The March 2025 issue of the Vintage Rabun Quarterly is a brief recap of the role that fires have played in the county’s history. The Quarterly features photographs of a few of the fires that were documented or the aftermath of the fires. 2025 Mar Vintage Rabun
The hydroelectric dam at Tallulah Falls might never have been built were it not for the Atlanta streetcar system. If that had been the case, Rabun County would lack the distinction as the site of Georgia’s first environmental battle. But the dam was constructed, becoming the third largest hydroelectric plant in the nation that forever
Long before Tallulah Falls became a tourist mecca in the 1880s, Tallulah Gorge and its raging waterfalls was the domain of what Indians claimed was a race of ferocious “little people.” Hernando de Soto may have passed nearby in the 1540s. European traders were frequenting the area by the early 1700s, and a few hermits
The September 2022 newsletter contains historical photographs of the hotels in Tallulah Falls in the latter years of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. Use the link below to download the newsletter in PDF format. 2022 Sept Vintage Rabun
Sinking Mountain is located about seven miles northwest of Tallulah Falls. Some people claimed the mountain was sinking a few inches every year. They swore you could feel the mountain moving under your feet. Others dismissed this claim as sheer nonsense. But we are getting ahead of our story about the Hostess of Sinking Mountain.
Mary Ann Rutherford was born in 1848 to an old southern family in Athens, Georgia. Her father was a mathematics professor at the University of Georgia, where she grew up living close to the campus. The future trajectory of her life was shaped by these influences. She graduated with honors from the Lucy Cobb Institute
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.
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
Towns in Rabun County Tallulah Falls, Georgia Several hotels were built in Tallulah Falls in the 1870s to accommodate growing numbers of tourists to the spectacular waterfalls in nearby Tallulah Gorge. Tourism and hotel construction exploded in 1882 when the Tallulah Falls Railroad reached the town. Georgia’s first environmental battle began in 1910 when Georgia
The topic of the March 2020 edition of the Rabun County Historical Society’s Vintage Rabun newsletter is: Rabun’s Official Historic Sites Use the link below to download the newsletter in PDF format 2020 March Vintage Rabun (PDF)
The topic of the September 2019 edition of the Rabun County Historical Society’s Vintage Rabun newsletter is: Helen Dortch Longstreet: Fighting Lady Use the link below to download the newsletter in PDF format 2019 Sept Vintage Rabun (PDF)
The topic of the June 2019 edition of the Rabun County Historical Society’s Vintage Rabun newsletter is: Tallulah Falls Railroad: The History and The Legacy Use the link below to download the newsletter in PDF format 2019 June Vintage Rabun (PDF)
The topic of the March 2019 edition of the Rabun County Historical Society’s Vintage Rabun newsletter is: Rabun County Roads: 200 Years in the Making Use the link below to download the newsletter in PDF format 2019 March Vintage Rabun (PDF)
The topic of the September 2018 edition of the Rabun County Historical Society’s Vintage Rabun newsletter is: Tallulah Falls’ Grand Era of Tourism Use the link below to download the newsletter in PDF format 2018 Sept Vintage Rabun (PDF)
The topic of the March 2013 edition of the Rabun County Historical Society’s Vintage Rabun newsletter is: When the Lights Came On Use the link below to download the newsletter in PDF format 2013 March Vintage Rabun (PDF)
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