Newspaper Page Text
VOLl ML xxf:
TOCCOA-. 'THE- BEflBTim*.
Til; Interestin' Story of Hsr Early History Briefly bat Accurately
Harrated, a? Told by Old Citizens.
NOT A ROMANCE-. BUT A FACT..
An Account of flic Noteworthy Kvents and Some of
tin- Amusing Incidents That Transpired Here
During . Toecoa’s Youthful Days.
Very many year ilgo, ere t hi* t i*h* of
civilization had reached t he borders or
I In- st ate of Ct-orgia, the red man had
discovered in t his sect ion a waterfall of
marvelous height and matchless love-
linos; amt.though nothiiqg more than
a savage, and usually insusceptible to
t he charms of nature, tin- Indian, in
Ills smooth-tlowing language, bad ap-
p -opriatdy named this womlcrlul cas-
To.-rov,” which means "t!:e
Centuries afterwards, when theabo-
rigines had been driven froin their
p.-iz- I limit ing-grounds in Norihea-4
G.-orgia, and the conquering whites
*1 •-ide*l to build a town two miles dis-
t-nit from these falls, they deemed it
pro v*r to call the embryo town “Toc¬
coa,” hoping to transform it into a
place u<>( unworthy to bear this i*u-
plioni ms iiann*. That this hop** was
iiof vai i, vve shall attempt to show.
Our theme for this issue is Toecoa,
lb** pr-tly little city of Habersham
county, whose rapi 1 growth, superior
advantages and progressive spirit are
f.i-*t bringing it into proatim-m-e and
r - interiug it one ot t lie most important
places in Northeast Georgia; amt
I hough conscious of our inability to
I r*-;it properly so comprehensive a sub-
}i*ct, w - shall devote several columns to
)i s principal features.
To -eo i, like many other towns, was
h s’lered i itq* existence by the building
of a railroad, less tlmn a quarter of a
ic-nturyago, and its history is still
fredi in t’le minds of many tt person
svh i dislike* tobecalled old. Not a few
wli » were approached by us and asked
for inform it ion remembered when the
Atlanta A Gharlotte railroad, now
known as the Rich nond & Dmville
was pr*)je.-t 1, nod the hills of Tor -oa
were in original forest.
TH *. C )\V HBFl- TRADITION
Ah nit forty years ago, th * land upon
which the houses of Toecoa stand be¬
long * I to a m m whoa* na n f h is been
forgott vi This man d -fide 1 to move
on West, and tlispost* 1 of all his othei
property except that just mentioned.
\ t I hat t mi m old-fa shioned grocery
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y. iss 1 ID V RAMSAY.-l't Ci'OA S FIRST
BORN.
was run by Vince HemUr-ou. the fa¬
ther of J. N. and V. T. Henderson, the
house standing where the school house
is. It was a favorite resort for the
lovers of “mountain dew” in this sec¬
tion, who used to assemble there anil
have some high old time On one oe-
easion tlu* man who desired to go West
am! grow up w ith the country was at
Henderson's grocery, and in speaking
of leaving he said he hail disposed of all
his real estate except the tract of land
in sight, and he desired some one to
tit ike liim an offer for if. Co). Blair
Vri.*o was present, jokingly remarked.
.... ... ...
the Ui»d is almost worthless. I’ll
trade." thereupon the cow bell was
produced aud the deed to the land
transferred to Gol. Blair. And tradi-
tion says that the man hid the bell
lit ml a log. got gloriously drunk and
went home without it. When be tie-
cam * sober and looked for the bell it
*ould not be found.
THE TOCCOA NEWS.
llow little can one tell what the fu-
turn will bring forth! That land which
was considered worthless two score
yearsago is now valued at hundreds of
tlumsa'i.ls of dollars; an l t wenty years
lien*- • it may b • w >rth millions.
(’ d. Blair k *pt for awhile the prop *r-
ty that he had gained possession of so
e isil v, an I the.i tiM 1 * I it t > I> * i eux
J.irrett. Woe.i th • latter die I, i = th *
distribution of his estate th * cow bell
prap » r ty fell I > his daughter, Mrs. Si-
rah lVat her. It rem lined in her pos-
session for a very short time, as it was
deeded to Silas Addison, to avoid liti-
g il l Oil. VI lison sold it to Vince
11-1*1 -rs in, and alter II - id -rs > l’s
j >, j,j . su:i-in-la\v, William Mills.
owned it. lt was bought from Mills
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A VIEW IN CITY PARK.
Arch Whitehead, who still retained
ptMsessio: of it when the Atlanta A
Charlotte railroad was projected.
DRY POND SHOOTING GROUND,
Until t-he town of Toecoa was laid
off this lucality was known as “Dry
Pond.” on account of a pool of water
which stood in the Hat place where
Hayes A Ramsay’s livery stable js.
There was a famous shooting ground
the colored Methodist church
aml U1;inv exciting contests of
1U;U . ; . s . U;M)sl(ip N yith the old long-bar-
reled, Hiut-and’ateel rifie occurred
there. The popularity of this resort
was tloubtless due, principally, to
derson's grocery, which was couveni
ently near.
LAND SPECULATORS.
