed repair. Building began on the block behind the 1863 courthouse. By 1987 The new building was completed.^[6]

Geography

Size -234 square miles (610 km2), of which 232 square miles (600 km2) is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2) (0.8%) is water.

Rivers - Broad River sub-basin of the Savannah River basin.

Adjacent counties

• Habersham County - north
• Stephens County - northeast
• Madison County - southeast
• Jackson County - south
• Hall County - west
• Franklin County - east

Protected areas

• Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest

Demographics

In there were 14,422 people in the county with a population density of 62 people/sq. mi. The racial makeup of the county was 93.16% White, 3.22% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 0.60% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.96% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. 3.42% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in the county was $38,523, and the median income for a family was $43,136. The per capita income for the county was $17,424. About 9.80% of families and 12.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.00% of those under age 18 and 16.30% of those age 65 or over. By 2010 there were 18,395 people in the county.with a population density of 79.3 people/sq. mi.^[12]

Education -

• Banks County Middle School BCES, BCHS, BCPS, BCCS

Towns/Communities

• Banks Crossing
• Baldwin (partly in Habersham County)
• Hollingsworth
• Homer (county Seat) ^[13]
• Grove Level
• Alto (partly in Habersham Co.)

• Gillsville (partly in Hall County)

• Lula partly in Hall County

• Maysville

County Resources

• Nails Creek Baptist Church
• Old Banks County Jail

Drag Racing

• Fort Hollingsworth
• Atlanta Dragway
• Banks County Festival in the fall annual even
• Annual North Georgia Folk Potters Festival in June annual event
• Homer the "World's Largest Easter Egg Hunt annual event

Notables

• Allen D. Candler former governor major-league baseball champion
• Ty Cobb, major league baseball champion
• Zach S. Henderson, president of Georgia Teachers College (Georgia Southern University).

Census

1860 --- 4,707 —

1870 --- 4,973 5.7%

1880 --- 7,337 47.5%

1890 --- 8,562 16.7%

1900 --- 10,545 23.2%

1910 --- 11,244 6.6%

1920 --- 11,814 5.1%

1930 --- 9,703 −17.9%

1940 --- 8,733 −10.0%

1950 --- 6,935 −20.6%

1960 --- 6,497 −6.3%

1970 --- 6,833 5.2%

1980 --- 8,702 27.4%

1990 --- 10,308 18.5%

2000 --- 14,422 39.9%

2010 --- 18,395 27.5%

Est. 2016 --- 18,397

Cemeteries

• Mount Pleasant Methodist Church Cemetery

• Webbs Creek Cemetery

• Banks County Cemeteries
• New Lebanon Cemetery

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} http://banksga.genealogyvillage.com/Historical/bankshistory.html
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9} http://roadsidegeorgia.com/county/banks.html
3. ↑ http://banksga.genealogyvillage.com/Historical/SlavesinPresbyrecordBankscoGa..htm
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8} http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/banks-county
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banks_County,_Georgia
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6} http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/counties/banks
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} https://www.genealogyinc.com/georgia/banks-county/
8. ↑ http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/historical_markers/county/banks/battle-of-narrows
9. ↑ http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/banks/history/schools/1876acad.txt
10. ↑ http://www.jansdigs.com/banks/history.html
11. ↑ http://www.jansdigs.com/banks/history.html
12. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banks_County,_Georgia
13. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer,_Georgia

• A History of Georgia: From Its First Discovery by Europeans to the Adoption of the Present Constitution in MDCCXCVIII, Vol 1, by William Bacon Stevens January 1, 1847 New York : D. Appleton
• http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/banks-county
• http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/banks-county

• http://roadsidegeorgia.com/county/banks.html

• https://georgia.gov/cities-counties/banks-county
• http://co.banks.ga.us
• http://genealogytrails.com/geo/banks/