[4] Prior to Decolonization of the Americas (1770–1820), the area that is now Blue Ridge was inhabited by Cherokee and other Indigenous peoples.

Blue Ridge was laid out in 1886 when the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad was extended to that point.

Blue Ridge is the home of the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway, a restored railroad that features a four-hour, 26 mile roundtrip journey along the Toccoa River to the sister towns McCaysville, Georgia, and Copperhill, Tennessee.

[8] The original tracks started in Marietta, Georgia, and reached Blue Ridge and the surrounding areas in 1886.

U.S. Route 76 and Georgia State Route 515 (Zell Miller Mountain Parkway) pass through the west side of the city, leading east 22 miles (35 km) to Blairsville and southwest 15 miles (24 km) to Ellijay.

Georgia State Route 5 leads north from Blue Ridge 10 miles (16 km) to McCaysville at the Tennessee line.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km2), all land.

[10] Appalachian-influenced Cfa.As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,253 people, 476 households, and 249 families residing in the city.