Hightower, Georgia

22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1999. It stands in the Silver City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 30107. It stands on Bannister Creek. The Survey maps it on the Matt quadrangle.

Hightower within Forsyth County

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 22 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1890 USGS Suwanee quadrangle1:125000
1894 USGS Suwanee quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
1955 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1961 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
1963 USGS Rome quadrangle1:250000
1964 USGS Matt quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
1981 USGS Cartersville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
1993 USGS Matt quadrangle1:24000
1999 USGS Matt quadrangle1:24000

Fires near this place

209 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 209 fires within 5 miles of Hightower between 1992 and 2019, burning about 443 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 62 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	95
Arson/incendiarism	62
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	17
Misuse of fire by a minor	13
Smoking	7
Recreation and ceremony	7
Equipment and vehicle use	4
Natural	4

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 1993	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
7 September 1999	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
30 September 1993	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
2 September 1993	Arson/incendiarism	2.4 acres	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
16 September 2016	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2017-FORSYTH-003
12 September 1998	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
10 September 1995	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	not named
1 September 2016	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Georgia Forestry Commission	FY2017-DAWSON-002

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Forsyth County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Hightower: 8 prospects, 3 past producers, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Mica, Barium-Barite, Cobalt, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Creighton Mine	Gold, Cobalt	Past Producer
Franklin-Creighton Mine	Gold, Cobalt, Copper	Past Producer	1841, 1909
Unnamed Barium Deposit	Barium-Barite	Occurrence
Harrison Prospect	Mica	Prospect
Mcbrayer Prospect	Mica	Prospect
Barrett	Gold	Prospect	Vein
Barrett Au	Gold	Prospect	Vein
Cox Prospect	Gold	Prospect
Crawford	Gold	Prospect	Vein
Hayes	Gold	Prospect	Vein

Every working recorded in Forsyth County

Storms near this place

11 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hightower in 11 storm reports between 2003 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 4 flood, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
September 2009	Flood	Hightower	$330,000	Forsyth county emergency management personnel and USGS stream gages confirmed that major flooding continued across much of the county, especially the southern sections. Many homes, apartments, businesses, and roads sustained damages from flooding. Several culverts and/or bridges were washed out and several roads were closed. Flood waters began to recede after 830 am EDT on the 22nd, but many locations, especially in the southern part of the county, remained in moderate to major flood until 715 am EDT on the 23rd. Monetary damage from flooding continued to mount, with an additional $330,000 during this time frame.
September 2009	Flood	Hightower	$264,000	Significant to near record flooding continued to expand across the northern portions of the Atlanta metropolitan area as renewed rounds of showers and thunderstorms with very heavy rain tracked repeatedly over the same areas throughout the day. A number of roads, especially in the southern portion of the county, were closed from flooding and washed out bridges and/or culverts, including Georgia Highway 9 at Big Creek. Many homes, apartments, and businesses sustained significant flood damage. Monetary damage to roads and property during this time frame across Forsyth county was estimated to exceed $2.5 million.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Hightower	$250,000	The Forsyth County Emergency Management Director reported that several trees were down. Up to four homes sustained minor to moderate damage from downed trees. Several power lines were down. Some roads were temporarily blocked from downed trees and power lines.
January 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Hightower	$10,000	The Forsyth County Emergency Manager reported trees and power lines blown down from west of Coal Mountain to Lake Lanier Islands.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Hightower	$3,000	Several trees and large tree limbs were downed along Hightower Circle.
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Hightower	$3,000	The Forsyth County Emergency Management Agency reported trees blown down on Nicholson Road near Montclair Hills Drive, on Matt Highway near Whitmire Road and on Wallace Tatum Road near Tatum Woods Drive.
September 2011	Flash Flood	Hightower	$3,000	The Forsyth County Emergency Management Director reported flash flooding near Georgia Highway 369 in the Heardsville area in the northwest part of the county. Debris was observed on the roadway. KFFC WSR-88D estimated that four to five inches of rain fell across the northwest part of Forsyth county. Monetary damage was confined to debris removal.
January 2009	Flood	Hightower	$2,000	The Forsyth County Emergency Management Director reported that the Etowah River had risen out of it banks at Old Federal Road and Nicholson Road in the northwest part of the county. Nicholson Road was inundated with at least a foot of water near Bannister Creek. In addition, Setting Down Creek was flooding at Concord and Oak Grove Roads. Six roads were closed as a result of these flooding incidents. Windermere Park in the southeast part of the county was also closed as a consequence of flooding from the Etowah River. Damage was limited to debris removal.
November 2006	Flood	Hightower	$1,600	The Forsyth County Emergency Management Director reported that flooding from the Etowah river required debris cleanup at the Old Federal Road Bridge at Nicholson Road in the far northwest part of the county.
February 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Hightower	$1,000	A report was received over social media of a tree blown down across Seabolt Road.
June 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Hightower	$1,000	The Fosyth county Emergency Management Director reported that some trees were blown down.

Every storm recorded in Forsyth County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Heardville	2.1 miles	22
Matt	3.3 miles	22
Ducktown	4.7 miles	21
Coal Mountain	6.5 miles	19
Dunn	6.6 miles	21
Drew	6.8 miles	21
Pirkle Woods	7.3 miles	21
Cumming	7.9 miles	21

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 356290. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.