New Echota facts for kids
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New Echota
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The New Echota Council House. The building in this photo is a reconstruction of the original Council House.
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 Location in Georgia (U.S. state)
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1211 Chatsworth Hwy. |
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| Nearest city | Calhoun, Georgia and Resaca, Georgia |
| Area | 200 acres (81 ha) |
| Built | 1825–1849 |
| Architect | Cherokees |
| Architectural style | Domestic style architecture |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000869 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | May 13, 1970 |
| Designated NHLD | November 7, 1973 |
New Echota was once the important capital city of the Cherokee Nation in the Southeastern United States. It served as their capital from 1825 until the late 1830s, when the Cherokee people were forced to leave their lands. Today, New Echota is located in Gordon County, in northwest Georgia. It's north of Calhoun and south of Resaca.
The site is a special place where the Coosawattee and Conasauga rivers meet to form the Oostanaula River. Long before the Cherokee, ancient Native American groups lived here for thousands of years. The Cherokee originally called this place Gansagi. In 1825, when it became their capital, they renamed it New Echota. This new name honored their old main town, Chota, which was located along the Little Tennessee River. New Echota is now a preserved state park and historic site, recognized as a National Historic Landmark District since 1973.
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History of New Echota
Before New Echota became their capital, the Cherokee people used a nearby town called Ustanali as their main meeting place. They had moved south from eastern Tennessee and western South Carolina because more and more European-American settlers were moving into their lands.
Ustanali was founded in 1777 by Cherokee who had to leave their homes. Around that time, some Cherokee leaders, like Old Tassel, were killed by settlers while trying to make peace. This led to more fighting between Cherokee warriors and settlers. The Chickamauga Cherokee, a group led by Dragging Canoe, were already fighting against settlers in Tennessee.
After these events, Little Turkey was chosen as a new chief for the Cherokee. The Cherokee didn't have one central government like we do today. The main Cherokee council moved its meeting place from Chota to Ustanali. New Echota was later named after Chota, which was the former capital for the "Overhill Cherokee." These were Cherokee who lived west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Many English-speaking settlers called New Echota "Newtown" or "New Town." These names are still sometimes used for the area around the park. Later, settlers also called the area "The Fork" because of the rivers meeting there.
New Echota Becomes the Capital
By 1819, the Cherokee Nation government was already meeting in New Echota. On November 12, 1825, they officially declared New Echota their capital. The Cherokee had set up their own government with a council and a supreme court to handle legal matters. They started building important structures, including a two-story Council House and a Supreme Court building.
They also built an office for the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper. This was the first newspaper for Native Americans and the first to use the Cherokee language. Elias Boudinot was the main writer and editor. Samuel Worcester, a missionary, helped set up the printing. The newspaper was written in both English and Cherokee. For the Cherokee parts, it used the new writing system (syllabary) created by Sequoyah in 1820. Private homes, shops, a ferry, and a mission station also grew up around New Echota.
The town was usually quiet, but during council meetings, it became very busy. Hundreds of Cherokee people would come to town, arriving on foot, horseback, or in fancy carriages. These meetings were also big social events.
Challenges and Forced Removal
In 1830, the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. This law allowed the U.S. government to force Native American tribes to move west. In 1832, Georgia included Cherokee lands in its Georgia's Sixth Land Lottery, giving away land that still belonged to the Cherokee. The Cherokee Nation had never agreed to give up this land.
Even though the U.S. Supreme Court said the Cherokee had a right to their land, Georgia kept pushing for them to leave. Over the next six years, the Georgia Guard, a state militia, worked to remove Cherokee families from their homes. By 1834, New Echota started to become a ghost town. The Cherokee council meetings had to move to Red Clay in what is now Tennessee. The U.S. government kept urging the Cherokee to move west, offering them new lands in exchange for their Georgia territory.
On December 29, 1835, a small group of Cherokee, known as the Treaty Party, signed the Treaty of New Echota. This happened at the home of Elias Boudinot. Leaders like Major Ridge and John Ridge were among the signers. They believed that signing the treaty was the only way to save some rights for the Cherokee. They agreed to give up their remaining lands in exchange for new lands west of the Mississippi River. They hoped the Cherokee would have their own independent territory there.
However, the main chief, John Ross, and most of the Cherokee people strongly disagreed with this treaty. Despite their objections, the U.S. Senate approved the treaty. This led to the U.S. government forcing most of the Cherokee out of the southeastern United States.
In 1838, the U.S. Army, led by General Winfield Scott, began the forced removal of the Cherokee from Georgia. A temporary gathering place, sometimes called Fort Wool, was set up at New Echota. Cherokee people from Gordon and Pickens counties were held here before their forced journey. As the first group of Cherokee began their sad journey, known as the Trail of Tears, to Rattlesnake Springs, other Cherokee from nearby counties were also brought to New Echota.
New Echota Historic Site
After the Cherokee were forced to leave in 1838, their capital city was left empty for over 100 years. Many buildings fell apart, though some houses continued to be used. One important building that remained was the house of Samuel Worcester, a missionary who worked with the Cherokee. When the land was given to the state for preservation, Worcester's house was the largest building left.
From 1930 to 1950, Congress recognized the site as the New Echota Marker National Memorial. In March 1954, archaeologists began digging at New Echota. They found evidence of the Cherokee settlement and even older Native American cultures. They discovered a Spanish coin from 1802, pottery, household items, and many other artifacts. They identified about 600 items that belonged to the Cherokee. The archaeologists also found many pieces of the metal type that was used to print the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper.
Reconstruction and Preservation
Because of these exciting archaeological finds, Georgia decided in 1957 to rebuild parts of New Echota as a state park. They reconstructed important buildings like the Council House, the Supreme Court, and the printer shop for the Cherokee Phoenix. They also rebuilt a typical Cherokee cabin and a middle-class Cherokee home with its smaller outbuildings.
Vann's Tavern, which belonged to Chief James Vann, was also restored. This tavern was moved to New Echota from Forsyth County, Georgia, because the original New Echota tavern had been destroyed. The park also includes the site where Elias Boudinot's house once stood. Samuel Worcester's house was carefully restored to look as it did in the 1800s. All these buildings together form an open-air museum. Some other historic sites in the area are on private land and are not open to the public.
The New Echota Historical Park opened to visitors in 1962. Inside the Cherokee Phoenix office, 600 pieces of the original printing type were displayed. Later, some of this type was moved to a new museum and research center built at the park.
The Newtown Trail is a 1.2-mile path that takes visitors to Town Creek, which is in the center of New Echota. This was the area where most Cherokee people would camp when the council was meeting. In 1973, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources took over the New Echota Park. They continue to manage and care for this important historic site. In the same year, the U.S. Department of Interior named the site a National Historic Landmark, which is the highest recognition in the United States.
Images for kids
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The monument on New Echota Historic Site honors those Cherokee who died on the Trail of Tears.
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Detail of inscription on monument
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Historical marker
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Reconstruction of Supreme Court
