"Center of the World"

"Center of the World" is a Georgia historical marker in Hart County, dedicated 1954.

Located at the intersection of Hartwell Street (U.S. 29) and Marsh Lane in Hartwell.

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

This was Ah-Yeh-Li A-Lo-Hee, the Center of the World, to the Cherokee Indians. To this assembly ground, from which trails radiate in many directions, they came to hold their councils, to dance and worship which were to them related functions, and to barter their hides, furs and blankets for the trade goods of the white men from Augusta and other settlements. At one time there was a move to establish here the Hart County seat. This site was also a noted roost in the days when the now extinct passenger pigeons migrated here in the autumn in such numbers that "their weight broke the tree limbs."

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

1893 · Elberton, Georgia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1901 · Map of South Carolina (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1903 · South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1924 · South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1927 · N. & S. Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

N. & S. Carolina, 1927, covering the location of "Center of the World", with a pin at the marker's coordinates — N. & S. Carolina, 1927, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

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

"Center of the World"

Historical maps covering this location

More markers nearby