Cane Creek Baptist

Lumpkin County
|
Org 1867
|
Photography by Michael Sussman

Cane Creek Baptist was established immediately after the Civil War in a remote part of Lumpkin County. It is located at the end of a one mile winding road that adjoins the Chattahoochee National Forest, and it would be difficult to overstate the beauty and tranquility of the site. We know little of the history, but it was founded April 28, 1867 and has obviously been loved and well maintained for the last 150 years. Perhaps some more history will come forth and if so, we will update it as we go. We did find reference to the original Cane Creek constitution showing six original members, five from the Shed family and one Stargel.

While hard historical facts are difficult to come by, we are blessed that a couple of old photographs from the Vanishing Georgia Archives are available and they will be included in the photo lineup. The archives are rich with visuals from Georgia’s past and can be accessed here. One of the photos is a remarkable shot of the Rev. J.J. Shed (1857 – 1937) standing at the pulpit of the church just after the turn of the century. His family were founders of Cane Creek and both his father and grandfather are buried in the little cemetery beside the church. In the photograph, you will notice that Rev. Shed’s right arm is missing. He was not of Civil War age so we suspect that it was the result of a mining accident but that is speculation on our part.

We did find out from a local news article that there was no electricity service to the church until 1985. Farming was very difficult in the this area of North Georgia and most of the early settlers in this part of Lumpkin County supported themselves, in one way or another, by the gold mining industry. Over the passage of time, many people have been lured to the north Georgia mountains by the lure of gold, including Hernando de Soto who passed through in 1540 in search of it. The first official strike occurred not far from here in the late 1820’s and within a short period of time, much gold had been extracted from the North Georgia land, some of which was still owned by the Cherokee. Gold fever was a factor in the final push to take their last land within the borders of Georgia, resulting in the Indian Removal act of 1830 and the infamous “Trail of Tears”,

We do not know when the present structure was built but it likely contains many elements of the original 1866 sanctuary. We all are grateful for the outstanding stewardship of this remote North Georgia jewel and we salute the present congregation for the respect and love they have lavished upon it. Well done thou good and faithful servant.

+ Read More