- Cumming, Georgia
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Cumming, Georgia — City — Motto: Gateway to Leisure Living Location in Forsyth County and the state of Georgia
Location of Cumming in Metro Atlanta
CummingCoordinates: 34°12′30″N 84°8′15″W / 34.20833°N 84.1375°WCoordinates: 34°12′30″N 84°8′15″W / 34.20833°N 84.1375°W Country United States State Georgia County Forsyth Incorporated 1834 Chartered 1845[1] Named for William Cumming Government - Mayor Area - Total 6.9 sq mi (15.2 km2) - Land 6.9 sq mi (15.2 km2) - Water 0 sq mi (0 km2) Elevation 1,217 ft (371 m) Population (2010)[2] - Total 5,430 - Density 787/sq mi (357.2/km2) Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4) ZIP codes 30028, 30040, 30041 Area code(s) 770 FIPS code 13-20932[2] GNIS feature ID 0331494[3] Website http://www.cityofcumming.net/index.html Cumming is a city in Forsyth County, Georgia, United States. The population was 5,430 at the 2010 census. However, places with a Cumming mailing address have a population of around 100,000. The city is the county seat of Forsyth County[4].
Contents
History
1830 map of Cherokee territory.
The area now called Cumming is located west of Hall County around the area of Vann's Crossing.
Early history
The area, now called Cumming, was first inhabited by Cherokee tribes. They came in 1755, the Cherokee and Creek people developed disputes over hunting land. After two years of fighting, the Cherokee won the land in the Battle of Taliwa. The Creek people were forced to move south of the Chattahoochee River.[5][6]
1834 map of counties created from Cherokee land. Cumming is shown in the middle of Forsyth CountyThe Cherokee coexisted with the settlers until the discovery of gold in Georgia in 1828. Settlers that moved to the area to mine for gold pushed for the removal of the Cherokee. Finally in 1835, the Treaty of New Echota was signed. The treaty stated that the Cherokee Nation must move to the Indian Territory. This resulted in the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee territory was then formed into Cherokee County in 1831. In 1832, the county was then split into several counties including Forsyth County.[7]
Modern history
During the 1830s and 1840s, Cumming benefited from the gold mining industry as many business were created to meet the needs of the miners. However, the California Gold Rush in 1849 put the city into an economic depression. Newly-built railroads bypassed the city and took traffic from the Federal Road that ran near Cumming. The city was spared during the Civil War because William T. Sherman did not pass through the city during his March to the Sea. In 1900, the county courthouse was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt in 1905.[5][6]
In 1912, Georgia governor, Joseph M. Brown, sent four companies of state militia to Cumming to prevent riots after several rapes of young white women by African-American men.
“ Ellen Grice was assaulted on Wednesday, September 4, 1912.Tony Howell was charged with "Assault with intent to Rape" (Book 4 p. 391). After several adjournments, the case was "nol prossed". Howell continued to live in Forsyth County until the 1940's, when according to a neighbor he moved to Alpharetta, GA to reside with his daughter.
Mae Crow was assaulted on Sunday, September 08, 1912. She died Monday, September 23, 1912. Rob Edwards was indicted for the rape of Mae Crow. On Tuesday September 10th, 1912 Edwards was shot, drug from the Cumming, GA jail and hung up on the telephone pole at the intersection of Main Street and Tribble Gap Road (the northwest corner of the Square). The coroner's inquest held Wednesday, September 18, 1912 found the cause of death to be a gunshot.[8]” —Donna Parrish, Shadow of 1912
The governor then declared martial law, but the effort did little to stop a month-long barrage of attacks by night riders on the African-American citizens. This led to a diaspora of African-Americans, and the city had virtually no black population.[9]
Racial tensions were strained even more in 1987. A civil rights demonstration was held through the streets of Cumming to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Meanwhile, a Ku Klux Klan chapter started a counter-demonstration that threw stones and bottles at the civil rights activists. This garnered nationwide attention during the following week. As many as 20,000 people formed a second march. Civil rights leader, Hosea Williams, and former senator, Gary Hart, were in the demonstration. A group of the National Guard kept the opposition of about 1,000 in check. Oprah Winfrey featured the Cumming and Forsyth County on her show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. She formed a town hall meeting where one audience member said this:
“ I'm afraid of [blacks] coming to Forsyth County," he said to Oprah at the meeting. "I was born in Atlanta, and in 1963, the first blacks were bussed to West Fulton High School. I go down there now and I see my neighborhood and my community, which was a nice community, and now it's nothing but a rat-infested slum area because they don't care.[10] ” 
Buford Dam, impounding Lake Lanier on the Chattahoochee River near CummingHowever, it was found the most of the audience members agreed that Forsyth County should integrate.
Today, the city is experiencing new growth. The completion of Georgia 400 has helped turn Cumming into a commuter town for Atlanta. The city holds the Cumming Country Fair & Festival every October. The Sawnee Mountain Preserve also provides views of the city from the top of Sawnee Mountain.[5] In 1956, Buford Dam, along the Chattahoochee River, started operating. The reservoir that it created is called Lake Lanier.[6] The lake, being a popular spot for boaters, has generated income from tourists for Cumming as well as provide a source of drinking water. However, because of rapid growth of the Atlanta area, drought, and mishandling of a stream gauge, Lake Lanier has seen record-low water levels. Moreover, the lake is involved in a longstanding lawsuit between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. Because of a recent ruling, the city may not be able to withdraw its water.[11] However, the city is looking into different sources of water such as wells and various creeks.[12]
Geography
Cumming is located at 34°12′30″N 84°8′15″W / 34.20833°N 84.1375°W (34.208464, -84.137575)[13].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.9 square miles (15 km2), of which, 5.9 square miles (15 km2) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) of it (0.34%) is water.
