Its Register listing is the Gilmer County Courthouse. Most of Ellijay was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1940 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ellijay is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ellijay’s overall grade.
Georgia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Georgia town has 10.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Ellijay’s 5.2 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points).
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Ellijay’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
This area was long settled by cultures of indigenous peoples. It was known as part of the historic homeland of the Cherokee people until the US government's policy of ethnic cleansing of Native Americans from the Southern States saw them forcibly displaced to Oklahoma in 1838. They had a village here, at the confluence of the Ellijay and Cartecay Rivers, which together form the Coosawattee River. About 4,000 Cherokees died in the ensuing trek to Oklahoma.
Ellijay (sometimes formerly spelled "Elejoy") is the anglicized form or transliteration of the Cherokee name Elatseyi, meaning "new ground". Other sources say it means "green place".
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Ellijay is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Ellijay?
One place: the Gilmer County Courthouse (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Ellijay?
6% of Ellijay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1990.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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