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About Hall County
Varied History
Hall County's unique history - dramatically different from the South's traditional plantation culture yet distinctly Southern in its own way - is as rich and varied as a colorful tapestry.
Founding
Hall was founded in 1818, when the region's mountains were still populated by Native Americans, as the trading center of Northeast Georgia. Gainesville, its seat, soon became a frontier boom town as settlers flocked to homesteads in the rolling hills formerly inhabited by Cherokee Indians. With the discovery of gold in Lumpkin and White counties to the north in 1829, Gainesville became the trading and supply center for North America's first gold rush. While miners left for California in the mid-1800s, North Georgia continued to develop as a farming region with Gainesville as its hub.
The Railroads
In 1871, the opening of Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad brought further growth. The area developed as a mountain summer resort, with local springs touted for their health-giving qualities and resistance to fever that plagued the South's coastal areas. Gainesville, the "Great Health Resort of the South," soon housed the region's first hospital, college and military academy along with a sizeable cultural base - all traditions that remain today. Along with hotels, large Victorian and Georgian style homes graced its streets. The city was the first south of Philadelphia to install electric streetlights, and provided residents the services of an electric streetcar system.
Hall County's unique history - dramatically different from the South's traditional plantation culture yet distinctly Southern in its own way - is as rich and varied as a colorful tapestry.
Founding
Hall was founded in 1818, when the region's mountains were still populated by Native Americans, as the trading center of Northeast Georgia. Gainesville, its seat, soon became a frontier boom town as settlers flocked to homesteads in the rolling hills formerly inhabited by Cherokee Indians. With the discovery of gold in Lumpkin and White counties to the north in 1829, Gainesville became the trading and supply center for North America's first gold rush. While miners left for California in the mid-1800s, North Georgia continued to develop as a farming region with Gainesville as its hub.
The Railroads
In 1871, the opening of Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad brought further growth. The area developed as a mountain summer resort, with local springs touted for their health-giving qualities and resistance to fever that plagued the South's coastal areas. Gainesville, the "Great Health Resort of the South," soon housed the region's first hospital, college and military academy along with a sizeable cultural base - all traditions that remain today. Along with hotels, large Victorian and Georgian style homes graced its streets. The city was the first south of Philadelphia to install electric streetlights, and provided residents the services of an electric streetcar system.