Commerce, Georgia
| Commerce, Georgia | |
|---|---|
| City | |
| Motto: "A city on the right track" | |
 Location in Jackson County and the state of Georgia |
|
| Coordinates: 34°12′23″N 83°27′40″W / 34.20639°N 83.46111°WCoordinates: 34°12′23″N 83°27′40″W / 34.20639°N 83.46111°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Georgia |
| County | Jackson |
| Area | |
| • Total | 8.3 sq mi (21.5 km2) |
| • Land | 8.3 sq mi (21.5 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 912 ft (278 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 6,544 |
| • Density | 637.6/sq mi (246.1/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 30529, 30599 |
| Area code(s) | 706 |
| FIPS code | 13-19112 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0355254 |
| Website | City of Commerce Georgia Website |
Commerce is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, United States. It is ninety miles northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,544.
Before European settlers arrived, the area around present-day Commerce was inhabited by the Creek and the Cherokee.
The Lacoda Trail, which extended from present-day Athens-Clarke County to the north Georgia mountains, was a significant trade and travel route through this area. (GA Hwy. 334, which follows a nine-mile section of this ancient trail, was designated the "Lacoda Trail Memorial Parkway" by the Georgia General Assembly in 1998.)
Local histories that originated in the mid-1800s describe a territorial war between the Creeks and Cherokees over the land in the county during the 1770s. This war never occurred. The Cherokees were decisively defeated by the Koweta Creeks in 1754. For about a decade after their 1754 defeat, all Cherokee villages in the Georgia colony and the Hiwassee River Valley in North Carolina were abandoned. William Bartram traveled through northeastern Georgia in 1773, and described the Creeks as being completely dominant over the Cherokees. The Cherokees never occupied or held title to lands within the boundaries of Jackson County.
The Creek Confederacy ceded its lands east of the Oconee River in 1785. A subsequent treaty in 1793 ceded the remainder of the land that was to become Jackson County. The last corridor of Creek land, located west of Jackson Count,y was ceded in 1818.
The first permanent white settlement in Jackson County began near present-day Commerce on January 20, 1784, when German immigrant William Dunson was awarded a land grant on Little Sandy Creek. The settlement was named Groaning Rock, supposedly because of a nearby hollow rock formation that produced a moaning sound when the wind passed over it. (Descendants of William Dunson are still living on the original tract of land.)
A trading post was established by Eli Shankle near Groaning Rock in 1808, named Harmony Grove. The common explanation is that the name is a play on his wife, Rebecca's, maiden name: Hargrove. There is also an old Appalachian hymn tune called "Harmony Grove," found in an 1830 book called "Virginia Harmony." This tune is popular today as the melody to "Amazing Grace."
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