Macedonia is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

along Georgia Highway 20 in eastern Cherokee 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 approximately six miles east of the county seat,

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

. The center of Macedonia is approximately 45 miles north of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

via I-75 / I-575 or 35 miles via Georgia 400. Straight-line distance indicates mileage of 31 miles from the center of downtown Atlanta. One theory as to how the community derived its name is from Macedonia Baptist Church, which was established in the late 1870s; from there an elementary school along Dock Lathem Trail (now closed) was also called Macedonia. Macedonia also had a second elementary school along Cokers Chapel Road prior to the present Macedonia Elementary School, built in 1956. Macedonia Elementary underwent a significant renovation and a new schoolhouse was built in 1997 to accommodate growth of the local population.

Economy

Since the early 1990s, the Macedonia community has become a hotbed of suburban growth with a mix of residential and commercial development. One major residential development is the Woodmont Country Club, which has over 950 houses and the community's first golf course (privately owned). With Macedonia having a largely rural history, most of the older residents do not live in a subdivision; some residents still own vast amounts of farmland. Since 2002, many commercial developments have been built. Prior to 2002, the closest significant commercial development was in the city of Canton.

Transportation

Macedonia is accessible from Exit 19 on

Interstate 575 Interstate 575 (I-575) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the United States, which branches off I-75 in Kennesaw and connects the Atlanta metropolitan area with the North Georgia mountains, extending . I-575 is also the unsigned State ...

or Exits 7 though 11 on Georgia Highway 400. Its main intersection is with East Cherokee Drive, which runs from south of Ball Ground to north of Woodstock along a high-growth corridor. Georgia Highway 20 is a very heavily traveled east-west corridor in extreme suburban

. Traffic counts from the GDOT indicate traffic can increase to 25,000 vehicles per day. With the route being exclusively a two-lane road from I-575 to well into Forsyth County, the

Georgia Department of Transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a li ...

(GDOT) has indications to widen the highway within a "long-range" plan. In January 2011, construction had begun on truck climbing lanes from Union Hill Road to SR 369. With the intersection of East Cherokee Drive and SR 20 being encompassed by a cemetery and church, it was rumored that a bypass would be built to the north of the current intersection since the DOT cannot destroy churches or cemeteries. Since then the northern bypass plan was scrapped and the Church was moved a mile or so north on East Cherokee Road. A RaceTrac gas station then was built where the church was located. The cemetery remains and should not be impacted by the SR20 road widening. Macedonia was also discussed as being a part of the now supposedly defunct Northern Arc highway plan. The Northern Arc was discussed in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a bypass for I-285 in Atlanta and Highway 20 in Bartow, Cherokee, and Forsyth Counties. The Northern Arc was to run just north of Highway 20, having a major interchange with I-75 in Bartow County, I-575 in Cherokee County, GA 400 in Forsyth County, and I-85 in Gwinnett County. The highway was part of a more expanded plan to have an outer perimeter highway around the exurbs of Atlanta. Macedonia is split between the zip codes of 30107 (

Ball Ground Ball Ground is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The city was originally Cherokee territory before they were removed from the land and it was given to white settlers. A railroad was built in 1882 and a town was formed around t ...

) and 30114, 30115 (

). Any area lying north of Georgia Highway 20 is regarded as Ball Ground and anything lying south or along the highway is in the Canton zip code.

Education

There are several schools serving the community, including Macedonia Elementary School (opened in 1956), Creekland Middle School (opened in 2004) and Creekview High School (opened in 2005).

Religion

There are four active churches in the area: Macedonia Baptist (established in 1876), Calvary Baptist Church (established in 1969), Morning Star Church (established in 2002) and a Presbyterian Church (established in 2011).

Subdivisions

* Woodmont Country Club * Orange Shoals * Northwoods * Autumn Woods * Hampton Station * Magnolia Creek * Cadence (Active Adult Housing) * Mill Creek * Creekside Estates * Tunnel Hill Estates * Grand Oaks * Smithwyck * Woodridge Estates * Haley Station {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state) Unincorporated communities in Cherokee County, Georgia Populated places on the Hiwassee River