The railroad and the lake · 1874
Flowery Branch History
Flowery Branch began as Cherokee territory known as Anaguluskee, flowers on the branch, and it became a railroad stop on the Air-Line Railroad in 1874. The depot that anchored the city still stands, and the lake, the Falcons, and the downtown now carry the modern story.
The name is the oldest part of the city: it is the Cherokee description of the place, kept in English.
The founding story
Flowers on the branch, then the railroad
The Cherokee called the place Anaguluskee, roughly flowers on the branch, for the wildflowers along the streams. White settlers, mostly livestock farmers, were living there before 1874, when the city was founded as a railroad stop on the Richmond and Danville Air-Line Railroad connecting Charlotte to Atlanta. The city grew around the rail commerce, and the depot from around 1900 survives as a historic museum with a caboose exhibit.
The modern era
The lake, the Falcons, and the downtown
Lake Lanier remade the city's edge, the Atlanta Falcons brought their year-round headquarters to Falcon Parkway in 2006, and the historic downtown around the depot rebuilt itself into a proper small-city center with restaurants, the farmers market, and the bay park.
An editorial guide, not a listings site. Updated September 13, 2026. Real-estate guidance on this page is provided by Rob Dietrich, REALTOR® with eXp Realty, LLC.