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Union County was created December 3, 1832 with 319 square miles taken from Cherokee County. Cherokee County consisted of the last remaining Indian land in Georgia and was created when Governor Lumpkin had the Indian land surveyed and sold off in land grants, known as the sixth land lottery. After the discovery of gold in North Georgia, there was great political pressure to remove the Cherokee Indians from their land, which had been declared Indian land by a treaty between the Cherokee Indian nation and the U.S. The drawing for land lots was held in 1832. It is not known how many settlers took up residence in Union County after the lottery, but in 1838 the Cherokee were forced to leave Georgia and travel to a new reservation in Oklahoma. Their exodus on the "Trail of Tears" marks a dark spot in Georgia history, as genocide was perpetrated on the Indian population. Blairsville, the county seat, was incorporated December 26, 1835 and named for Frances Preston Blair, editor of the Washington Globe, which was established to promote Andrew Jackson's re-election as president. The first courthouse was built of logs in 1835. It was destroyed by fire in 1859 and a second courthouse was built. In 1898 it also burned. Debate arose as to where to build a new courthouse and a referendum was held and a lawsuit filed before John Colwell, J.W. Souther, J.A. Butt and W.W. Erwin settled the matter by locating the new courthouse on the old courthouse site, in the middle of the town square. The courthouse was completed in 1899, after collecting $12,000 in taxes to pay for construction. In 1976 a fourth courthouse was constructed 3 blocks from the town square. Since the construction of Appalachian Highway, Union County has become a popular tourist destinationand home for many new residents. |