Cherokee County gets its name from the original inhabitants of the area, the Cherokee Indians. Like many other counties, Cherokee first attracted permanent residents through a land lottery. Others settled along the Etowah River and dreamed of finding gold, like their Indian predecessors. Still other residents hoped the area would become a Chinese silk center and named an early settlement Canton after the seaport in China. During the Civil War, Governor Joe Brown had the dubious distinction of seeing his Canton home torched by General Sherman’s troops.

Commerce during the late 1800s focused on marble and cotton. Marble, Canton’s first industry, was developed by T.M. Brady of the Georgia Marble Finishing Works. The sculptor became famous for his “Line of the South” monument in Oakland Cemetery. Near the end of the century the Canton Cotton Mills opened and took advantage of the freight transportation offered by the Marietta and North Georgia Railroads. The last gold mine, the Franklin Creighton Mine, closed around 1906 and marked the end of an era.

Farming in Cherokee reached its apex in the 1950s, when the county was known as the “Poultry Capital of the World.” Although the title was taken away by nearby Gainesville, the county’s largest employer is still a poultry processor.

With a current population in excess of 140,000, Cherokee County is home to commuters (about 60 percent of residents work outside the county) and many small industries.