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This history is excerpted from The History of Cherokee County by Rev. Lloyd G. Marlin, Cherokee County Historian, and former Superintendent of Holly Springs Schools. The book was originally published in 1832 by Walter W. Brown Publishing Co. in Atlanta, Georgia, as “a part of the statewide preparation being made for Georgia’s Bicentennial Celebration in 1933”. Recently reprinted by the Cherokee County Historical Society in Canton, the book is for sale. Visit the Society’s website for more information.
Alfred W. Roberts House:
One of Ball Ground’s largest houses, originally constructed in the mid-1800s and enlarged around 1900. Unusual eclectic style encompassing ‘plantation plain’, Victorian and Classical elements—all a reflection of the historical development of the property between 1855 and 1932. On the National Register of Historic Properties.
“Contributing their own share in the development of Cherokee County are four incorporated towns besides Canton: Ball Ground, Woodstock, Holly Springs, and Waleska. The first three, situated on the line of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, which runs north and south through the county, and also on the arterial State Highway No. 5, have drawn much of their growth from the presence of excellent transportational facilities.
All of these towns are peopled with enterprising citizens, and are, if hardly frenzied centers of trade and industry, at least thriving, progressive communties from which trade and industry are by no means lacking. Each has an individual character, drawn from the advantages of its particular environment and from the nature of the part which it plays in the economic life of Cherokee County. And each has its record of participation in the history of the county.
Ball Ground, the largest of these four places, is a substantial town of eight hundred or more inhahitants, and is situated eleven miles north and slightly east of Canton. It is the northernmost town in Cherokee County, although a small portion of Nelson, three miles farther up the highway, extends from Pickens County into Cherokee.
The name of Ball Ground is a survival of Indian days, when the site of the present town was used by the Cherokees for their national pastime, the ball-play. The several hills on which the town is built sweep up from a broad level space to the south, probably the identical tract on which the Cherokees won a game of ball from their southern neighbors, the Creeks, for the prize of a thousand square miles of land.
Although its name has always been applied to the immediate locality, Ball Ground did not come into existence as a town until the railroad passed through it in 1882. Its development up to that year consisted mainly of two country stores and half a dozen dwellings. The community was almost purely agricultural.
When the survey of the Marietta & North Georgia line was run through Ball Ground in 1882, the officials of the road decided to put up a depot there and start a town to go along with it. Land for a townsite was contributed to the railroad by landowners of the vicinity, whose deed of transfer stated that “The consideration moving each of us in the establishing of this town is the enhanced value to our lands within and adjacent to the said town, and the general benefit to the country, by which we shall be benefited.” Those who donated land were Sarah E. Carpenter, Martha Carpenter, J.W. Byers, P.H. Lyon, F.M. Waldrup, A.M.F. Hawkins, Ancil Bearden, F.M. Waldrup, Ellen Byers, J.C. Carpenter, N.A. Lyon, Hester A. Byers, Berty Carpenter.
The railroad officials laid this land off into town lots and held a sale of them in April, 1882. Nearly all the lots were disposed of at once, and the town immediately began to build up. Within two years Ball Ground had an estimated population of 259, a large number of new buildings, three church organizations, a high school, a charter (from the fall term of the legislature of 1882), and a complete set of municipal officers. The incorporators of the town were W.A. Hayes, W.J. Boling, Captain Patterson H. Lyon, M.G. Bates, and J.A. Byers. The first officers of Ball Ground, elected in January 1884, were: Captain Patterson H. Lyon, Mayor; Dr. A.M.F. Hawkins, W.A. Hayes, R.J. Boling, and J.H. Kilby, Councilmen; J.N. Percell, Marshal.
A new charter was obtained for Ball Ground in 1911 extending its corporate powers, providing for public schools, and otherwise bringing the town up to date.
Ball Ground has always been considered as one of the best business points on the railroad. In addition to providing a market for nearby agricultural sections, it has a number of well-developed industries, such as ginning, saw-milling, and wood-working.
The main industry in Ball Ground for a number of years, however, and the one for which it is best known, is the marble-working industry. Three sizeable concerns operate in this industry, the Consumers Monument Company, the Roberts Marble Company, and the Ball Ground Monument Company. Manufactured from marble quaried at Tate, Georgia, the products of these companies are widely known and used.
Ball Ground is a clean and attractive town, and a steadily-growing one. It has an excellent school system and two churches, Methodist and Baptist; supports a number of prosperous commercial establishments, including a bank and a hotel, in addition to its industrial enterprises; and contains many attractive homes. There are no finer people anywhere than its citizens.”
A marker in downtown Ball Ground, placed by the Georgia Historical Commission in 1953, states: “Two and one-half miles to the east, near the confluence of Long-Swamp Creek and the Etowah River, is the traditional site of Taliwa, scene of the fiercest and most decisive battle in the long war of the 1740’s and 50’s between the Cherokee and Creek Indians.
