Forsyth County, GA
Lush and Beautiful
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About Forsyth County
Forsyth County is a county located in the state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population is 98,407. The county's incredible growth is evident with a population of 140,393 according to the 2005 U.S. Census Estimate. This county is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Forsyth County was created in 1832 from a partition of the Cherokee County territory, which had been formed from the Cherokee Nation East the previous year. Forsyth County was named for John Forsyth, Governor of Georgia from 1827-1829 and Secretary of State under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
Forsyth County Georgia is located 30 miles north of Atlanta in the lower foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It extends over most of the west side of Lake Lanier, a 20 mile long 37,000 acre Army Corp of Engineers Reservoir.
Many new neighborhoods are built around world class golf courses. A lot of people enjoy boating and fishing on Lake Lanier. There are local sports teams, churches and many other organizations. A variety of shopping is available inside the county or 10 miles to major shopping malls. The school system is one of the state's finest with computers and technology playing a major role. As one of the fastest growing counties in the United States the county has many new businesses and residents.
The Dinsmore Team is your local expert on all things Forsyth County. Let us help you plan your next move to Lake Lanier, Cumming and Alpharetta. If you're looking to buy a home in or outside Forsyth County, feel free to utilize our many years of connection with local businesses and realtors alike. The Dinsmore Team is here to make your Forsyth County home buying and selling experience as smooth and as enjoyable as possible!
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Schools in Forsyth County
Forsyth County is A Great Place to Learn!
Forsyth County Schools serves over 25,700 students and is the largest employer in the county with over 3,100 full-time employees and 1,000 substitutes. Currently, we are home to 25 schools – fourteen elementary, six middle, three high schools, as well as one alternative school for middle and high school students, and a charter non-traditional high school. Projected plans call for the opening of seven new schools over the next four years.
Forstth County schools are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and have exceeded the standards as defined and measured by the Georgia Department of Education. Annually, the Forsyth County school system grows between 8 to 10%. The schools are experiencing this ever-increasing growth rate as more and more families are attracted to our smaller, caring schools where the type of personalized education they are seeking for their children is available and where excellence is the standard.
The Dinsmore Team is experienced in helping you find the right communities to live in with just that right school for your children. Let The Dinsmore Team put their years of local community knowledge to work for you.
| Elementary Schools |
| Big Creek - Please click here for a Virtual Tour of Big Creek Elementary School |
| Chattahoochee - Chattahoochee Named Georgia School of excellence!! |
| Chestatee - Home of the Eagles "Where We Are Soaring to New Heights" |
| Coal Mountain |
| Cumming - Cumming Elementary received the highest performance level award, Platinum Award, from The Governor's Office of Student Achievement on the 2004-2005 Annual Report Card. For more visit www.gaosa.org |
| Daves Creek - Daves Creek received a silver award from the State Department of Education for the high percentage of students meeting or exceeding the standards - 96.03% - on the statewide standardized testing! |
| Mashburn - a warm, hospitable place of learning with the kinds of human relationships which give children a feeling of belonging, a feeling of being a genuine part of what school and real education is about. |
| Matt - In a safe nurturing environment, Matt Elementary staff, students, and the school community collaborate to promote quality work leading to life-long learning. |
| Midway - Where All Students Succeed! Midway between Cumming and Alpharetta, Georgia, lies a community that has grown and diversified over the past forty years. At the heart of this community is Midway Elementary School, where staff, parents and community members team together to provide students an engaging learning environment. |
| Sawnee - Sawnee Elementary School is our school - take pride in it and respect it! We believe all children can be successful. We strive to foster a cooperative partnership among school, home and community. We strongly encourage parents to become active participants in their child’s education. We can work together to provide an outstanding educational opportunity for our children. |
| Sawnee Primary - At Sawnee Primary School, our primary focus for instruction is reading and math. We integrate the arts and movement into our lessons through Arts Connect and brain-based learning activties. Our students have been able to excel in all areas due to an outstanding faculty which includes certified classroom teachers, Early Intervention Program teachers, teachers of art, music, physical education and French. |
| Settles Bridge - Settles Bridge is a K-5 school located in Forsyth County, which has been named the fastest growing school district in the nation. The school is located in the southeastern section of the county on a beautiful hilltop setting among the Georgia pines and rolling hills. |
| Sharon - At the heart of everything we do is the life of a child. |
| Shiloh Point - Preparing Students for the 21st Century |
| Silver City - A newly constructed school. Visit website to learn more about the school and to view construction updates |
| Vickery Creek - Our learning community of faculty, staff, parents, and students has plotted the course for our voyage to make smooth sailing ahead. Come aboard our Viking ship and visit some of the activities that craft our students’ futures. |
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| Middle Schools |
