Mount Oglethorpe, a 3,288-foot peak in north Georgia and the highest point in Pickens County, stands at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains and was once known as Grassy Knob. Cherokee people lived in the area from at least the 1700s, and white settlement followed the Georgia Land Lotteries. Renamed in 1930 for James Oglethorpe, the mountain became the original southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, serving from 1937 to 1958. Development and limited protection led the trail’s end to move to Springer Mountain. After years of restricted access, land around the summit opened in 2014 as Eagle’s Rest, preserving the mountain’s historic and scenic importance.