The name is derived from the Cherokee word ltse`yi (New Green Place) or (Place of Fresh Green, from ltse`hi (green or unripe vegetation),and yi, the locative. It occurs in several places in the old Cherokee country, variously spelled Echia, Echoee, Etchowee, and sometimes `Brasstown,` from a confusion of ltsc`yi with Ontsaiyi (brass). One settlement known to the whites as Brasstown was on upper Brasstown Creek of Hiwassee River directly NW of this point. The area near the Spring to the SW was once an Indian camping ground.
GHM 139-5 Georgia Historical Commission 1958
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.