While the City of Milton itself was incorporated in 2006, the area encompassing Milton has a rich, deep history that laid the foundation for the community’s strong, unique character and rural heritage.

Below you’ll find a broad overview of key eras, milestones, and figures from decades and centuries past for this special swath of Georgia’s Upper Piedmont with its mild hills, narrow valleys, and flowing creeks. If you’d like to learn more about this area's history and have a hand in helping share these stories alongside others, consider joining the Milton Historical Society. You can learn more at www.miltonhistoricalsociety-georgia.org/.

ABOUT 1000-1832: THE FIRST NATIVES

Native Americans populated Georgia about 10,000 years ago. The Cherokee lived in the northern third of the state (including what is now Milton), speaking an Iroquoian language and developing a close kinship-based society. They centered social activities around local villages, created ceremonial mounds, built log cabin structures, grew corn, and foraged for other foods. The earliest non-Native Americans came to the now-Milton area from coastal Georgia and the Carolinas, as well as from further inland in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. These early settlers of European descent traded and sometimes intermarried with the Cherokee. Yet, the relationship became strained as state and federal governments became anxious for more land – a desire hastened by the 1828 discovery of gold in Dahlonega (about 40 miles north of present-day Milton).

The thirst for more land eventually led to the 1832 order by President Andrew Jackson for Native Americans’ removal west from Georgia and other Southern states to the Oklahoma territory, a forced exodus that would be remembered as the Trail of Tears.

1832-1900: SETTLERS CREATE AGRARIAN COMMUNITY

The State of Georgia began disbursing land that had previously been home to the Native Americans via a land lottery system, the first taking place in 1805 and the eighth (and last) in 1832. The seventh land lottery, which involved present-day Milton and adjacent areas, was held in 1832. This lottery was comprised of Gold Lots, which were 40-acre parcels. People whose names had been drawn would pay a $10 registration fee and obtain a deed for one 40-acre lot. Some winners then purchased nearby lots to increase the size of their farms.

Around 1840, people began arriving in greater numbers as they traveled to occupy the newly purchased land. The mature forests were, over time, replaced with farm and pasture land. While some large farms existed, most of the land was farmed by small subsistence farmers who grew produce, raised cattle and pigs, and planted cotton as a cash crop. Cotton that wasn’t used for personal purposes was ginned locally and sold by the bale to cotton manufacturing companies. The legacies of many of those early families live on in the roads named after them -- Mayfield, Dinsmore, Broadwell, Rucker, Nix, Hembree, and Cogburn, to name a few.

While the area was sparsely populated and dotted with small villages and crossroads, it remained part of the much larger Cherokee County. Many people living in the county found it impractical to travel to the county seat of Canton to conduct all forms of legal business. This led, in 1857, to the creation of Milton County – named for Revolutionary War hero and Georgia’s first Secretary of State John Milton – carved from parts of southeast Cherokee, southwest Forsyth, and northeast Cobb counties. The county seat of Alpharetta was more reasonably accessible for people to travel to on that era’s dirt roads.

Unfortunately, troubling times were on the horizon for the newly formed Milton County. By 1861, Georgia found itself embroiled in the secession controversy. Slavery was a reality throughout the South. While much of the upland counties of Georgia counted slaves among their population, this area's economy was not reliant upon slavery (relative to other places) and slaves represented a small percentage of its inhabitants. Thus, when the Georgia convention convened to vote on secession in 1861, Milton was among the counties to vote against secession. The majority vote in Georgia, though, voted pro secession because the power base within the state lay in the plantation-based economic system of southern counties. Ultimately, many men from the Milton County area lost their lives in defense of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Early 20th Century: THE END OF MILTON COUNTY

As the 1800s turned into the 1900s, the area remained mostly forested and agricultural – the exception being small villages and crossroads with general stores and trading posts, mills and gins, churches, a few schools, and inns at the intersections of horse and carriage routes. While fruits and vegetables were grown, and cattle and pig farms existed, many people continued to raise cotton as a cash crop.

The invention and growing adoption of the automobile made the world smaller and more accessible starting early in the 20th century. The Milton area became more reachable to more people, especially when what is now Highway 9 was established in the mid-to-late 1920s. Yet, the area continued to exist as a rural community, known as a peaceful, bucolic, and largely isolated place.

