Within roughly forty miles of Dahlonega, the Sixes Mine group in Cherokee County represents the gold belt’s southwestern fringe. Gold was being worked here by the 1830s—some sources cite even earlier activity—and for decades miners recovered coarse placer gold from Sixes Creek before pushing into nearby lodes. Located south of Canton off Bells Ferry Road, the district once supported multiple small operations and stamp mills. As with much of north Georgia, the easily won gravels were soon exhausted, but Sixes remained a well‑known locality long after the first rushmen left for California. Though many traces have been paved over by later development along Lake Allatoona, the place‑name “Sixes” survives as a reminder that Georgia’s first great gold story stretched well beyond Lumpkin County to the edges of metro Atlanta.