Sixes, home to approximately 14,540, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in western

Cherokee County Cherokee County is the name of eight counties in the United States: * Cherokee County, Alabama * Cherokee County, Georgia * Cherokee County, Iowa * Cherokee County, Kansas * Cherokee County, North Carolina * Cherokee County, Oklahoma * Cherokee Co ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States, located about three miles west of Holly Springs and near the eastern shore of current-day

Lake Allatoona Lake Allatoona (officially called Allatoona Lake) is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Etowah River in northwestern part of the State of Georgia. This reservoir is mostly in southeastern Bartow County and southwestern Cherokee Coun ...

. The community is located in the

Georgia Gold Belt The largest quantities of gold found in the eastern United States were found in the Georgia Gold Belt, extending from eastern Alabama to Rabun County, Georgia. The biggest concentration of gold was found in White, Lumpkin, and northern Cherokee ...

, which runs southwest to northeast along the southern edge of the

Blue Ridge mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

. The Sixes Gold Mine, a now-defunct gold mine dating back to the early 19th century, was located just to the northwest. In addition, the community is home to the

Sixes Mill Sixes, home to approximately 14,540, is an unincorporated community in western Cherokee County, Georgia, United States, located about three miles west of Holly Springs and near the eastern shore of current-day Lake Allatoona. The community is l ...

, which was originally built around 1820 by early gold prospectors and later rebuilt ''circa'' 1880. The mill has been well preserved and is still located off Sixes Road. There are two theories on how Sixes derived its name. The first theory attributes the name to

Fort Hinar Sixes A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, a

Cherokee Indian The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

removal fort that was located in the area along the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...

. The second holds that the name is derived from an old Cherokee village that was located near the

Etowah River The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, north of Atlanta. On Matthew Carey's 1795 ...

named "Sutali" — the Cherokee word for the number six. Sixes also lent its name to Fort Sixes, an 1830s US Army fort that served as a removal collection point for

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

prior to the Trail of Tears. Sutallee, a community that sits on the opposite side of the Etowah River (now Lake Allatoona) in western Cherokee County, also derives its name from this Native American village. Today, Sixes is a growing suburban community with many large, upscale residential neighborhoods, including BridgeMill. The area is served by two elementary schools (Sixes & Liberty); one middle school (Freedom); and two high schools (Woodstock & Cherokee).

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Cherokee County, Georgia Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state)