On September 1 2012, I actually visited Suwanee, Georgia, for the first time. You know I've been there before a lot of times. Dropping my son off at his uncle's house and picking him up again, but this one particular time I stopped and took the time to get to know Suwanee.

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and my mom, daughter & I went on the SculpTour at Town Center Park. The SculpTour is a free walkable outdoor exhibit of various sculptures from local artists. By enjoying the exhibit you also get the benefit of walking around Town Center Park and going into the boutiques, looking at art work from the North Gwinnett Arts Association and enjoying a quick bite to eat. We stopped for lunch at the Brown Bag Deli & Cafe. The food was made to order and awesome. 

Suwanee's Town Center Park was opened in December 2003 and is only one of eight parks within the Suwanee city limits. It is by far the hub of the city. It has an expansive lawn that holds numerous outside fairs & festivals throughout the year. It is also now home to Suwanee Day, which is a day of celebration for all residents to come and visit local vendors and enjoy what their community has to offer. This year's event will be on 9/15/12 from 9a-10p.  

Town Center Park is the best kind of family fun that you could have. Not only is it affordable but if you play your cards right it could be absolutely FREE! During April 1-October 31st the Big Splash Interactive Fountain will provide hours of water play time plus there's two parks. There is also City Hall Park and PlayTown Suwanee that could very easily add on another hour or two of family play time for free. 

This was a great spot for me to get to know the city of Suwanee, Georgia. Town Center Park has something for everyone. City Hall is located here for your business matters, there's restaurants and also an outdoor bar, an amphitheater stage, beautiful scenery and shops. So if you find yourself needing something to do for a few hours, please take my advice and check out one of Gwinnett County's newest parks.

Did You Know?

1837 - City of Suwanee, Georgia is founded with the establishment of a U.S. post office

1900 - population is 246

1933-36 Georgia Hwy 23 (Buford Hwy) is paved

1949 - City of Suwanee is incorporated on February 25

1950's - Georgia Hwy 317 (Lawrenceville-Suwanee Rd) is paved

1960 - I-85 is extended to Suwanee

1970- population is 615

1990 - Suwanee is designated a Tree City USA for the 1st time & population is 2,412

2000 - population is 8,725

2003 - Suwanee is named a "City OF Excellence" by the Georgia Municipal Association & Georgia Trend Magazine.

2010 - population is 15,355

2012 - Kiplinger voted Suwanee the 3rd best place in America to raise a family

Suwanee was originally a village settled by Shawnee Indians but throughout the years, the Cherokee and Creek tribes also inhabited the 10.88 sq miles that this city lies on. There are three stories as to how this Georgia city was named. 1) Suwanee is an Indian word meaning "echo" 2). Suwanee is a Creek word for Shawnee 3) Suwanee was the mispronunciation of the word "Shawnee."

Whichever story you believe, it is easy to conclude that this Gwinnett County city is tied to American heritage.