Waleska ( ) is a city in Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. The population was 644 at the 2010 census. History The first white settlement in the Waleska area began in the early 1830s. Among these first pioneer settlers were the Reinhardt, Heard and Rhyne families, who moved into the region looking for fresh, fertile farm land. At first, these settlers lived among the Cherokee population already established in the area, but by 1838 all of the Cherokee had been forced westward to Oklahoma in the U.S. government relocation movement known as the Trail of Tears. Early settler Lewis W. Reinhardt established a church in 1834 in the settlement known as Reinhardt Chapel and befriended many of the native Cherokee population. When the Trail of Tears forced the movement of Warluskee, the daughter of a local Cherokee chief and friend of Reinhardt's, westward, he named this settlement in her honor (see Funk Heritage Center below). In 1883, Augustus M. Reinhardt, an Atlanta lawyer, former Confederate captain, and son of one of the founders of Waleska, along with his brother-in-law, former Civil War Lieutenant-Colonel John J. A. Sharp, founded Reinhardt Academy in Waleska for the impoverished children of Cherokee County. This school eventually became Reinhardt University. The city was officially incorporated in 1889, over 50 years after the establishment of the original farming settlement. While industry in Waleska's past has included tobacco farming, manufacturing, some mineral development, lumbering, and agriculture, which are both still active in the area, the chief "industry" of the town is and has always been Reinhardt University. Geography Waleska is located in northwestern Cherokee County at (34.317968, -84.552951). State Routes 140 and 108 intersect in the center of town. SR 140 leads southeast to Canton, the county seat, and west to Adairsville. SR 108 leads northeast to Tate and southwest to Cartersville. According to the United States Census Bureau, Waleska has a total area of , of which , or 0.51%, is water. Demographics 2020 census As of the 2020 United States census, there were 921 people, 94 households, and 67 families residing in the city. 2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 616 people living in the city. The population density was 1.8 people per square mile (162.9/km). The racial makeup of the city was 88.96% White, 3.90% African American, 0.32% Native American, 1.30% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 0.81% from other races, and