08/23/2026
Lake Allatoona is rich in history under its shoreline. This is an interesting nugget of history.
Cherokee Mills, The Forgotten Mill Beneath Lake Allatoona
Cherokee County, GA:
Today, the shoreline of Lake Allatoona looks like a place built for boating, fishing and recreation. But beneath the waters near the confluence of the Little River and Etowah River lies the story of one of Cherokee County’s important early industrial sites: Cherokee Mills.
Long before Lake Allatoona existed, the rivers powered a mill that became part of the history of the communities surrounding Little River.
The original mill and dam were built before 1840, making the site one of the county’s early water powered industrial operations. The mill operated for approximately 100 years and became known as Cherokee Mills.
Historical accounts identify the operation as having earlier been known as McConnell’s Mill. Local historian Larry Vogt has documented the mill’s connection to the Little River area and notes that it was located only a short distance downstream from the present-day bridge and near what is now the Little River Marina area.
A mill powered by the rivers
The location was no accident.
The Little River and Etowah River provided the waterpower necessary to operate machinery at a time when rivers and creeks were among the most important sources of industrial energy in North Georgia.
An 1885 Georgia Department of Agriculture publication described the Etowah as having significant waterpower from the mouth of Little River toward Rome. The report noted that the Etowah’s fall created substantial opportunities for water powered industry.
By the late 1800s, Cherokee County newspapers regularly referenced Cherokee Mills and the surrounding community. An 1875 edition of The Cherokee Georgian, for example, mentioned homes and activity near Cherokee Mills, showing that the mill had become a recognizable landmark in the area.
Joseph M. Brown takes over
The mill entered another important chapter in 1915, when Joseph M. Brown purchased the property and modernized the operation.
Brown was a prominent Georgia political figure who served as governor and later became involved in banking and business. The New Georgia Encyclopedia confirms that Brown eventually became the owner and operator of Cherokee Mills.
The Cherokee County Historical Society’s historical collection records that Brown purchased and modernized Cherokee Mills in 1915.
The modernization came during a period when Georgia’s traditional water-powered mills were adapting to a rapidly changing industrial economy.
From mill to Lake Allatoona
In 1927, Cherokee Mills was sold to Georgia Power.
The mill’s story, however, did not end immediately with the sale.
The property remained part of the landscape for years before a much larger transformation came to the region.
When Lake Allatoona was created, the historic Cherokee Mills site was eventually submerged beneath the reservoir.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now identifies the Cherokee Mills area as a 35-acre site on Little River, on the Etowah River arm of Lake Allatoona, approximately 6.5 miles southwest of Canton.
Today, the area is part of the Cherokee Mills recreation area and is accessible from Bells Ferry Road. What was once a working mill and industrial community is now largely remembered through historical records, photographs and the name that remains attached to the lakefront.
A piece of Cherokee County history beneath the water
The disappearance of Cherokee Mills beneath Lake Allatoona is a reminder of just how dramatically Cherokee County’s landscape has changed.
For nearly a century, the sound of rushing river water and machinery would have been part of daily life at the site. Farmers, mill workers and residents traveled through the area while the mill transformed the power of the rivers into useful products.
Today, boaters launching at the Cherokee Mills area may have little idea that beneath the waters around them was once a historic mill, dam and community that helped shape Cherokee County’s early industrial history.
The next time you pass the Little River area of Lake Allatoona, remember there is an entire chapter of Cherokee County history beneath the water.
Eye on Cherokee Historical Series
