Less than three years after the organization of Hall County on December 15, 1818, Mule Camp Springs was renamed "Gainesville" on April 21, 1821.

It was named in honor of General Edmund P. Gaines,[7] a hero of the War of 1812 and a noted military surveyor and road-builder.

A gold rush that began in nearby Lumpkin County in the 1830s resulted in an increase in the number of settlers and the beginning of a business community.

With the revenues generated by the mills, in 1902, Gainesville became the first city south of Baltimore to install street lamps.

After World War II, a businessman named Jesse Jewell started the poultry industry in north Georgia.

In 1956, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed Lake Sidney Lanier, by building Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River.

During the 1996 Summer Olympics, Gainesville served as the venue for the rowing and kayaking medal competitions, which were staged on Lake Lanier.

The city has sponsored new social activities, including the Spring Chicken Festival in 2003, the Art in the Square gathering in 2004, and "Dredgefest" in 2008.

[11] Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, parts of Gainesville lie along the shore of one of the nation's most popular inland water destinations, Lake Lanier.

Although created primarily for hydroelectricity and flood control, it also serves as a reservoir providing water to the city of Atlanta and is a very popular recreational attraction for all of north Georgia.

While Gainesville does not sit in Tornado Alley, a region of the United States where severe weather is common, supercell thunderstorms can sweep through any time between March and November, being primarily concentrated in the spring.

Tornado watches are frequent in the spring and summer, with a warning appearing at least biannually, occasionally with more than one per year.

[14] In April 1974, an F4 tornado 22.6 miles away from the Gainesville city center killed six people and injured thirty.

On March 20, 1998, an F3 tornado impacted the Gainesville metro area early in the morning, killing 12 people and injuring 171 others.

The format he developed was to sell North Georgia farmers baby chicks and feed on credit.

When the chicks were grown, Jewell would buy back the adult chickens (broilers) at a price that would cover his costs and guarantee farmers a profit.

These jobs have attracted numerous Hispanic workers, adding to the diversity of families in the city and county.

The Galleries serve as an educational and cultural resource for Northeast Georgia by way of free public programming and exhibitions.

Some notable exhibits include the Land of Promise and Northeast Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

[23] In early 2020, they broke ground on an expansion to include a new 6,300 sr. ft. pavilion that features an outdoor stage and other multi-functional facilities.

[36] Three African Americans, Beulah Rucker, E. E. Butler, and Ulysses Byas were educational pioneers in Gainesville and Hall County.

In 1954, he became one of two who became the first Black men on the Gainesville City Schools Board of Education, a very unusual situation in the United States.

[42] Its lone high school, Gainesville High School boasts several notable alumni, including Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns quarterback, Cris Carpenter, former professional baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals, Florida Marlins, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers), Tasha Humphrey, professional basketball player, and Micah Owings, current professional baseball player (Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres).

[44] The high schools in this district have produced a number of notable alumni including, Connor Shaw, starting quarterback for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks football team; Casey Cagle, Lt.

However, in 2011 Brenau Academy was revamped into a program allowing qualified young women to earn college credits during the time in their lives in which they would normally complete high school studies.

Established in 2005, the Public Defender's Office at Gainesville provides representation for persons accused of felony offenses in Hall County.

[citation needed] In 2008, a first-year attorney successfully challenged the Sex Offender Registration Law in the Georgia Supreme Court.