Fort Gaines, one of several forts on Georgia’s western frontier built to protect white settlers, was established in 1816 by order of Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, commander of a large district, who used it as his headquarters. The fort contained two blockhouses and measured 100 feet square, enclosed by a stockade eight feet high. During 1817, when Indians were active in the area, settlers took refuge there while it was garrisoned by Federal troops under Gen. John Dill. Maintained for a number of years, the fort stood on the brow of the bluff just below the confluence of Town Branch with Chemochechobee Creek.