A Slight Detour To An Indian Mound

Indian mound & cows.

On my way back from Tray Mountain, Andrews Cove, Unicoi Gap and Helen I decided to make a small detour to the Nacoochee Indian Mound.

Toccoa Falls.

When I talk about a detour it not like the one I took to Jasper or Toccoa Falls, this one is basically a couple hundred yards off GA

75 down GA 17. The Indian mound, located in the Nacoochee Valley, is in a field surrounded by dairy cows. It is on the Hardman Farms, the estate of former Georgia governor Lamartine Griffin Hardman, but the farm was donated by the Hardman family to the State of Georgia in 1999. Currently the farm is a satellite site of Smithgall Woods State Park. As of now there is no regular business hours for the farm or Indian Mound, but that could change in the future, but a sign gives information where groups can arrange a tour. However, there is a pull-off so one can look at the mound. The current mound is actually a reconstruction as the site was excavated in 1915 where 75 human burials were found and a numerous artifacts.

Artifacts that were found.

The historical marker says that it was a Cherokee site, but there is not a lot of evidence to that, but a test excavation in 2004 linked it to the Etowah Indian Mounds site in Cartersville, GA and was built around 100 BCE and abandoned around 1600 CE, which is just before the Cherokees migrated to the area. There is an odd feature on top of the mound, the famous gazebo. It was put there by then landowner Captain John H. Nichols in 1890.

There is plenty of Cherokee lore for the area. Nearby Sautee Nacoochee it is said gets its name from a Romeo and Juliet-like legend that Nacoochee was a beautiful Cherokee "princess," who fell in love with a Choctaw warrior named Sautee. When their love was forbidden by the Cherokee elders, a war party followed the eloping lovers and threw Sautee off nearby Yonah Mountain, with Nacoochee then jumping to her death.

 

Indian Mound, Gazebo & Yonah Mtn.

Historical marker & where to call for group tours.

So, if you are in the area stop by a check out the Nacoochee Indian Mound it just takes a few minutes and it is pretty cool.