Cherokee County, Georgia
| Cherokee County, Georgia | |
|---|---|
The Old Cherokee County Court House in Canton, built in 1929
|
|
 Location in the U.S. state of Georgia |
|
 Georgia's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | December 6, 1831 |
| Named for | Cherokee people |
| Seat | Canton |
| Largest city | |
| Area | |
| • Total | 434 sq mi (1,124 km2) |
| • Land | 422 sq mi (1,093 km2) |
| • Water | 13 sq mi (34 km2), 2.9% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 235,900 |
| • Density | 508/sq mi (196/km²) |
| Congressional district | 11th |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | www |
Cherokee County is a county located in the US state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 214,346. The county seat is Canton. The county Board of Commissioners is the governing body, with members elected to office.
The county is under the jurisdiction of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, which is headed by Sheriff Frank Reynolds. The Cherokee County Sheriff's office is accredited by CALEA. The major cities within the county have individual police departments, such as Woodstock, Canton, Holly Springs, and Ball Ground.
Cherokee County is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Originally, Cherokee County was more like a territory than a county, covering everything northwest of the Chattahoochee River and Chestatee River except for Carroll County. This county was created December 26, 1831 by the state legislature. It was named after the Cherokee Indians who lived in the area at that time. Several other counties were carved out of these Cherokee lands as part of the Cherokee Land Lottery of 1832.
An act of the Georgia General Assembly passed on December 3 of that year created the counties of Forsyth, Lumpkin, Union, Cobb, Gilmer, Murray, Cass (now Bartow), Floyd, and Paulding. The forcible (sometimes at gunpoint) removal of the Cherokee people, leading up to the notorious Trail of Tears to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River, began in this area the year before. The push by European Americans to expel the Cherokee was accelerated by the discovery of gold in local streams.
...
Wikipedia