Fort Mountain (Murray County, Georgia)

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.

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
Elevation2,850 ft (870 m)
Prominence321 ft (98 m)
Coordinates34°46′59″N 84°42′33″W 
Geography
Fort Mountain GA
Fort Mountain GA
Fort Mountain GA (the United States)
Climbing
U.S. National Historic Site
Nearest cityChatsworth, Georgia
Area211.2 acres (85.5 ha)
NRHP reference No.77001587[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 23, 1977

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 a 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 structure is believed to have been crafted by 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 Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Smith, Philip E., "Aboriginal Stone Constructions in the Southern Piedmont" in University Of Georgia Laboratory Of Archaeology Series Report No 4 1962
  3. Smith, Philip E., "Aboriginal Stone Constructions in the Southern Piedmont" in the 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.
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