Gwinnett officials applaud Fort Daniel Foundation on award

Gwinnett officials on Tuesday congratulated the nonprofit Fort Daniel Foundation Inc. for winning a national award from the American Association for State and Local History.

Members of the Gwinnett Archaeological Society, led by Dr. James D’Angelo of Lawrenceville, located the footprint of Fort Daniel, built in 1813, in the backyard of a home at the top of Hog Mountain. The site was then in Jackson County near where the state of Georgia met Cherokee and Creek Indian territories. Gwinnett County was created in 1818.

After initial explorations, the archaeologists formed the Fort Daniel Foundation to help develop the site as an archaeological park. They began staging an annual Frontier Fair in 2009 to raise public awareness.

Gwinnett County bought the land in 2012 and leases it to the foundation.