Louisville Louisville was Georgia’s third state capital following Savannah and Augusta. The city, named after French King Louis XVI for his support during the American Revolution, was the capital from 1796-1807. Located in Jefferson County, Louisville was selected as the capital due to, what at the time was its location as the center of Georgia population. This was driven by the state’s westward expansion. The state’s legislators hoped that the town would also serve as a trading center due to its location on the Ogeechee River. Once it was established, Louisville developed both socially and financially. However, Louisville’s time as capital ended in 1807 due several factors including the malaria outbreaks the occurred in the city every year, the difficulty of using the Ogeechee River as a trade route, and most importantly, the continual Northwestern movement of Georgia’s population.

Louisville Note: One of the most famous events in the city was when the state legislators publically set fire to the Yazoo Land Act with a magnifying glass. Note: Georgia’s Louisville is not pronounced the same as the Louisville in Kentucky. In Georgia, it sounds like the name “Lewis.” In the same way most Americans pronounce St. Louis, Missouri. Note: The primary reason that students should know about Louisville is it illustrates Georgia’s population growth and movement from the coast to the Northwestern part of the state. Note: An easy way for students to remember the name of all of Georgia’s capital cities is to teach them the acronym S.A.L.M.A. which stands for Savannah, Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville, and Atlanta.

Creek land in Georgia, without the tribe’s consent, for $200,000 Creek land in Georgia, without the tribe’s consent, for $200,000. McIntosh received extra cash for his personal lands in the treaty. Upon hearing about what they considered to be a bribe, the Creek Nation ruled to execute McIntosh for his actions. On April 30, 1825, 200 Creek warriors carried out McIntosh’s execution at his home by shooting and stabbing him repeatedly. Nevertheless, the Second Treaty of Indian Springs officially removed the Creek from Georgia’s borders.

The Dahlonega Gold Rush Legend has it that in 1828, a young man named Benjamin Parks kicked an unusual stone while deer hunting in North Georgia. This stone was actually a gold nugget, and Park’s find led to America’s first gold rush in Dahlonega. No matter if this story is true or not, (there are many others describing how gold was discovered) someone discovered gold around 1828, and soon almost everyone knew about it. This discovery did not bode well for the Cherokee. Soon after the discovery, thousands of white gold miners began clamoring for Cherokee land and began to settle there without permission. So many whites wanted land in the area; Georgia held a land lottery in the region in 1832. It did not matter that the Cherokee still lived on the land that was being allocated. Hungry for land and gold, whites began to demand for their removal. In 1838, the Cherokee were removed from the region by the U.S. Army. This began the Trail of Tears.

For two decades gold was plentiful in and around Dahlonega For two decades gold was plentiful in and around Dahlonega. So much gold was found that in 1838, the U.S. government set up a mint. This mint, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, produced almost 1.5 million gold coins. Nevertheless, as the years passed, gold became much more difficult to mine in the area. In 1849, California’s more famous gold rush began and brought thousands of Americans out west to find their fortunes. Even though there was still “gold in them thar (sic) hills” the gold rush ended in Georgia as soon as the first nugget was found in California. Note: According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, the word Dahlonega is similar to a Cherokee word “Tahlonega” meaning “golden.”