New Echota - New Echota Historic Site

New Echota Historic Site

After the Cherokee were removed, their capital remained abandoned for more than 100 years. Much of New Echota disappeared, though some of the houses continued to be used. Most notable was the house of Samuel Worcester, called "the Messenger", a missionary to the Cherokee. When the then-current landowners deeded land to the state for preservation, the Worcester house, the largest remaining structure, had been vacant for two years. The wear of the elements in that brief time was apparent.

In March 1954, the archeologist Lewis Larsen from the Georgia Historical Commission and five men were sent to oversee the work of excavating New Echota. The team uncovered evidence not only of the Cherokee settlement in New Echota, but also of earlier American Indian cultures. They asked the National Park Service archeologist Joe Caldwell and two more workers to join them for the next two months as they continued excavation. The group recovered a Spanish coin dated 1802, crockery, household wares, bootery remains, a small quantity of lead, and 1700 other artifacts. They identified 600 items as having belonged to the Cherokee. In addition to the standard finds and remains of many buildings, Larsen and Caldwell astonished the world by discovering much of the type once used to print the Cherokee Phoenix.

On March 13, 1957, following the news of Larsen and Caldwell's archeological finds, the State of Georgia authorized reconstruction of the town of New Echota as a Georgia State Park. They reconstructed such buildings as the Council House, the Supreme Court, the Printer Shop, a building of the Cherokee Phoenix, a Common Cherokee Cabin (representing a home of an average Cherokee family) and a Middle-Class Cherokee Home, including outbuildings. Vann's Tavern, owned by Chief James Vann is a restored building, with modern nails and replacement wooden parts. It was relocated from Forsyth County, Georgia (Chief Vann owned 14 taverns across the state of Georgia), as original New Echota Vann Tavern was destroyed. The park contains the site of the former Elias Boudinot house. The site serves as a memorial to Boudinot. The Worcester house was restored to its 19th-century condition. Together the buildings of the complex form an open-air museum.

Other sites are not open to the public, as they are now on private property. Across from the New Echota park are two farmhouse sites formerly owned by white men who had married Cherokee women. These sites are now part of Gordon County golf course.

The New Echota Historical Park was opened to the public in 1962. Inside the office of the Cherokee Phoenix were displayed 600 pieces of type, which had been used for the first American Indian newspaper. Later some type was moved to the museum and research facility which was built by the park. The Newtown Trail is a 1.2 mile interpreted trail that takes tourists to Town Creek (inside the center of New Echota), where the majority of the Cherokee had camped when the Council was in session. In 1973, the Department of Natural Resources, also known as Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, took over New Echota Park and continues to operate and maintain this historic site.

The site is designated as a National Historic Landmark.