Buckhead
One of the earliest settlements in Morgan County, the area around Buckhead was still in close proximity to Native American Territory in the early 1800s. According to local lore, a group of hunters tracking game crossed the Oconee River from Greene County and found this area to be ideal for settlement. To attest to their good fortune, the head of a buck deer killed by the hunters was hung in a tree.
Though the town of Buckhead was formally incorporated by the Georgia Legislature in 1887 and recorded in 1908, the earliest document reference to this community dates to 1819 in an account ledger for a general store located here. By 1823, a post office had been constructed, and by the 1830s, the Georgia Railroad came through Buckhead. A Methodist Chuch was organized in 1824, and a Baptist Church in 1890. A four-room schoolhouse that had ten grade levels, employed eight teachers, and possessed an auditorium was constructed in 1900.
Buckhead also enjoyed a thriving commercial center that included four general stores, two drug stores, a bank, a cotton buyer´s office, three restaurants, a barber shop, a livery stable and a hotel. Industries included a cotton gin, a grist mill, and a blacksmith shop.
Several large fires have taken their toll on Buckhead through the years destroying many of its old buildings. Additionally, the agriculture economy has shifted from cotton production to dairy operations.
Morgan County Bicentennial Committee 2007
Plaque courtesy Lat34North.com.
Original page, with additional info, here.
Photo credit: Byron Hooks of Lat34North.com.