| Liberty - Success, the spirit of Liberty, is: Creating quality in all areas, Accomplishing challenging goals, Engaging interest and passions, Nurturing diversity and change, Establishing effective relationships, Modeling citizenship and excellence, Linking learning to life |
| North Forsyth - A community dedicated to learning |
| Otwell - We are a school of nearly 1,000 students in grades 6-8. At Otwell Middle School, we know that it is people, not programs, that make us great. We are truly proud of our great people: outstanding students, world-class teachers, and the finest support staff anywhere. |
| Riverwatch- Our students’ safety as well as their education is a primary concern of Riverwatch Middle School. |
| South Forsyth |
| Vickery Creek - Vickery Creek Middle School, located northeast of Atlanta in Forsyth County, Georgia, belongs to a progressive school district that aggressively takes on the challenge of meeting the varied needs of today’s middle school students. |
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| High Schools |
| Forsyth Central - We are the oldest of three high schools in one of the fastest growing counties in the country. |
| North Forsyth |
| South Forsyth - The 2005-2006 school year will be the 17th in our proud scholastic history, and we are looking forward to the continuation of our success both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. |
| West Forsyth - West Forsyth High School is slated to open in the fall of 2007 with an enrollment that includes Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors who live in the West Forsyth school district. |
| Forsyth Academy - Non traditional High School: The non-traditional high school creates a businesslike learning environment where students can complete assignments using online, computer based curriculum with the assistance of learning facilitators. The non-traditional high school also utilizes project based learning, service learning, job shadowing, internships, mentoring, and dual enrollment with technical and four-year colleges. |
| Other |
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Piedmont Learning Center - Our program is designed to provide educational and emotional support to students in grades 6 - 12. Students are referred to Piedmont Learning Center through the "tribunal process" and are here for a specific period of time. Upon completion of their program they return to their base school. |
| Hill Educational Center |
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 Forsyth Trivia:
- Total area of 247.4 square miles.
- From largest to smallest it is number 126 out of 159.
- It was formed in 1832 from Cherokee County, which had been formed from the Cherokee Nation East only a year before (Dec. 26, 1831).
- Lying in the gold belt, all the lots in Forsyth County were 40 acre lots.
- Forsyth consisted of Districts 1, 2, 3 and 14 of the First Section of Cherokee County.
- The county was named for John Forsyth
- The County Seat is Cumming.
- Ducktown used to be an incorporated city.
- Shady Grove along McGinnis Ferry Road was once a platted town
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John Forsyth (1780 - 1841)
(information courtesy of the Library of Congress)
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Senate Years of Service: 1818-1819; 1829-1834
Party: Democratic Republican; Jacksonian
 John Forsyth was a Representative and a Senator from Georgia; born in Fredericksburg, Va., October 22, 1780. Forsyth graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1799 and moved to Augusta, Ga. to study law. He was then admitted to the bar in 1802 and commenced practice. He was elected attorney general of Georgia in 1808; elected as a Democratic Republican to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Congresses, and served from March 4, 1813, until his resignation, effective November 23, 1818.
He was also a chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State (Fifteenth Congress); elected to the United States Senate as a Democratic Republican on November 7, 1818, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of George M. Troup and served from November 23, 1818, to February 17, 1819, when he resigned to accept a diplomatic appointment.
He was appointed as a Minister to Spain in 1819-1823. Upon his return he was elected to the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Congresses and served from March 4, 1823, until his resignation, effective November 7, 1827. He then acted as the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Eighteenth and Nineteenth Congresses); Governor of Georgia 1827-1829.
Forsyth was again elected to the United States Senate as a Jacksonian to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Macpherson Berrien and served from November 9, 1829, to June 27, 1834, when he resigned to accept a Cabinet portfolio; chairman, Committee on Commerce (Twenty-second Congress), Committee on Foreign Relations (Twenty-second Congress), Committee on Finance (Twenty-second Congress); appointed Secretary of State by President Andrew Jackson. He was reappointed by President Martin Van Buren and served from 1834 to 1841. John Forsyth passed away in Washington, D.C., October 21, 1841; interment in Congressional Cemetery.
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Culture and Arts of Forsyth County
Art Activities and Programs
For a listing of Art Classes offered please refer to the Forsyth County Art Classes listing. *(clicking on this link will open up a PDF file. If you are unable to open PDF files please download a PDF reader from Adobe)
Central Park has an artroom in the Recreation Center. This facility is located at 2300 Keith Bridge Road, Cumming, GA 30040. Take a virtual tour of our Central Park artroom.*(clicking on this link will open up a PDF file. If you are unable to open PDF files please download a PDF reader from Adobe)
The Studio at Sharon Springs Park is equipped to offer a variety of art classes. It is located at 1950 Sharon Road, Cumming, GA 30041. Take a virtual tour of the Studio at Sharon Springs Park. **(clicking on this link will open up a PowerPoint file. If you are unable to open PowerPoint files please download a PPS reader from Microsoft)
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Recreation in Forsyth County
Parks in Forsyth County Georgia
Bennett Park
5930 Burruss Mill Road
Amenities: 26-acres. 5 baseball/softball fields, 1 football/soccer field, 2-tennis courts, playground and picnic pavilion..
