The city of Athens began as a tiny settlement and trading post that emerged at Cedar Shoals, where an ancient Cherokee trail crossed the Oconee River. On January 27, 1785, the Georgia General Assembly created the University of Georgia as the first chartered state-supported university in the United States. It was not until the summer of 1801, though, that five men traveled to the area to look for an appropriate site for the University. One member of the delegation, John Milledge, purchased 633 acres on the hill above Cedar Shoals and donated it to the University. He renamed the area Athens in honor of the Classical Greek center of culture. Later that year, the General Assembly carved Clarke County out of Jackson County on December 5, 1801 and named it after Revolutionary War hero Elijah Clarke.