Impassable roads (where roads even existed) and isolated communities shaped the development of Rabun County’s postal system in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the absence of decent roads, post offices had to be located within easy reach of the county’s many small communities. A round trip by horse and buggy from Rabun Gap
Only seven teachers had a tenth grade education. Schools lacked desks, books charts and maps. Many children were unable to comprehend what they read. School buildings were in varying states of disrepair. This snapshot of Rabun County’s 29 community schools emerged in 1914 when Georgia undertook a survey to assess the quality of education in
The railroad lost money practically every year from its inception in 1897. Collapsing wooden trestles plunged trains into deep ravines. Its wood-burning steam engines were antiquated. Many locals dubbed the Tallulah Falls Railroad the “Total Failure.” But the importance of the TFRR is inestimable. Northeast Georgia had few passable roads by the late 1800s. The
It was a grand vision of economic development cut short by the Civil War. That is the story of the Blue Ridge Railroad. No freight cars ever ran through its roadbed and long tunnels, the remnants of which are still visible in Rabun County and South Carolina. The Blue Ridge was never completed, making Rabun
The Day 50 Years Ago When Karl Wallenda Walked a Tightrope Across Tallulah Gorge (But He Wasn’t the First) By Richard Cinquina How do you revive interest in a resort town featuring spectacular waterfalls plunging through a 750-foot-deep gorge? Why, obviously, you would hire a 65-year-old daredevil to walk across the gorge on a tightrope.
Buggy Repairs, Flavo Flour and Hotel Rooms with Sewerage: Clayton Business Advertisements in 1920 By Richard Cinquina Described as a ramshackle town in the early 1900s, Clayton had attained a degree of prosperity by 1920. Overall conditions had improved significantly from the village’s poverty and neglect at the advent of the twentieth century. Tourists, courtesy
When executives of an Atlanta electric utility peered into Tallulah Gorge in 1909, they quickly saw the answer to their problem. A growing Atlanta was hungry for electricity. The Tallulah River roaring through the gorge would power a hydroelectric generating plant. Every kilowatt of that electricity would be transmitted to Atlanta. Problem solved. However, an
On a moonlit night on Lake Burton, some say you might hear the pealing of a church bell. It would not be coming from a nearby church. Rather, the mournful tolling is said to be an echo from 100 years distant when that bell was ringing in Burton, the town that lays submerged under the
It was illegal to allow cattle to run loose through Clayton. Dumping chicken coops on streets also was strictly prohibited. These two laws from the 1930s, among many others, provide a glimpse into the life of a country village nine decades ago. During the Depression 30’s, Clayton was a tiny farming town. Poverty was the
Tulip poplars with girths of seven feet. Tens of thousands of clear-cut acres. A sawmill cutting 13 miles of boards every day. These startling facts tell the story of what was once Rabun County’s largest industry: the environmental disaster known as industrial-scale logging. Rabun Logging Started in 1890s Logging on an industrial scale began in
One said he could hear a rattling noise in his head. The other claimed he killed in self-defense. These two men were the only convicted murderers ever hung in Rabun County. Both hangings took place in Clayton more than a century ago. The first was held in the privacy of the jail. The second was
Moonshining is Rabun County’s oldest industry. And at one time it probably was the county’s largest. Rabun County also held the distinction of being the moonshine capital of Georgia. Poverty has been a fact of life in mountainous Rabun County throughout much of its history. The Depression of the 1930s made the problem of rural
At the turn of the twentieth century, Clayton was barely a speck on the map with a recorded population of only 199. And one historical account paints a rather dismal picture of that tiny village. “Before the coming of the railroad, Clayton was a ramshackle town,” according to Rabun County historian Andrew Jackson Ritchie. “There
The roar of the river cascading over Tallulah Gorge’s six waterfalls could be heard from over a mile away. And onlookers were shrouded in mist rising from the turbulent waters. That was before 1913. That was the year when Georgia Railway and Power, the predecessor of today’s Georgia Power, completed its hydroelectric dam at Tallulah
Roads passing through Clayton—Highways 441/23 and 76 and Warwoman Road—are daily reminders of a distant past when the Appalachians in northeastern Georgia were known as the Cherokee Mountains. And in the land that became Rabun County, the major Cherokee trails, which are now our highways and byways, converged at The Dividings in present-day Clayton. Early
A Rabun County slaveholder who voted against Georgia’s secession from the Union…but then didn’t. A rebellion against Georgia’s government by disaffected Confederate soldiers and Union sympathizers. 300 Rabun County men who fought for the Confederacy, including one at Appomattox with Robert E. Lee at the surrender in 1865. These facts would seem to illustrate a
Rabun County turns 200 years old on December 21, 2019. From its beginnings as a remote and sparsely populated frontier in 1819, the county has developed into a growing magnet for mountain tourists…with a thriving downtown in its county seat…and elegant homes dotting the shores of pristine lakes. To find out how this transformation happened,
© 2020 Rabun County Historical Society.
All Rights Reserved.
The Society publishes a newsletter four times per year. Enter your email address below to get notified when a new edition is available.
81 North Church Street
Clayton, Georgia 30525
(706) 782-5292