Coal Mountain Park
3560 Settingdown Road
Cumming, GA 30040
Amenities: 25-acres. 3 youth baseball/softball fields, walking trail and playground.
Midway Park
5100 Post Road
Amenities: 38-acres. 3 baseball/softball fields, 1 football/soccer field, 2 tennis courts, playground, picnic pavilion and a community building/kitchen.
Poole’s Mill Park
7725 Poole’s Mill Road
Amenities: This is a nature park with a natural walking trail, benches and large pavilion with restrooms. This park is centered around Poole’s Mill Bridge, which was built in 1901. The State of Georgia did some renovations on the bridge in 1998. It is closed to automobile traffic but open for
walking. There is a memorial garden near the pavilion that was built in memory of Charles Welch.
Sawnee Mountain Park
3995 Watson Rd, Cumming
Amenities: 44 acres. 8 baseball/softball fields, 1 football field, 1 soccer field, 4 tennis courts, paved walking/jogging trail, picnic pavilion and playground.
Sharon Springs Park
1950 Sharon Rd, Cumming
Amenities: 58 acres. 4 youth baseball/softball fields, 4 adult softball-1baseball fields, 2 football/soccer fields, 8 tennis courts, playground, paved walking/jogging trail, picnic pavilion and basketball courts.
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Forsyth County Real Estate
National Summary
(Provided by RealtyTimes)
Existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, remained historically high in the first quarter but have experienced a downtrend since hitting a record in the third quarter of last year. Even so, 26 states showed increases in sales activity from a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
The latest report on total existing-home sales shows that the seasonally adjusted annual rate* was 6.80 million units in the first quarter, down 2.1 percent from the 6.94 million-unit level in the first quarter of 2005.
The biggest increase was in New Mexico, where existing-home sales rose 26.2 percent from the first quarter of 2005. Louisiana's first-quarter resale pace rose 22.9 percent from a year earlier, while Montana experienced the third strongest gain, up 17.5 percent. Six other states recorded double-digit sales increases from a year ago. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia experienced declines. Complete data for three states was not available.
David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said rising interest rates have dampened sales. "A steady rise in mortgage interest rates has slowed home sales in higher cost areas, yet job growth in some moderately priced markets is boosting sales in other areas," he said. "The net effect is a modest decline in home sales for the nation as a whole, but sales remain historically strong and are providing a solid underlying base for the overall economy."
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate on a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage was 6.24 percent in the first quarter, up from 6.22 percent in the fourth quarter; it was 5.76 percent in the first quarter of 2005.
NAR President Thomas M. Stevens from Vienna, Va., said the sales pattern is expected to level out. "We project home sales may soften a little further before picking up in the fourth quarter, but we're not looking for any significant changes in the market moving forward," said Stevens, senior vice president of NRT Inc. "This should provide stability in the market so that buyers and sellers will be on a fairly level playing field in most of the country."
Regionally, the strongest performance was in the South, which reported an increase of 2.3 percent to an existing-home sales pace of 2.71 million units in the first quarter in comparison with a year ago. After Louisiana, the strongest increase in the South was in Mississippi, up 17.3 percent from the first quarter of 2005; resales in North Carolina rose 17.0 percent; Arkansas and Tennessee also posted double-digit sales increases.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales rose 1.1 percent to a 1.56 million-unit annual sales level from the first quarter of 2005. Indiana led the region, up 10.4 percent from a year earlier, followed by Iowa, up 9.0 percent, and Ohio, with an increase of 6.2 percent.
The Northeast recorded an existing-home sales pace of 1.12 million units in the first quarter, down 2.9 percent from a year earlier. Sales activity in Maine rose 4.6 percent from the first quarter of 2005, Rhode Island increased 2.0 percent and New York sales declined 2.2 percent.
In the West, the existing-home sales level of 1.41 million units was 12.4 percent below the first quarter of 2005. After New Mexico and Montana, the best performance the region was in Utah where existing-home sales rose 12.7 percent from a year earlier; Hawaii sales increased 6.3 percent while Alaska rose 5.9 percent.
