Fort Mountain (Murray County, Georgia)

This article is about the mountain. For the state park, see Fort Mountain State Park.
Fort Mountain GA

Fort Mountain, viewed from Chatsworth
Highest point
Elevation 2,850 ft (870 m)
Coordinates 34°46′59″N 84°42′33″W / 34.78306°N 84.70917°W / 34.78306; -84.70917Coordinates: 34°46′59″N 84°42′33″W / 34.78306°N 84.70917°W / 34.78306; -84.70917
Geography
Fort Mountain GA

Murray County, Georgia

Fort Mountain
Nearest city Chatsworth, Georgia
Area 211.2 acres (85.5 ha)
NRHP Reference # 77001587[1]
Added to NRHP November 23, 1977

Fort Mountain is a mountain in northern Georgia, just east of Chatsworth. It is part of the Cohutta Mountains, a small mountain range at the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. It also lies within the Chattahoochee National Forest.

Fort Mountain takes its name from a peak that has remnants of a stone formation around part of that peak. The stones, which are from the local area around the summit,[2] are piled in an 928 feet (283 m)-long discontinuous zig-zag line.[3] Stone piles may be formed naturally by the thrust that causes a ridge to crest during the mountain's formation.

Early visitors referred to the formation as a fort, speculating that it was built by Hernando de Soto to defend against the Creek Indians around 1540.[4] However, this theory was contradicted as early as 1917, as a historian pointed out that de Soto was in the area for less than two weeks.[5]

The original construction and function of the formation as a fort is less accepted today and its origin remains unknown. The formation has been attributed to pre-Columbian native Americans. Early historians attributed the stone piles to a race of moon-eyed people, said to predate the Cherokee. The earliest known mention of this was by Benjamin Smith Barton (1766-1815).

Around and mostly south of the fort peak is Fort Mountain State Park, with camping and hiking areas, a mountain lake, and a variety of public facilities.

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Smith, Philip E., "Aboriginal Stone Constructions in the Southern Piedemont", in University Of Georgia Laboratory Of Archaeology Series Report No 4 1962
  3. ↑ Smith, Philip E., "Aboriginal Stone Constructions in the Southern Piedemont", in University Of Georgia Laboratory Of Archaeology Series Report No 4 1962
  4. ↑ "News from Georgia" Brick and Clay Record Kenfield, Chicago: 1907, Vol. 27, No.3, 99.
  5. ↑ Knight, Lucian Lamar, "Fort Mountain," A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians. Lewis Publishing, Chicago: 1917, Vol. 1, p. 14.

External links

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