Fort Buffington

Fort Buffington is a Georgia historical marker in Cherokee County, dedicated 1992.

At Buffington Elementary School, on GA 20 in Canton.

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One-half mile north is the site of Fort Buffington, built in the 1830's by local militia. It was one of about 25 stockades in the Cherokee Indian Nation used by Federal and State troops during the Cherokee Removal in 1838. In May and June, 1838, 7,000 soldiers forced over 15,000 Cherokee Indians from their homes and held them in the stockades until removal west could take place. Many Indians from the local area were held at Fort Buffington. As many as 4,000 Cherokees may have died while in the stockades and on the 800 mile journey west. Their ordeal has become known as the "Trail of Tears."

Marker not in place due to damage or maintenance. Note from the marker program.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1824 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1827 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1831 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1831 · A map of that part of Georgia occupied by the Cherokee Indians, taken from an actual… (Library of Congress)
1837 · Southern States. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Georgia, 1831, covering the location of Fort Buffington, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Georgia, 1831, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

Fort Buffington

Historical maps covering this location

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