Dawsonville is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Dawson County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States. The population was 3,720 in 2020. Dawsonville is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA metropolitan statistical area. The city head is Mayor John Walden, who was sworn in on December 18, 2023.

History

Dawsonville was founded in 1857 as seat of the newly formed Dawson County. It was incorporated as a town in 1859 and as a city in 1952. The community and the county are named for U.S. Senator William Crosby Dawson.

Geography

Dawsonville is located at 34°25′N 84°7′W. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.26%, is water. The community is at the junction of State Routes 9, 53, and

136 136 may refer to: *136 (number) *AD 136 *136 BC *136 (MBTA bus), a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *136 Austria 136 Austria is a main-belt asteroid that was found by the prolific asteroid discoverer Johann Palisa on 18 Ma ...

. SR 9 leads northeast to Dahlonega and south to Cumming, while SR 53 leads southeast to U.S. Route 19 and west to

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

. SR 136 also leads to Jasper, on a route that runs further to the north through the southern end of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

. Amicalola Falls, north of the center of Dawsonville, is one of the seven natural wonders of Georgia.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 3,720 people, 998 households, and 667 families residing in the city.

Recreation

Auto racing

The city's community is known in auto racing circles for its long tradition of involvement in the sport; many racing skills originally developed as a consequence of

moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...

activity in the area. Dawsonville celebrates this legacy each October with the annual "Mountain Moonshine Festival". Dawsonville is the home of retired

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott Sr. (born October 8, 1955), also known as "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville", "Million Dollar Bill", or "Wild Bill" is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Superstar Racing Experienc ...

, who won the

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

championship in 1988 and was inducted into the

NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame and Museum located in Charlotte, North Carolina that honors NASCAR and its history. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs ...

in 2015, and his son

Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Hendrick Mo ...

, who won the 2020 NASCAR Cup Championship and who currently races in the

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

. Bill Elliott's nickname is "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville". The former city hall has a racing theme as well, and serves as the location of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. Following a significant racing accomplishment made by Bill or Chase Elliott, such as a win, the siren on the Dawsonville Pool Room near the city square goes off to let the town know.

Education

Dawson County School District

Dawson-county-high-school-dawsonville-ga

The Dawson County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of three elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school. The district has 219 full-time teachers and 3,036 students.School Stats
Retrieved June 8, 2010. * Black's Mill Elementary School * Kilough Elementary School * Robinson Elementary School * Riverview Elementary School * Dawson County Middle School * Dawson County Junior High School * Dawson County High School The Dawson County School System is a charter system.

Notable people

Spencer Davis Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh musician. He founded the Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", " Somebody Help Me", "Gimme Some Lov ...

;

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...

driver *

, or "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville"; stock car driver * Casey Elliott; stock car driver and nephew of Bill Elliott *

; stock car driver and son of Bill Elliott *

Jerry Glanville Jerry Michael Glanville (born October 14, 1941) is an American football coach. He is the defensive coordinator for Northwestern Oklahoma State University, a position he has held since 2024. Prior to that, was most recently the head coach of the ...

;

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

head coach, and

driver *

Bill Goldberg William Scott Goldberg (born December 27, 1966), often known Mononymous person, mononymously as Goldberg, is an American professional wrestler, actor and former American football defensive tackle. He is signed to WWE. He is best known for his ten ...

; professional wrestler and actor; once resided in Dawsonville * Roy Hall; moonshine runner and early stock car racing driver, cousin of Lloyd Seay * Corey Johnson; professional male runway model, actor, producer * Raymond Parks; moonshine runner and NASCAR pioneer regarded as the first "team" owner in stock car racing, a relative of Seay and Hall *

Lloyd Seay Carl D. "Lightning" Lloyd Seay (December 14, 1919 – September 2, 1941) was an early stock car racing driver from Dawsonville Georgia. NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. described Seay as the "best pure race driver I ever saw". He was shot to de ...

; moonshine runner and early stock car racing driver, cousin of Roy Hall * David Sosebee; race car driver *

Gober Sosebee Gober Cletus Sosebee (October 15, 1915 – November 11, 1996) was an American racecar driver. He won on the Daytona Beach Road Course in 1949, 1950, and 1951. He was born in Dawson County, Georgia, and began his career in 1940 at Atlanta's L ...

; race car driver

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Dawson County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state) 1857 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)