[2] Forsyth County's rapid population growth can be attributed to its proximity to high-income employment opportunities in nearby Alpharetta and northern Fulton County, its equidistant location between the big-city amenities of bustling Atlanta and the recreation offerings of the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, its plentiful supply of large, relatively affordable new-construction homes, and its highly ranked public school system.

They settled in the territory that would become Forsyth County and throughout upper Georgia and Alabama, also having settlements or towns in present-day Tennessee and western North Carolina.

At trial in early October, two black youths under the age of 18 were quickly convicted by an all-white jury; they were executed by hanging later that month.

Within weeks, they forced most of the blacks to leave the region in fear of their lives, losing land and personal property that was never recovered.

[11] During the 1950s, with the introduction of the poultry industry, the county had steady economic growth but remained largely rural and all white in population.

The opening of Georgia State Route 400 also spurred industrial growth in the South West portion of the county along the McFarland Parkway corridor starting in the early 1970s.

"[13] A small civil rights march by African Americans in the county seat of Cumming in January 1987 was attacked by people throwing rocks, dirt and bottles.

A week later another, much larger march took place, with civil rights activists going from Atlanta to Cumming protected by police and the National Guard.

The county's proximity to Atlanta and the Blue Ridge Mountains, and bordering 37,000-acre (150 km2) Lake Sidney Lanier, has attracted many new residents.

Suburban growth has greatly increased water consumption in the area to maintain lawns and gardens, and supply new households.

At the turn of the 20th century, white Democrats dominated the Georgia legislature and passed laws increasing barriers to voter registration and voting, effectively disenfranchising most blacks in the state.

[15] Racial violence broke out in Forsyth County in September 1912, following allegations of sexual attacks by black men of white women.

On September 7, 1912, police arrested five black men in connection with the assault, including Tony Howell and Isaiah Pirkle.

Preacher Grant Smith was heard to question the alleged victim's account, saying that perhaps she had been caught and had lied about what was actually a consensual relationship with a black man.

The next day, September 8, Mae Crow, a 19-year-old white woman, was allegedly attacked in a nearby community while walking to her aunt's house.

According to later testimony, she was allegedly raped by Ernest Knox, a 16-year-old black boy who worked as a hired hand at a neighbor's farm.

Crow was found the next day by a search party; whites said later that she had regained consciousness briefly and named Knox as her attacker, but no newspaper reported this.

A small hand mirror found at the scene was recognized as belonging to Knox; police used it to connect him to the crime and arrested him that morning.

All five trials, (including Tony Howell for the Ellen Grice case) were set for October 3 in Cumming, the county seat.

The prisoners were escorted by four companies of the state militia by train to the Buford, Georgia station, and walked the remaining 14 miles (23 km).

[16] In the following months, a small group of men called "Night Riders" terrorized black citizens, threatening them to leave in 24 hours or be killed.

[15] The anti-black campaign spread across Northern Georgia, with similar results of whites expelling blacks in many surrounding counties.

Many white parents claimed north Fulton County public schools with a relatively high percentage of Asian students became overwhelmingly academically competitive which negatively impacted their children's mental health and social life.

He wanted to dispel the racist image of Forsyth County, where he owned and operated a private school, the Blackburn Learning Center.

(V. S. Naipaul's interview with Forsyth County Sheriff Wesley Walraven, before the second march, is referred to in his book A Turn in the South.)

The unexpected turnout of some 5,000 counter-demonstrators, 66 of whom were arrested for "parading without a permit," turned out to be the largest resistance opposed to civil rights since the 1960s.

The counter-demonstration was called by the Forsyth County Defense League and the Nationalist Movement, newly organized in Cumming by local plumber Mark Watts.

Marchers came for the second march from all over the country, forming a caravan from Atlanta; National Guard troops were assigned for protection on freeway overpasses along the route.

When marchers, including John Lewis, Andrew Young, Julian Bond, Coretta Scott King, Joseph Lowery, Sam Nunn, Benjamin Hooks, Gary Hart and Wyche Fowler[23] arrived, they discovered that most of the Cumming residents had left town for the day.

[38][39] An indicator that part of the county had reached the status of a mainstream suburban/exurban area and was starting to create new, positive history beyond its racist past, a mixed-use development Halcyon with residential, office, dining and entertainment facilities, opened in the southern part of the county near Alpharetta in summer 2019.