The National Association of REALTORS®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
For specific Real Estate News on the cities in Forsyth County, Georgia, please visit their respective pages:
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Restaurants and Dining in Forsyth County
Lodging
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Renaissance PineIsle Resort & Golf Club 9000 Holiday Road Lake, Cumming, GA 30518, Located on Lake Lanier Island, 770-945-8921, Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains amid a majestic, 1,200 acre pine forest, this lakefront paradise offers numerous amenities for guests staying here including 254 exquisitely appointed guest rooms, an 18 hole championship golf course, seven enclosed and lighted tennis courts, outdoor and indoor heated pools, a golf pro shop, concierge and rental car desks, a challenge ropes course, a full service marina, a waterpark facility, two restaurants, a lounge, a game room, an exercise room, a seasonal Children's Club, and a seasonal poolside bar and grille. |
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Comfort Suites 905 Buford Road, Cumming, GA 30041, 770-889-4141, Close to Lake Lanier and Metropolitan Atlanta, this all suite hotel offers 71 spacious, elegant, and deluxe guest suites with all suites including sofa sleepers, microwaves, and refrigerators. An outdoor pool and a fitness room are on site for guests to enjoy and a continental breakfast is served daily.
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Hampton Inn 915 Northside Forsyth Drive, Cumming, GA 30041, 770-889-0877, A stunning four story hotel that offers beautifully appointed guest rooms with all rooms including refrigerators, microwaves, coffee makers, hair dryers, irons, ironing boards, high speed Internet access, voice mail, and well lit, ergonomically designed workstations. Amenities on site include a fully equipped business center, a seasonal outdoor pool, a scenic patio deck, and a fitness center. A deluxe continental breakfast is served each morning and fresh baked treats are served each evening by the cozy fireplace. |
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Twin Lakes RV Park 3300 Shore Drive, Cumming, GA 30040, 770-887-4400, A beautiful, year round campground that offers 70 full hookup RV sites and includes a 13 acre scenic lake which provides free catch and release fishing for guests staying at this park. |
| Condos & Vacation Rentals |
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Dining
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Norman's Landing 365 Peachtree Parkway, Cumming, GA 30041, 770-886-0100, One of the best seafood restaurants in Georgia, this restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner and serves an extensive menu of the freshest seafood available. The restaurant also hosts ping-pong charity games each month. |
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Atlanta Bread Company 908 Buford Highway, Cumming, GA 30041, 770-265-2000, Terrific American style food made with fresh, quality ingredients is served daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at this restaurant that offers delicious items such as hot breakfast sandwiches and grilled Paninis. Full catering services are also available.
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Beef O'Brady's 2619 Freedom Parkway, Cumming, GA 30041, 770-781-8803, An Irish neighborhood pub and sports bar that is filled with authentic sports memorabilia, as well as TVs and satellite dishes broadcasting your favorite sporting events. An Irish style menu is served daily for lunch and dinner and the specialty is tender chicken wings coated with their tasty signature sauce.
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La Cazuela Mexican Restaurant 914 Marketplace Boulevard, Cumming, GA 30041, 770-947-0718, Enjoy the best Mexican food in the area while at this neighborhood cantina and restaurant that also offers fantastic margaritas, full bar service, and nightly live entertainment. They are open daily for lunch and dinner and outdoor patio dining is also available.
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Longhorn Steakhouse 925 Marketplace Boulevard, Cumming, GA 30041, 678-947-4228, Only the finest quality beef, chicken, pork, and seafood are used at this restaurant that grills each item to order and has a variety of delicious choice to fit every appetite. Thick and juicy burgers are also on the menu, as well as freshly made salads and fall-off-the-bone barbecue ribs. They are open daily for lunch and dinner.
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O'Charley's Restaurant 920 Buford Road, Cumming, GA 30041, 770-888-3880, Open daily for lunch and dinner, this casual dining restaurant offers a variety of specialty dishes on the menu including hand cut and aged steaks, fresh chicken and seafood, homemade yeast rolls, a variety of fresh cut salads with special recipe salad dressings, and their mouthwatering, signature caramel pie.
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Outback Steakhouse 1715 Marketplace Boulevard, Cumming, GA 30041, 678-455-7225, An Aussie inspired steakhouse that is open daily for lunch and dinner and offers a "full flavored" menu which includes fresh Midwestern grain fed beef, fresh chicken and fish, fresh salads with homemade dressings, and their signature creamy onion soup.
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Summits Wayside Tavern 525 Lake Center Parkway, Cumming, GA 30040, 770-886-4374, A favorite place for lunch and dinner, this restaurant serves a unique and creative menu of American style cuisine such as beef, fish, chicken, and vegetables seasoned with their signature 23 ingredient blend of seasons and complemented by a large list of beers and wines. | |
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Forsyth County Media and News
The best source for printed news in Forsyth County is the "Forsyth County News"
Forsyth County News is published every Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Main number: 770-887-3126
Fax Number: 770-889-6017
Publisher: John Hall
Office Manager: Carlene Pass
Circulation Director: Garry Tinsley
Advertising Director: Lisa Ferrell
Editor: Tom Spigolon
For more information on Forsyth County News please visit: www.forsythnews.com
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