Cumming

History

The area now called Cumming is located west of the historic location of Vann's Ferry between Forsyth County and Hall County.

Early history

The area, now called Cumming, was inhabited earlier by Cherokee tribes, who are thought to have arrived in the mid-18th century. 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.

The Cherokee coexisted with white 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. In 1835, the Treaty of New Echota was signed. The treaty stated that the Cherokee Nation must move to the Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi River. This resulted in the Trail of Tears. The Cherokee territory was then formed into Cherokee County in 1831. In 1832, the county had been split into several counties including Forsyth County.

In 1833, the town of Cumming was formed from two 40-acre (16 ha) land lots that had been issued as part of a Georgia State Land Lottery in 1832. The two lots designated as Land Lot 1269 and Land Lot 1270 were purchased by a couple of Forsyth County Inferior Court justices who realized that it was necessary to have a seat of government to conduct county business. The boundaries of the two lots ended at what is now Tolbert Street on the west side, Eastern Circle on the east side, Resthaven Street on the south side, and School Street on the north side. In 1834, the post office was established and began delivering mail. The justices of the Inferior Court divided the town land into smaller lots and began selling them to people over the next several years, reserving one lot for the county courthouse. During that same year, the Georgia State Legislature incorporated the town of Cumming into the City of Cumming and made it the official government seat of Forsyth County.

A second charter was issued in 1845, decreeing that Cumming's government would follow the mayor–council model of government.

The community is commonly thought to be named after Colonel William Cumming. An alternate theory proposed by a local historian posits the name honors Rev. Frederick Cumming, a professor of Jacob Scudder, a resident of the area since 1815 who owned land in present-day downtown. Yet another theory is that the town is named after Alexander Cuming, the son of a Scottish baronet.

Modern history

During the 1830s and 1840s, Cumming benefited from the gold mining industry as many businesses 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 after being struck by lightning; it was rebuilt in 1905.

In 1912, Governor Joseph M. Brown sent four companies of state militia to Cumming to prevent riots after two reported attacks of young white women, allegedly by Black men. A suspect in the second assault, in which the victim was also raped and later died, was dragged from the Cumming county jail and lynched. The governor then declared martial law, but the effort did little to stop a month-long barrage of attacks by night riders on the Black citizens. This led to the banishment of Blacks, and the city had virtually no Black population.

Cumming, Georgia, once had bands of mounted men dubbed "Night Riders", an organization that spread beyond Cumming that had the ambition "to drive every negro out of North Georgia counties", in the months following the 1912 racial conflict in Forsyth County, Georgia. The Night Riders left notices on Black homes at night warning them to vacate, which was "sufficient to cause an exodus of the negroes." By December 1912, Night Riders had begun posting notices on the homes of White farmers who employed Black farmhands, threatening that their barns and homes would be burned if they did not cease to protect their Black workers.

Racial tensions were strained again in 1987 when a group of black people was assaulted while camping at a park on Lake Lanier. This was widely reported by local newspapers and in Atlanta. As a result of this, a local businessman decided to hold a "Peace March" the following week. Civil rights leader Reverend Hosea Williams joined the local businessman in a march along Bethelview and Castleberry Road in south Forsyth County into the City of Cumming where they were assaulted by whites. The marchers retreated and vowed to return. During the following "Brotherhood March" on January 24, 1987, another racially mixed group returned to Forsyth County to complete the march that the previous group had been unable to finish. March organizers estimated the number at 20,000, while police estimates ran from 12,000 to 14,000. 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 Cumming and Forsyth County on her The Oprah Winfrey Show. She formed a town hall meeting where one audience member said:

Geography

Cumming is located in the center of Forsyth County at 34°12′30″N 84°8′15″W (34.208464, -84.137575). It is 39 miles (63 km) northeast of downtown Atlanta and 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Alpharetta.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Cumming has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.9 km2), of which 6.1 square miles (15.8 km2) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2), or 0.58%, is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Cumming had a population of 7,318. The median age was 37.0 years. 23.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.8 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 2,616 households and 1,368 families residing in the city. Of the households, 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.8% were married-couple households, 18.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 2,799 housing units, of which 6.5% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 6.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%.

Government

Cumming is a municipal corporation; since 1845, it has been governed by a mayor and a five-member city council. The mayor and council members serve staggered four-year terms.

On December 22, 1834, Cumming was officially incorporated and five councilmen were appointed: John Jolly, William Martin, Daniel McCoy, John H. Russell, and Daniel Smith. The town of Cumming's charter was revised on December 22, 1845, resulting in new councilmen William F. Foster, Arthur Irwin, Major J. Lewis, Henry L. Sims, and Noah Strong.

