Candies Creek Ridge

The ridge stretches from Tunnel Hill, Georgia to the lower Hiwassee River at the Bradley/McMinn County line in Tennessee.

[4][6] As was the case throughout the river and creek valleys in the Southeast, this area for thousands of years was settled by indigenous cultures.

In 1996 a team of archeologists were consulted to investigate possible Cherokee graves at a subdivision development site a few miles west of Candies Creek Ridge.

Archeologists said it was unusual to find such a large Mississippian site in the uplands, as they were more typically developed in bottomlands along rivers.

Additional work at the site has found a variety of artifacts, another Mississippian palisade, some human burials, and trade goods associated with the historic Cherokee.

The station closed in 1838 after Cherokee Removal; it was notable as the first organized church and post office in Bradley County.

[11] Candy's Creek Cherokee Elementary, a new school in North Cleveland that opened here in August 2019, was named for the mission station.