• Clayton, Georgia was founded at the intersection of five ancient Cherokee trails that connected the area to points throughout the Southeast.
• The legendary Tallulah Falls Railroad opened Rabun County to the outside world in the late 19th century and forged the area’s future.
• Georgia’s first environmental battle was fought in Rabun County in 1911 between the widow of a Civil War general and an Atlanta electric utility.
• Between 1913 and 1927, six dams and hydroelectric generating plants were built along a contiguous 26-mile portion of the Tallulah and Tugalo Rivers in Rabun, Habersham and Stephens counties. The recreational lakes created by the dams forever changed the physical landscape of northeast Georgia.
• Tens of thousands of acres in Rabun County were clear-cut by lumber companies during the first decades of the 20th century.
• Rabun County was once the moonshining capital of Georgia.

You will learn about these and other important events and activities that shaped the history of northeast Georgia when you tour the museum of the Rabun County Historical Society in Clayton.

The Society is dedicated to keeping alive Rabun County’s 200-year history in the Appalachian Mountains of Georgia. We collect, preserve and display important historic artifacts, photographs and records in our 2,300-square-foot museum and archives.