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1959 Map of Hemp Top

Name: 1959 Topographic Map of Hemp Top
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1961
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1961

About this map

Cowpen Mountain and the Blue Ridge divide dominate this 1959 survey of the high borderlands between Fannin County, Georgia, and Polk County, Tennessee. The landscape is characterized by its complex hydrology and the meeting of several significant forest management zones, including the Cherokee National Forest and Chattahoochee National Forest. Settlement is sparse, limited to small pockets like Beech Bottom and Skreeds along the Jacks River valley.

Evidence of early rural community life appears at Bethlehem Ch and the Jones Cem, while industrial history is marked by the Pounding Mill site. Navigation through these heights relied on a network of gaps and ridgeline trails, such as Simmons Gap, Watson Gap, and Daily Gap. The summit of Hemp Top serves as a key landmark, hosting a Lookout tower that surveyed the vast timberlands and numerous watercourses like Rough Creek and Conasauga River.