Georgia

In 1825, the Cherokee national legislature established a capital here. Visitors can tour several original and reconstructed buildings, including the council house, courthouse, print shop, missionary Samuel Worcester’s home, and an 1805 store, along with smoke houses, corn cribs, and barns. In the site’s visitor center, guests can view interpretive exhibits and a 17-minute film.

The Cherokee Garden at Green Meadows Perserve features traditional plants used by the Cherokee planted by the Georgia Native Plant Society and Cobb Master Gardeners. Hiking trails are also available.

Although none of the original Fort Buffington structures remain intact today, you can visit the sites. Historical markers provide a brief overview of the fort’s history in connection with the Trail of Tears.

The Vann Cherokee Cabin is a witness house - one of the few structures of the Trail of Tears that is still standing, built in 1810. It was integrated into a larger structured, rediscovered when work was underway on the home.

Cherokee Nation leader John Ross lived in this cabin between 1808 and 1827. Its location is not original; in the 1960s it was moved a short distance to the southwest. His house, now owned by a local nonprofit organization, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973.

Funk Heritage Center of Reinhardt University is Georgia's Official Frontier and Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center. It is located on the Reinhardt University campus. It has dioramas and a film explaining 12,000 years of American Indian life in Georgia. Also, see exhibits that include historic artifacts and a large petroglyph found in the Hickory Log District of the old Cherokee Nation.

The Cedartown Encampment and Removal Site was one of fourteen forts and camps in Georgia the held forced groups of Cherokee before sending them to larger camps in southeastern Tennessee. The camp, an ad hoc military installation, operated during the late spring and early summer of 1838. Two outdoor exhibits interpret the removal camp. 

James Vann, a member of the Cherokee elite, built this two-story brick mansion in 1804. A 3,000-square foot interpretive center includes exhibits about the Vann family, Cherokee Nation, and Trail of Tears. Visitors receive guided tours of the historic house. The 23-acre park also includes outbuildings related to plantation operations.

The Chieftains Museum tells the story of the influential Ridge family, including Major Ridge, his prominent son John Ridge, and the Trail of Tears, as well as subsequent history of the home and region. Major Ridge was one of the Treaty Party leaders who signed the 1835 Treaty of New Echota that resulted in Cherokee removal. The park-like venue has a museum and the site of the Ridge family ferry on the river.

The earliest known owner of the property was George W. Adair, a Cherokee settler who owned five slaves. This 47-acre property includes an 18-room structure (known as the Freeman-Hurt-Evans House) dating from 1785, a “Travelers Rest” house dating from the 1830s, and two other historic buildings. The earliest known owner of the property was George W. Adair, a Cherokee settler who owned five slaves. This is a private residence and is closed to the public.