Demographics
Historical populations Census Pop. %± 1890 358 — 1900 239 −33.2% 1910 305 27.6% 1920 607 99.0% 1930 648 6.8% 1940 958 47.8% 1950 1,264 31.9% 1960 1,561 23.5% 1970 2,031 30.1% 1980 2,094 3.1% 1990 2,828 35.1% 2000 4,220 49.2% 2010 5,430 28.7% U.S. Decennial Census As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 4,220 people, 1,427 households, and 960 families residing in the city. The population density was 717.1 people per square mile (276.6/km²). There were 1,507 housing units at an average density of 256.1 per square mile (98.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.48% White, 2.01% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 5.69% from other races, and 2.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.68% of the population.
There were 1,417 households out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.7% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 16.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $38,237, and the median income for a family was $47,270. Males had a median income of $27,201 versus $29,115 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,445. About 10.7% of families and 17.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and 27.1% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Cumming is served by Forsyth County Schools
Elementary Schools
- Big Creek Elementary (South Forsyth)
- Brookwood Elementary
- Chattahoochee Elementary (North Forsyth)
- Coal Mountain Elementary (North Forsyth)
- Cumming Elementary (Forsyth Central)
- Daves Creek Elementary (South Forsyth)
- Haw Creek Elementary
- John's Creek Elementary (South Forsyth)
- Mashburn Elementary (Forsyth Central)
- Matt Elementary (North Forsyth)
- Midway Elementary
- Sawnee Elementary(Forsyth Central)
- Settles Bridge Elementary
- Sharon Elementary
- Shiloh Point Elementary (South Forsyth)
- Silver City Elementary (North Forsyth)
- Vickery Creek Elementary (West Forsyth)
- Whitlow Elementary
Middle Schools
- Liberty Middle (West Forsyth)
- Little Mill Middle (North Forsyth)
- North Forsyth Middle (North Forsyth)
- Otwell Middle (Forsyth Central)
- Piney Grove (South Forsyth)
- South Forsyth Middle (South Forsyth)
- Vickery Creek Middle (West Forsyth)
- Riverwatch Middle (South Forsyth)
- Lakeside Middle (East Forsyth)
High Schools
- Forsyth Central High School
- Lambert High School
- North Forsyth High School
- South Forsyth High School
- West Forsyth High School
Charter Schools
- Forsyth County Academy
Alternative Schools
- Creative Montessori School
- Piedmont Learning Center (6-12)
- Ignite Student Ministries (6-12)
Notable natives and residents
July 4, 2002 Parade with Mayor Gravitt and City Council- Zac Brown, leader of the grammy-winning Zac Brown Band was born in Cumming.
- Junior Samples was a comedian on the TV show Hee Haw.
- Micah Owings, Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher, was born in Cumming.
- The town of Cumming (incorporated 1834) is named in honor of Col. William Cumming, distinguished officer in the War of 1812.
- Actress Kelli Giddish was born in Cumming.
- Actress Skyler Day was born in Cumming.[14]
- American Idol contestant and singer R. J. Helton lived in Cumming.[15]
- Gene Ray, inventor of the pseudoscientific theory of everything Time Cube lives in Cumming.[16]
- Laura Thompson is co-host of the Harry Potter Podcast MuggleCast.[17]
- Constantine Tzortzis, contestant on The Bachelorette lives in Cumming
- Christian recording artist Kristian Stanfill was born in Atlanta, but resides in Cumming with his wife.
- American Reunion was partially filmed in Cumming at Mary Alice Park
References
- ^ "City of Cumming, Ga "Gateway to Leisure Living"". Cityofcumming.net. http://www.cityofcumming.net/index.html. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ a b c "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ a b c "New Georgia Encyclopedia: Cumming". Georgiaencyclopedia.org. 2006-06-22. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?path=/CitiesCounties/Cities&id=h-3073. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ a b c "Cumming GA History". Cumming.com. 1956-02-01. http://www.cumming.com/history.aspx. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "Georgia Counties by Date of Creation". Georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu. http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/coundate.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "Forsyth County GA 1912". Donnaparrish.com. http://donnaparrish.com/forsyth/1912/. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "1912 September and October". Rootsweb.ancestry.com. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaforsyt/articles/1912news.html. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "Memorable Guests". Oprah.com. 2006-01-01. http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/slideshow3_ss_celebrate/2. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Dave Williams (2009-07-17). "Federal Court ruling on Lake Lanier goes against Georgia | Atlanta Business Chronicle". Bizjournals.com. http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/07/13/daily102.html. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "The Forsyth County News Archive". Forsythnews.com. 2010-10-08. http://www.forsythnews.com/news/article/3020/. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
- ^ "Skyler Day (Maggie from Gigantic) Interview!". TeenNick. November 17, 2010. http://www.teennick.com/blog/gigantic-skyler-day-interview-2010.html. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
- ^ "RJ Helton". American Idol. http://www.americanidol.com/archive/contestants/season1/rj_helton/. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "Time Cube". Time Cube. 2007-08-03. http://www.timecube.com/. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
- ^ "The #1 Most-Listened to Harry Potter Podcast". MuggleCast. http://www.mugglecast.com/. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
External links
- City of Cumming website
- Forsyth County Georgia, Information and Directory, Government,Business and more. Cumming is the county seat.
- Video of Annual Steam Engine Parade 60 Minute DVD of parade with many antique steam engines.
- Cumming Steam, Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Exposition
- Forsyth Herald
Municipalities and communities of Forsyth County, Georgia County seat: Cumming City Cumming
Unincorporated
communitiesFootnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Categories:- Cities in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Populated places in Forsyth County, Georgia
- County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)
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