LAKE ARROWHEAD, GEORGIA.

PURCHASED JUNE 2014: Two side-by-side lots, totaling 0.94 acre, with 280 feet of waterfront on  the 62 acre Lake Chickasaw in Lake Arrowhead gated community. Nestled in the Cherokee County foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just 40 minutes north of I-285, this is one of metro-Atlanta’s best kept secrets - the majestic lake, golf and mountain, Lake Arrowhead retreat. Admired as the best place to live in metro-Atlanta, the Lake Arrowhead community was recently awarded 'Community of the Year' by the Atlanta Home Builders Association. Lake Arrowhead is graced with over 8000 carefully protected acres of lush woodlands, gentle waterfalls and crystal clear lake waters.  This private gated community, consists of two lakes, the 540 acre  Lake Arrowhead and the smaller 62 acre Lake Chickasaw. It has two security gates, a new 18-hole championship golf course, new clubhouse and restaurant, a marina, boat rentals, nature trails, a non denominational chapel, a community swimming pool, tennis courts and two volunteer fire departments. The Lake Arrowhead community property was bought in the 1960's and established in the early 1970's as a remote mountain retreat, but now finds itself at the edge of metro-Atlanta's exurban expansion. 

 

 

While the Lake Arrowhead Community offers an exceptional lifestyle to its residents, great care has been taken to preserve the natural beauty and ecological balance of this unusually pristine residential setting. The centerpiece of this waterfront community is Lake Arrowhead itself, a beautiful 540-acre, 80' deep,  clear blue lake of pure mountain stream fed water. It is one of the largest privately owned man-made lakes in Georgia and is ranked as one of the cleanest lakes in Georgia.  Since Lake Arrowhead’s topography is graced with a series of graceful mountain ridges, the lake itself can be viewed from many vantage points and distances. Add to this, the new 18-hole Highlands Golf Course, a generous array of outstanding amenities, and 8000+ acres of lush woodland and you have all the ingredients to enjoy  a rewarding lifestyle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  .   .   .    .    .     .    .    .   .    . FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS

 

History: This ancient land, and most of what is now North Georgia, was once occupied by the  Cherokee Nation. The small college town of nearby Waleska takes its name from Warluskee, daughter of  a local Cherokee chief. The fate of the Cherokee was sealed in 1830 when gold was discovered in the nearby town of Dahlonega. In 1832, Georgia held the Gold Lottery of 1832, which awarded Cherokee land to the winners of the lottery in 40-acre (16 ha) tracts. In 1838, the Dahlonega Mint was established by the United States Congress  as a branch mint of the United States Mint. This was a testimony to the amount of gold being produced in Georgia. The Cherokee had to abandon their lands in 1838  and were force-marched 1000 miles west to  Oklahoma in the infamous 'Trail of Tears'. Before they were expelled, the Cherokee gained enough gold-mining experience to participate in later gold rushes in California in 1849 and Colorado in 1859. Cherokee gold miners gave the name to the town of Cherokee, California, as well as to a number of other geographic features in the California gold-mining region. It should be remembered that by this time, the Cherokee, known as the 'civilized tribe', were in many instances farming their lands and living in similar dwellings to the 'whites'. Indeed, some of the chiefs and large land owning Cherokee were slave owners. It should be noted that much of North Georgia had been, up until the late 18th. century, the lands of  the Creek Nation: a fact underlined by the nearby historic 'Etowah Indian Mounds' being Muscogee Creek in origin and not Cherokee. Be that as it may, there is no escaping the fact that the 'theft' of the Cherokee lands and their forced march was a shameful episode in American history. The fact that the 'whites', in many instances, had themselves been cruelly displaced from their native lands and shipped to the Americas as indentured workers make it all the more shameful. Back to the present: the pristine nature of this community and the Cherokee name connection stir the emotions of Carol who has Cherokee ancestry on both sides of her family. Carol talks fondly of her childhood and finding numerous flint arrowheads (and Civil War relics) in the fields and woods surrounding her Grandparents small Dalton farm. Wish we had these same arrowheads now to display! Interestingly enough,  my previous further west / north  Georgia hometowns, Rome and Dalton, were both deeper into Cherokee lands back at that time than present day Cherokee County. Over the years, I have developed an interest in the strong Scottish-Indian connection in the Southeast. An interest heightened when I encountered the memorial plaque at Ross's Landing on the banks of the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, proclaiming John Ross, to be 7/8th. Scot, and the greatest of all Cherokee Chiefs! I am still researching early Georgia history and hope to create a Scottish-Indian blog in the near future. I will add a link here to same at a later date.

