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Cedar Grove Community Center.
We invite you to tour the Chatt Hills Barn Quilt Trail and learn more about the rich rural heritage of beautiful Chattahoochee Hills. Visitors are welcome to take photos from the public road, and are invited to shop in the local businesses.
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Cedar Grove Community Ctr (#55)
9285 Cedar Grove Rd 
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Celebrating placemaking. . . Down at Cedar Grove
The Cedar Grove Community Center may look unassuming from the outside, but every Tuesday night this humble cinder-block building turns into a true rock star—lighting up with local country musicians who’ve been gathering here for more than 30 years.
When the City of Chattahoochee Hills joined the Georgia Placemaking Collaborative, the committee had no hesitation in choosing this beloved spot to celebrate. For its first project, the team designed, created, and installed a new sign honoring the musicians and the many makers of art and community who give this place its heartbeat. The result is a double-sided barn quilt titled The Makers Place, featuring a vibrant star framed by Arts-and-Crafts icons—a tribute to creativity, history, and the people who make Cedar Grove shine. |
Cedar Grove . . . Where rural traditions take root
Cedar Grove Community Center
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Tuesday Night Musicians & Fellowship
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Zumba dance-based fitness class
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Bring a pie, a friend, and maybe an old acoustic you haven’t dusted off in a while—it’s music night in Cedar Grove. Every Tuesday for more than 30 years, folks have been drifting toward the Cedar Grove Community Center to “pick some music, sing some songs, and shake some hands.” At least, that’s how homegrown guitar picker Gene Terry puts it in his Ballad of Cedar Grove, and Gene ought to know.
This whole tradition sprouted back around 1990 in the cozy living room of Ruth and Gene West. They were die-hard Bluegrass fans who opened their door once a week so neighbors could gather, pick a little, grin a lot, and enjoy each other’s company. Word spread—as good things tend to do—and before long, the crowd outgrew the Wests’ living room. That’s when they found their perfect next home: the Cedar Grove Community Center, then owned by Fulton County.
From that simple start, the Tuesday night pickers grew into a circle of more than a hundred friends and neighbors—a tight-knit bunch who show up for the music but stay for the fellowship.
In 2020, when the City of Chattahoochee Hills acquired the Community Center from Fulton County, it was with a promise in mind: to support the residents who had voluntarily annexed nearly 5,000 acres into the city. The Center officially became the city’s one and only dedicated community space—serving residents spread across farms, homesteads, and rural crossroads.
While the city worked on long-term plans for improvements, the Tuesday night musicians were simply grateful to have a roof over their jam sessions. Meanwhile, the Chatt Hills Community Outreach team rolled up its sleeves and started inviting others in. Before long, Zumba classes were bouncing to their own beat, photographers were swapping stories and settings, and town hall meetings were held on this side of town for the very first time.
Then, in 2024, the city’s economic development director encouraged residents to join the Georgia Placemaking Collaborative. A committee traveled for training, learning that “placemaking” is really just a fancy word for something rural folks have known forever—working together to turn good spaces into great ones by honoring what makes a place special. It’s about shaping spots where people naturally gather, using the stories, skills, and heart already rooted in the community.
By 2025, the committee had a placemaking grant in hand and a decision to make. Instead of trying to dream up a brand-new gathering place out in the countryside, they chose to honor the one that had been holding the community together for decades. Their first project: create a new sign for the Cedar Grove Community Center—one that celebrates the past, welcomes the present, and shines a little light on all the makers, musicians, and neighbors still helping Cedar Grove feel like home.
This whole tradition sprouted back around 1990 in the cozy living room of Ruth and Gene West. They were die-hard Bluegrass fans who opened their door once a week so neighbors could gather, pick a little, grin a lot, and enjoy each other’s company. Word spread—as good things tend to do—and before long, the crowd outgrew the Wests’ living room. That’s when they found their perfect next home: the Cedar Grove Community Center, then owned by Fulton County.
From that simple start, the Tuesday night pickers grew into a circle of more than a hundred friends and neighbors—a tight-knit bunch who show up for the music but stay for the fellowship.
In 2020, when the City of Chattahoochee Hills acquired the Community Center from Fulton County, it was with a promise in mind: to support the residents who had voluntarily annexed nearly 5,000 acres into the city. The Center officially became the city’s one and only dedicated community space—serving residents spread across farms, homesteads, and rural crossroads.
While the city worked on long-term plans for improvements, the Tuesday night musicians were simply grateful to have a roof over their jam sessions. Meanwhile, the Chatt Hills Community Outreach team rolled up its sleeves and started inviting others in. Before long, Zumba classes were bouncing to their own beat, photographers were swapping stories and settings, and town hall meetings were held on this side of town for the very first time.
Then, in 2024, the city’s economic development director encouraged residents to join the Georgia Placemaking Collaborative. A committee traveled for training, learning that “placemaking” is really just a fancy word for something rural folks have known forever—working together to turn good spaces into great ones by honoring what makes a place special. It’s about shaping spots where people naturally gather, using the stories, skills, and heart already rooted in the community.
By 2025, the committee had a placemaking grant in hand and a decision to make. Instead of trying to dream up a brand-new gathering place out in the countryside, they chose to honor the one that had been holding the community together for decades. Their first project: create a new sign for the Cedar Grove Community Center—one that celebrates the past, welcomes the present, and shines a little light on all the makers, musicians, and neighbors still helping Cedar Grove feel like home.
Heritage story. . . Cedar Grove School
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The history of the Cedar Grove Community Center dates back to when the property was used for the first two wooden school buildings in the Cedar Grove Community.
The first building was only one room with no electric lights, or indoor pumping. The second school building was located where the first building had been. This building, which was the last framed building used in Fulton County, was financed by Cornelius A. Neely, a citizen of the community, who bought $3,500 in bonds to construct the school. In 1936, construction on a new brick school building was completed next door, and the old wooden building was used by the county agents, and a voting place. (Source: The History of Cedar Grove School, is a book researched and written by the 1988-89 seventh-grade grade class at Cedar Grove Elementary School. An online version is available at the Chatt Hills History website. |
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