Just north of the safest ford in the Chattahoochee River, the first white settlers in this area built their campfires in 1822. A trading post was soon established there, where Indians traded gold nuggets and gold-dust to the settlers for merchandise. The first Nacoochee post office was established at the trading post, with Charles Williams, son of one of the first settlers, serving as postmaster for more than 50 years. In 1838, soldiers gathered Indians from the surrounding valleys and highlands at this same site to begin their Trail of Tears to the West.