 

OUR-2-LOTS ON LAKE CHICKASAW.

Just north of the actual Lake Arrowhead lake, but still within the Lake Arrowhead Community, lies it's crisp and tiny but attractive neighbor, Lake Chickasaw. It is fed by a hefty creek, and features a 1,141 foot dam.  Below: Some of this series of photos were taken by son, Jeff, who inspected the properties on our behalf. He took some of the photos from a neighbors dock across the inlet and others from a sail on the same kind neighbor's pontoon around  62 acre Lake Chickasaw.   Only electric motors are permitted on this small body of water. I took most of the other photos during our first time visit at beginning of October, 2014. 

The three aerial photos at top are new adds as of 03-21-24.  The second and third photos show the area in all of it's Fall glory. Our neighbor's 134 Modoc Court home is clearly shown shown at bottom left of 2nd. pic with our two lots 410 and 409 to left of it. Next photo shows 134 Modoc Court at bottom center with our lot 410 immediately below. Additional photo adds further down taken from  Pinebrook Drive neighbor's dock that show lots 409 and 410 across  inlet in all their pristine splendor awaiting just the right home build...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next series of photos (below) were taken on Dec. 26, 2014 during just our second visit to our property.  We wanted to inspect the lots with the tree leaves off (and snakes in hibernation!) so that we could determine the full range of water views and stake out a potential house foundation site.  This we duly accomplished but realise that actual size of stakeout may well change due to square foot build cost considerations.  It was a perfect late sunny December day for our visit but the lake water was a little murky from silt run-off following 4.5" of rain that had fallen just two days before. The following pics start out with shots from top of lots, from mid-point, from bottom and then, confusingly, from everywhere and anywhere!
We met our east side neighbor, Steve, who seemed really nice and offered us his help if needed. He informed us that we have a deer trail though the center of our lots that sees regular early morning visitors.  He also mentioned a black bear that has been sighted regularly in the vicinity.  Steve is retired, from Chicago originally, and heads up the Lake Arrowhead Community Environmental Committee. Interestingly, he used to work for Patchogue Plymouth, a major supplier of synthetic backing to the carpet industry.
Slightly off topic: Patchogue Plymouth used to host the best parties for carpet company management every January and June when the old floorcovering market season kicked off in the Chicago Merchandise Mart. The entire 84th. penthouse floor of parent company's (then) Standard Oil Building (right) skyscraper in Chicago was used to host these fabulous Patchogue Plymouth parties with music, open bars, and the most wonderful buffet food imaginable.  This impressive modern skyscraper was the highest building in Chicago and the fourth highest in the world when it was completed in 1973 with fabulous views from all sides over Chicago and Lake Michigan.  Just a teeny weeny bit of a change of pace and place from there to our future semi-wilderness retreat!

 

 

Soooo, what kind of modern dream house are we looking to build on this large, beautiful wooded waterfront lot?  There is a fairly steep drop-off to the water edge but not impossibly steep overall.  We must have a boat dock for a pedal or electric motor pontoon to navigate the lake and allow Queenfisher Carol to catch dinner; fish'n'chips'anyone?!  With almost a full (0.94) acre of property and 280' of waterfront space, finding optimum placement for the house site is not a problem, while ensuring privacy from neighbor's houses on both sides. Our main problem initially is our reluctance to give up any time in Florida or Scotland to oversee a new house build! We also know that having just sold our large Dalton, Georgia house in April 2014, how costly and impractical it is to try and maintain three residences. So the sad reality of selling the Perdido Key, Forida condo or Isle of Arran, Scotland house may well have to be faced. Still, that's a decision for another day.  First step is to decide on a house design and then proceed with lot preparation for driveway, house foundation and boat dock. We hope to complete this process over the winter months as there is no real need for us to be there. 

 

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