House Bill 334 was enacted on October 10, 1885, giving Cumming a mayor and a five-person city council.

Former mayor H. Ford Gravitt was first elected to the city council in 1966, and went on to be elected mayor in 1970; Gravitt was mayor of Cumming for 48 years before losing to rival candidate Troy Brumbalow. Brumbalow has held the office since January 2018 and was re-elected in November 2021.

Previous city council members

William F. Foster, 1845

H. Ford Gravitt, 1966–1970

Quincy Holton, 1969–2017 (Post 2)

Arthur Irwin, 1845

John Jolly, 1834

Lewis Ledbetter, 1971–2019 (Post 3)

Linda Ledbetter, 2016–2019

Major J. Lewis, 1845

William Martin, 1834

Daniel McCoy, 1834

Dot Otwell, 1956–1957

Ralph Perry, 1979–2016 (Post 4)

John D. Pugh, 1993–2016 (Post 5)

John H. Russell, 1834

Rupert Sexton, 1970–2015 (Post 1; mayor pro tem)

Henry L. Sims, 1845

Daniel Smith, 1834

Noah Strong, 1845

Kenneth J. Vanderhoff, 1987–1990

Charles Welch, 1972–1986

Chuck Welch, 2015–2017 (Post 1)

Previous mayors

Many historical records have been destroyed in fires, leaving some information unavailable or unverifiable.

W. W. Pirkle (possible)

T. J. Pirkle (possible)

E. F. Smith (possible)

Charles Leon Harris, term dates unknown (also Forsyth County School Superintendent, 1912–1916)

Alman Gwinn Hockenhull, term dates unknown (also Cumming Postmaster, 1913–1922)

Enoch Wesley Mashburn, 1913–?

Marcus Mashburn Sr., 1917; 1961–1966

Joseph Gaither Puett, 1918–1919

Henry Lowndes "Snacks" Patterson, 1920–1921 (also Georgia General Assembly representative, 1884–1885; Commissioner of Public Instruction, 1892–1910; Blue Ridge Circuit Court judge, 1912–1917)

John Dickerson Black, 1922–1923 (also Georgia General Assembly representative, 1933–1936)

Andrew Benjamin "Ben" Tollison, 1926–1927 (also Forsyth County School Superintendent, 1920–1932)

Roy Pilgrim Otwell, 1928–1956; 1959–1960

Marcus Mashburn Jr., 1957–1958

George Ingram, 1966–1970

H. Ford Gravitt, 1970–2018

Education

Cumming is served by Forsyth County Schools with nine major high schools in the county.

High schools

Alliance Academy for Innovation

Denmark High School

East Forsyth High School

Forsyth Central High School

Lambert High School

North Forsyth High School

Pinecrest Academy

South Forsyth High School

West Forsyth High School

Higher education

In 2012, the University of North Georgia established its Cumming campus.

Montessori Academy at Sharon Springs

Mountain Education

Transportation

Pedestrians and cycling

Big Creek Greenway

Notable people

Luke Appling, Hall of Fame Major League Baseball player

Zac Brown, lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning Zac Brown Band, was born in Cumming

Col. William Cumming, distinguished officer in the War of 1812, probable eponym of the town of Cumming (incorporated 1834)

Skyler Day, actress born in Cumming

Geoff Duncan, businessman and Lieutenant Governor of Georgia from 2019 to 2023

Wynn Everett, actress raised in Cumming.

Dylan Fairchild, offensive guard for the Cincinnati Bengals

Kelli Giddish, actress born and raised in Cumming

Colby Gossett, NFL player born and raised in Cumming

Ethan Hankins, Cleveland Guardians baseball player

R. J. Helton, Christian music artist who placed fifth on the first season of American Idol

Rachael Kirkconnell, winner of The Bachelor season 25, born and raised in Cumming

Billy Magnussen, Tony Award nominated actor

Dylan Murry, racing driver

Phoenix, drag queen, competed on season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race and season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars

Ron Reis, former World Championship Wrestling wrestler also known as The Yeti, lives in Cumming

In popular culture

American Reunion was partially filmed in Cumming at Mary Alice Park

Peach State Cats, Arena Football team in Cumming, Georgia

Unsolved Mysteries, Season 1 Episode 2 takes place in Cumming, Georgia

Smokey and the Bandit, Buford Dam Rd and GA400 both located in Cumming were used as filming locations