There, about 1755, the great Cherokee war chief, Oconostota, led 500 of his warriors to victory over a larger band of Creeks. So complete was the defeat that the Creeks retreated south of the Chattahoochee River,
leaving to their opponents the region later to become the heart of the ill-fated Cherokee Nation.”
According to the history published on the Cherokee Nation website, Nancy Ward, who was born in 1738, accompanied her husband Kingfisher on a raid of the Creeks during the Battle of Taliwa in 1755. Kingfisher was killed in the battle, and she took his rifle and rallied the warriors to victory.
For more information on the Battle of Taliwa, go to:
Eastern Cherokee Chiefs
Nanye-hi (“One Who Goes About”), known in English as Nancy Ward (c. 1738 – 1822 or 1824) was a Ghighau, or “Beloved Woman” of the Cherokee nation, which meant that she was allowed to sit in councils and to make the final decisions, along with the other Beloved Women, on any actions which the Cherokee nation were to take. She had been educated by Moravians, and believed in peaceful coexistence with white people.
Ward was born in the Cherokee town of Chota, the daughter of Tame Deer and Fivekiller, who was part Leni Lenape. Her first husband was the Cherokee man Kingfisher. Nanye-hi and Kingfisher fought side by side at the Battle of Taliwa against the Creeks in 1755. When he was killed, she took up his rifle and led the Cherokee to victory. This was the action which, at the age of 18, gave her the title of Ghighua.
For more information on the Nancy Ward, go to:
WikiPedia: Nancy Ward
Historic Downtown Ball Ground was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
The City is currently working toward the goal of obtaining and installing historic markers on the buildings within the district that are listed as “Contributing Structures”.
This is a sample marker on Dot’s Restaurant on the main street in Ball Ground; it was the site of the old McKinney’s Store.
Please visit our scrapbook of historic photos of Ball Ground!
The Cherokee County Office of Economic Development has created a website full of information about Cherokee County and the cities and communities that are a part of this county. Within the website, one will find numerous blocks of statistics about Ball Ground, GA and the demographics that make up Ball Ground and the rest of Cherokee County. Whether you are a family looking to move to the Ball Ground area or a company looking for a prospective site for their business, you will find what you are looking for within this website.
Driver Information
For information on getting a Georgia Drivers’ License, call 770.720.3693
Georgia Tag Office 678.493.6400
Note:
Out-of-state drivers have 30 days after establishing residency within which to obtain a Georgia’s driver’s license.
Voter Information
Voter Registration 770.479.0407
School Registration
Children must be five years old on or before September 1 to enter kindergarten and 6 or older on or before September 1 to enter the first grade in Cherokee County.
To register your child for school, you will need a certified birth certificate, a vision, hearing and dental screen from a physician or health clinic, and immunization records on Georgia State Form 3032.
For more information or to register your child for school, please call the Cherokee County School District at 770.479.1871.
Electricity
Amicalola EMC706.253.5200
Georgia Power 888.660.5890
Natural Gas
Select a provider by going to Georgia Public Service Commission
Propane Gas
AmeriGas 770.479.5556
FerrellGas 770.479.2151
Water
Please contact the City of Ball Ground for this information 770.735.2123
Sanitation
Please contact the City of Ball Ground for a list of commercial sanitation services
authorized to do business within the City Limits of Ball Ground.
Cable
ETC Communications 706.253.2271
Telephone
ETC Communications 706.253.2271
TDS Telecom 770.735.2000
Health Services
Northside Hospital-Cherokee 770.720.5100
WellStar Health System 770.956.STAR
Piedmont Mountainside Hospital 706.692.2441
Police and Fire
City of Ball Ground Police Department 770.735.2123
Sheriff’s Office 678.493.4200
County Marshall 678.493.6200
Fire Marshall 678.493.6290
In the event of an emergency – Dial 911
Cherokee County
General Information 678.493.6100
South Cherokee Annex 770.928.0239
Animal Control 678.493.6200
Child Support Recovery 770.720.3581
Clean Commission 770.517.7650
County Attorney 678.493.6002
County Extension Office 770.479.0418
District Attorney 678.493.6300
Marriage License 678.493.6160
Probate Court (24 hrs) 678.493.6160
Property Tax 678.493.6120
Road Superintendent 770.345.5842
Septic Tank Inspections 770.479.0444
Soil Conservation 770.479.0517
Tax Assessor 678.493.6120
Tax Commissioner 678.493.6400
State of Georgia
Family & Children’s Services 770.720.3610
Social Security 800.772.1213
Ball Ground City Hall
215 Valley Street
Ball Ground, GA 30107
770-735-2123 770-735-4552