However, Milton County was not isolated from what was happening beyond its borders. The area was greatly impacted by the 1929 Wall Street stock market crash, the bristling Great Depression, the boll weevil infestation, and a long drought. Money became hard to come by for citizens, businesses, and governments; the latter included cash-strapped Milton County. One solution raised, and eventually adopted, was for Milton County to dissolve and be folded into Fulton County. (The other county to be similarly abolished around that time was Campbell County, located south of Atlanta.) The new county’s shape left its most northernly points (in present day Milton) some 70 miles from its most southernly points, with the City of Atlanta in between.

1933-2000: GROWTH AND CHANGE

The end of Milton County didn’t immediately alter the area’s overall character. People tended to keep the same types of jobs, agriculture, and daily schedules as they had before the counties merged. Homes tended to be few and far between, segregation remained a reality, and the community revolved largely around churches, schools, and gathering spots like general stores and baseball diamonds.

Yet, change was inevitable. The population of North Georgia boomed (Atlanta’s population alone more than tripled between 1910 and 1960). And, over time, as more roads were built and paved, more people began settling further from Georgia’s capital city. In addition to the improvement and extension of Highway 9, the most consequential addition was State Route 400, which opened in stages starting in 1971 and generally was finished before the groundbreaking 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Even with this growth, present-day Milton largely retained its rural look and feel, in part due to the fact that the vast majority of its land was on septic (requiring parcels of 1 acre or more). With cotton becoming less prevalent as a cash crop, the area became more identified with horse farms big and small. Meanwhile, the population, nearby amenities (including shops and restaurants), schools, and a growing sense of community pride blossomed.

Late 20th/Early 21st Century: A CITY IS BORN

What would become the City of Milton sat in an unincorporated area of the northernmost part of Fulton County. Desiring more local control, some believed this area was a low priority for decision-makers based dozens of miles away. Such sentiments gave rise to the “Cityhood” movements in the early 21st century that fueled a push to create three new cities – Milton, Sandy Springs, and Johns Creek – carved from unincorporated Fulton County.

Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones introduced the bill to create the City of Milton in January 2005 with the intent of moving the bill forward in January 2006. This gave residents a full year to consider all the ramifications of cityhood before the bill could become law. A City of Milton committee, meanwhile, worked diligently to help coordinate information and research. On March 9, 2006, the bill paving the way for the creation of a new City of Milton resoundingly passed in the Georgia House of Representatives (127-21) and in the State Senate (49-0). At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28, Governor Sonny Perdue signed HB 1470 into law. (Click to review the full city charter, including articles of incorporation and powers.)

That left the final decision up to citizens. That year, over 85 percent of voters approved the referendum to create the City of Milton. And in November, they elected Joe Lockwood as Milton’s Mayor along with six inaugural Councilmembers. A few weeks later, the City was officially born.

2006-Present: THE CITY OF MILTON EMERGES

At the time of its founding, the City of Milton adopted all Fulton County ordinances at a meeting of the new Mayor and City Council that began at midnight on December 1, 2006 – officially, the first day of the City’s existence. Working initially out of converted commercial office spaces, City leaders then began forging Milton’s unique identity as it transitioned to local governance.

To deliver needed services from the start, Milton turned to industry experts in the private sector. At the same time, plans were set in motion to launch the City’s own police services on May 1, 2007, and fire services some 16 days later. (Both departments are now recognized as nationally accredited agencies.) Milton’s leaders consciously utilized a public-private partnership model as part of efforts to efficiently provide quality municipal services in a cost-efficient manner. Over time, the City of Milton’s government delivered more services on its own (and relied less on the private sector). 

In its first decade-plus, Milton’s leaders listened to citizens while essentially creating a government from scratch – as evidenced by its creating and retooling of City Code, development of programs, conducting community events, and moving into City-owned properties like a one-of-a-kind City Hall (which opened in 2017) and its Public Safety Complex (which opened three years later). Officials and staff prioritized being conscientious, forward-thinking, and responsive while listening to citizens, developing sensible policies, adhering to conservative budgeting, and making decisions that served the community’s interests.

As the City government evolved, Milton’s population grew. The U.S. Census measured it at 32,661 in 2010; ten years later, the Census counted 41,296 residents – a more than 26% increase. Joe Lockwood served as mayor for Milton’s first 15 years, succeeded by Peyton Jamison. The City has been led, too, by City Managers who oversee all municipal operations as well as the effective, efficient execution and enforcement of City laws and ordinances.