How to Find Where Your Cherokee County, Georgia Ancestors Lived (Online!)

Genealogists with ancestors who lived in Cherokee County, Georgia are very lucky. We can easily search Cherokee County Georgia Land Deeds Online and then use the information we find in those deeds to figure out where our ancestors lived. And we can do it all from the comfort of our computers at 2am if we want to.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhK4aXKlJPU]

Important to Note:

Before you can find out where your Cherokee County, Georgia ancestors lived by using the instructions in this post, you’ll need to know some information, like their Section, Land District and Land Lot number. I did a video about “How to Find Your Ancestors in Cherokee County Georgia Land Records” here. (Or you can read the blog post on the same topic.)

Now here’s how to find where your Cherokee County Georgia Ancestors lived:

1. 1. Be sure you have your ancestor’s Land District and Land Lot number (Don’t have it? Find instructions here. All of modern Cherokee County is in the 2nd Section, so you don’t need to worry about having the section number.)
   2. Go to Cherokee County Georgia GIS (GIS just stands for “geographic information system.”)
   3. From here, click “GIS Online Map.” This will load a map, and may take a few seconds longer than most webpages when loading.

1. 1. 4. From there, you’ll land on a page that looks like this:
   2. 
      5. Here’s where you need to look for your ancestor’s Land District and Land Lot number. To do that, start by checking the box next to “Land Lot Boundaries” in the section called “Layers” on the left hand side of the page. (You’ll probably have to scroll down to see it.)
   3. 
      6. Next, click the right arrow next to “Land Lot Boundaries.” This will ask you how you want to Zoom in.
   4. 
      7. Before choosing an option, I recommend navigating to as near as possible to there area where you think your ancestor lived. Land Lot boundaries only show up when you are very zoomed in on the map, so centering the map on the general area where you are searching will prevent you from having to do a lot of scrolling around once you are zoomed in. Then choose an option. I recommend “Zoom to Visible Scale.”
   5. 
      8. Now, the map will zoom in and show you Land District and Land Lot numbers. For example, a red box on the map that says “LD: 3 LL 1081” means “Land District 3, Land Lot 1081.” Because these are transposed over a current map of Cherokee County, they can be a little hard to see.
   6. 
      9. I have not found a good way to search Land Lot Boundaries, so from here you’ll need to scroll up and down or from side to side to find the District and Land Lot where your ancestor lived or owned land. You can use this 1895 Map of Cherokee County Georgia as a cheat sheet to navigate you to the right general area.

   7. 

      10.  Once you have found the Land Lot, you will know where your ancestor lived! Just remember to ensure that you are in the right District (“LD” on the map.) You can also click on each parcel to determine who owns the land where your ancestor lived now. While it can be a little creepy to be able to look up such personal information about who owns land online, it is a matter of public record. Also, if there is an old house, business, cemetery, etc. on the land this will give you a starting point to potentially contact the current land owner and go and visit the post where your ancestor walked around Cherokee County in the past.

I want to hear your stories! Did you find something interesting when searching out where your Cherokee County, Georgia ancestors lived? Let me know in the comments. And happy detecting!