Adairsville in Gordon County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
Cherokee Nation
Photographed by David Seibert, June 26, 2008
1. Cherokee Nation Marker
During the early 1800s, northern Georgia was heart of the sovereign, independent Cherokee Indian Nation. By this time Cherokee were the most progressive Indian tribe in North America. In 1821, they became the first American Indians with a written form of their native language, invented by Sequoyah, an uneducated Cherokee.
New Echota, the Cherokee national capital, was located 10 miles north. There a constitutional government of executive, legislative, and judicial branches ruled the Nation. Once the largest town in the area, New Echota consisted of houses, stores, taverns, a Council house, Supreme Court house, and a printing office which published a national bilingual newspaper, the CHEROKEE PHOENIX.
Most of the 17,000 Cherokee were farmers and lived in small log cabins but some grew very wealthy and owned great plantations such as the Vann House, located 27 miles north.
In 1838, at gunpoint, the Cherokee were rounded up and imprisoned by state and federal armies. Later that year they were forced to what is now Oklahoma. Four thousand Cherokees died on the terrible march west known as the “Trail of Tears.”
Erected 1983 by Georgia Department of Natural Resources. (Marker Number 064-32.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed
this page online
Location. 34° 24.55′ N, 84° 55.058′ W. Marker is in Adairsville, Georgia, in Gordon County. It can be reached from Interstate 75 3 miles north of Georgia Route 140. The marker is located at the upper section of the northbound rest area on I-75. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Adairsville GA 30103, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s Mountains. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Original Site Adairsville 1830s (approx. 1.3 miles away); Major John Lewis (approx. 2.1 miles away); Historic Trimble House (approx. 2.2 miles away); Mosteller's Mills (approx. 3 miles away); Johnston's Army at Adairsville (approx. 3 miles away); Federal Armies at Adairsville (approx. 3 miles away); Joe P. Bowdoin, M.D. (approx. 3 miles away); Adairsville, Georgia (approx. 3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Adairsville.
Other markers no longer nearby. Site of the Robert C. Saxon House (was approx. 1.1 miles away but has been confirmed missing); Oothcaloga Valley
Photographed by David Seibert, circa 1990
2. Cherokee Nation Marker as originally erected in another part of the Rest Area.
Photographed by David Seibert, June 26, 2008
3. The Rest Area in 2008, with Cherokee Nation and Blue Star Memorial Highway markers.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 25, 2020. It was originally submitted on September 17, 2008, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia. This page has been viewed 2,885 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 17, 2008, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.
