Gumlog, Georgia

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Gumlog, Georgia is an unincorporated, lakeside community in Franklin County. It’s a census-designated place along Lake Hartwell on the Savannah River, in northeast Georgia near the South Carolina line. In 2020 about 2,358 people lived there (2,146 in 2010). The area is about 16 square miles, mostly land with a portion of water from the lake.

Gumlog sits by the lake, with the northeast edge marking the lake and the state border. Stephens County is to the northwest and Hart County to the southeast. The southern edge follows Interstate 85, and the southwest border touches Lavonia. You can reach Gumlog from I-85 at Exit 173, where Georgia Highway 17 runs toward Lavonia.

Tugaloo State Park is on a peninsula of Lake Hartwell in the eastern part of Gumlog. Georgia Highway 328, known as Gumlog Road, is the main route in and out, about 10 miles long, traveling from Lavonia to a junction with Highway 17 in Avalon. Gumlog Creek begins near Avalon.

Avalon was almost named Gumlog, but the name was changed by the state legislature. Gumlog first appeared as a census-designated place in 1990. The name may come from the sweet-gum trees or from old logs used to make benches for an early court called the Gum Log Court.

Historically, the first Franklin County court was held on Gumlog Creek at the home of Warren Philpot, with George Walton as chief justice and other justices including Jesse Walton and the Cleveland brothers.