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Location, Geography and Name Derivation
White County is located in northeast Georgia and is bordered by Habersham County, Towns County, Union County, Lumpkin County and Hall County and is the location of the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River. It is named in honor of David White, a member of the state legislature who supported the bill to create the county.
The western border of White County is formed by the highpoint of the front range of the Appalachians, Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains.
Moundbuilders
Georgia's Moundbuilders used the Chattahoochee River to traverse the present-day state. The northernmost mound of the culture on the Chattahoochee is just south of Helen at the intersection of Georgia State Roads 75 and 17. While the Nachoochee Indian Mound is small when compared to mounds at Etowah or Ocmulgee and is considered "unimportant" by some, it is still beautiful, especially with the gazebo on top that is claimed to be the "most photographed site in Georgia."
Hernado deSoto
Men under the command of Hernando deSoto visited White County in 1540. Just before leaving winter camp (present-day Tallahassee, Florida) guards took a young Indian prisoner who told them of a province ruled by a woman. Some chiefs would bring her gold as a tribute. The Indian went on to describe the process of digging for gold and melting it in heavy crucibles to refine and purify the material. Two months later the entrada (expedition) visited Mount Yonah (north of Cleveland) and reached the Indian village of Xualla, which most Georgia scholars believe was in the Nachoochee Valley. In the heart of the Georgia gold country, by the time deSoto reached the Nachoochee Valley the Moundbuilder culture had been replaced by the Cherokee. One of deSoto's lieutenants, Moyano, returned to White County in 1560 and Spanish gold miners would occasionally visit the area until access was cut off by the English in the 1730's
English explorations
In 1690 James Moore and Maurice Matthews reached of White County but were turned back to Carolina by hostile Cherokee before reaching the gold fields. Carolinian explorer George Chicken visited Cherokee Indian villages in the Nachoochee Valley in 1702 or 1703.
First Settlers
Wofford's Tract, purchased by the federal government in 1804 moved settlers within 6 miles of present-day White County and when the state of Georgia seized the ridge separating the Oconee River basin from the Chattahoochee River basin in 1812 settlers had officially moved within three miles of the future county line. When the first English settlers crossed into the county is unknown, but probably around this time. In 1812 work began on the Unicoi Turnpike, connecting the navigable end of the Savannah River to Knoxville. This road passed through the Nachoochee Valley and followed the Chattahoochee north into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In 1818 almost all of White County was organized as part of Habersham County and Clarksville was designated as the county seat. Most of the land was distributed during the Land Lottery of 1820. Between 1814 and 1820 a second road into the county was developed, probably from an earlier Cherokee Trading Path. This ran from Clayton (known as The Crossings) to the area of Flowery Branch, passing through the Nachoochee Valley and Mount Yonah. Stovall Covered Bridge on Georgia Highway 255 was built to carry travelers across a rough ford on Chickamauga Creek.
Gold Rush
Although still a part of Habersham County during the entire Georgia Gold Rush, White County contained many of the best producing mines including Loud's (location of the first reported gold mining), Gordon's, and Lumsden. The 20th century Helen Mine, (pictured) would be similar to many of the earlier mines. The road from Clayton to Flowery Branch was upgraded coming north from the Old Federal Road to the gold fields to handle increased traffic. This road passed through the small hamlet of Mount Yonah, the only significant settlement in the area.
Formation and early years
It seemed to Georgia in the early 1850's that the creation of the original county system was flawed. Farmers would have to travel 2 days to get to a courthouse in many areas. In 1857 White County was formed with Mount Yonah as its county seat. It was renamed to Cleveland in 1870 in honor of Benjamin Cleveland, a colonel in the North Carolina militia who commanded troops at the Battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolution. In 1914 the city of Helen was founded, named for a daughter of an executive at the Byrd-Mathews sawmill.
Evolution
White County went through many changes in the 20th century. The Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad was built into the county before the First World War. Although it did carry passengers, its main goal was to carry lumber from the Byrd-Mathews sawmill and other, smaller mills to Gainesville. In 1915 the road extended to Nachoochee and Robertson.
Working the forest were "wood hicks," who would journey into the mountains and cut the remaining stands of virgin wood, sending them down Curtis and York Creek, crashing over Anna Ruby Falls, then down Smith Creek to the sawmill. The boon from the forest lasted for 10 years, but when the forests were striped work dried up, the sawmills vanished or were greatly reduced in size and the U. S. government purchased much of the land. With the Great Depression came Franklin Delano Roosevelt and with Mr. Roosevelt came his Tree Army, the Civilian Conservation Corps. Camp Robertson, which was located in present-day Unicoi State Park at the bottom of the lake, was responsible for the reforestation of White County.
In the 1950's tourism began to rise as an industry in White County. With the addition of Unicoi State Park and the Appalachian Trail as destinations, White County began to grow. In 1969 local Helen businessmen turned their town into a recreation of a Bavarian Alps town.
In 1978 local Cleveland businessman Xavier Roberts founded Original Appalachian Artworks, Inc, where his Little People dolls where hand-crafted. The dolls were heirlooms, but they never attained the number of sales that Roberts thought they could. In 1983 toy manufacturer Coleco introduced them as Cabbage Patch Kids and world-wide toy store riots ensued by people demanding the soft-sculpted dolls.
Modern Roads
While White County has both US and state highways it does not have access to an Interstate. Of the present-day roads in the county, two stand out historically. U. S. 129 was the first paved road in the county. Georgia 75, which begins in Cleveland, runs through Helen and continues north east of the Chattahoochee River to Unicoi Gap. Built in the 1930's as a replacement for the Unicoi Turnpike, it remained a dirt road until the 1950's when White County residents convinced Georgia to pave this road after Unicoi State Park opened in the early 1950's.
External Links
White County, Georgia
Hotels in Helen, Georgia
Hotels in Cleveland, Georgia
County: White County
Other Links
Blue Ridge Mountains
Chattahoochee National Forest
North Georgia's Covered Bridges
Smithgall Woods Conservation Area
White County
White County, Georgia
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Article Links
American Revolution
Chattahoochee River
Civilian Conservation Corps
Etowah
Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains
Georgia's Moundbuilders
Habersham County
Hall County
Lumpkin County
Old Federal Road
Towns County
Unicoi State Park
Union County
White County, Georgia
Wofford's Tract
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