Brasstown Bald
Towns County, Towns County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Brasstown Bald 6 Mi. The high, rounded peak, Brasstown Bald or Mt. Enotah, is the highest mountain in Georgia, 4,748 ft. Its Indian name, Itseyi, means "a place of fresh green," referring to its grassy, instead of timbered, summit. Early white settlers mistook the Indian name for a similar one meaning brass. According to Cherokee legend, there was once a great flood and all men died except a few Cherokee families who landed on top of Brasstown Bald in a giant canoe. The Great Spirit killed all the trees on top of the mountain so the survivors could plant crops and live until the floods subsided. 139-4 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1956
Erected by Georgia Historical Commission
The Story
Rising 4,748 feet, Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia, its bare, grassy crown giving it the Cherokee name Itseyi, 'a place of fresh green.' English-speaking settlers misheard that word and rendered it as 'brass,' the name that stuck. Cherokee tradition tells of a great flood survived by a few families who came to rest atop the mountain in a giant canoe, where the Great Spirit cleared the summit so they could plant and endure until the waters fell.
Why it matters
The peak preserves a Cherokee flood story and a telling example of how Native place-names were reshaped, and often misunderstood, by the newcomers who followed.
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