In those days, as at tin* present.there
were people who had an eye to tin* tu-
ture, and who were not afraid to spec¬
ulate. Three men of this kind, Dr. O.
M. Doyle, of South Carolina, and B. Y.
Sage and Thomas Alexander, of At¬
lanta, l tend eft that, according to tin-
nature of things, a town would In¬
built somew here near “Dry Pond,’ ami
they purchased of Arch Whitehead all
the noted cow bell property, except
thirty acres east of the Henderson gro¬
cery, of which Whitehead was tlie pro¬
prietor,
Doyle. Sage and Alexander decided
to sella portion of fheir land, so they
had it surveyed into town lots, aim
scattered tin* news near and far that
on May 14.1873, there w ould be a big
public sale of land at “Dry Pond." In
order to insure the presence of a large
•rowd they prepared a big barbecue for
the occasion. At that time tin* railroad
bad not been completed to this place,
but trains ran as far as Broad River
. miles distant.
trestle, three
SALE OF TOWN LOTS.
May 14th,1873, was a memorable day
in this section. People from many
counties and from two states flocked to
the place at which the land was to be
( sold. The auctioneer was Thus. A!ex-
under, who was assisted by “Cousin
| John Thrasher, a person well known
r„rr .• rr,:™ ..,.1
House, now owned by E. K. Davis. It
was bought by “t’m^n'Jolm Thrasher
| at *24. He sold it almost immediately
afterwards for *36 to Alfred Price, win
remained in possession of it unti
five months ago. The highest priced
1 lot sold was purchased by Capt. A. 11.
i Ramsay for $51. This lot is the cornei
| lot just east of the railroad
EDITION.
TOCCOA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY. JULY U, 1893.
by G. A. Cooper, upon which is
peculiar looking building occupied
by R.J. W. Hitt as a beef market. Only j
lew lots werejsold on that day. as a
big rain came up and interfere*! witli
the plans
The sale was postponed until May
28th, and on that date a good many
other lots were disposed of. and at bet-
ter priees than at the former sale.
MUST BUILDING IN TOCCOA.
The first house erected in Toecoa
was built by (’apt. A. IT. Ramsay on
the hit recentlv described. It was a
two-story one, ami answered the
double purpose of a store house and a
dwelling. In this house was horn Miss
Lida Ramsay, one of our most attrae-
tiv** young ladies, who enjoys the
unique distinction of being the first
person born in Toecoa. This house
destroyed by fire. *
was
FIRST HI SINKS.-* MEN.
The pioneer merchants of Toecoa
were A. II. Ramsay, II. \V. Jones,
,j. I,. Dance anil T. S. Davis. Mr. Da-
vis had a store at Currahee farm, four
miles distant, and moved his goods to
town. Mr. Jones’ store stood near
Hitt's beef market, where is a patch of
corn, and Squire Lee Cook clerked for
him.
The first drug store was established
by Drs. O. M. Doyle and J. 1,. Brown.
'I'he pioneer boarding house of the
town was kept by Cap*. Dance and
w i fe. The Crawford House was tin-
first hotel, the Simpson House—then
called the Falls House—being finished
soon afterwards. The D.ivenp *rt Ho¬
(,*| was built two or three years later.
In the early days of Toccoa the near¬
est post-office was Currahee, the mail
stopping there on the route from
(jlurkesyille to Carnesville. Now we
have eight- daily mails, and semi-week¬
ly in ails from two country postoffi -e*
FIRST MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.
In 1874 the town of Toecoa obtained
a charter, and a municipal government
was established. M ijor S. W. Craw¬
ford, still ope of our best citizens, was
elected mayor, an 1 Capt. A. H. Ram¬
say, J. F. Steele, H. W. Jon.-s, Littleton
Edge an 1 perilips an other composed
the tow l c » inail. T i - first or li l v l
P»*se 1 by the council prohibit* 1 th-
tale of whi-key in F«) *coa, hut from
error in th * charter that council was
tlt-p ised and a new set of men elected.
All these' \\ -re “wet” m-n. Birroa n*
flourished, there bring as many as nine
here at one tim until the count y votetl
for six or seven years
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JL i d, raiboad depot.
the moving barroom.
in i-minw-tinn witli th*- hi-ronms an
by many Toccoa ns. who laugh when-
ever they speak of it.
As has been mentioned before, old
man Vince Henderson owned a grocery
before Toccoa was born, which came
Afterwards into Whiteheads posses-
sion . This old dram shop was a very
small, rough affair, and after White-
bead sold the laud on which it stood to
Dr. Doyle and (’apt. R unsay, he it
log's under his grocery and roll* it
over on th- lor up>a which is the
residence of T. A. Capps. Not long af-
terwards Dr Doyle bought this lot,and
t in ive hilt*) begot on the grocery,
It was allowed to rest this time near
the railroad bridge. One day several
men got on a “tear" and eight or ten
of them just for fun, rolled the restless
little li>.n» to th j front of the
Schaefer warehouse lot. E. Schaelei
purchased this lot not long afterwards
II * m >ve*l t'e* old grocery to the back
of the lot and by adding to it, convert-
ed it into a stable, which is still in use.
-lust think of the changes brought
about by the ruthless hand of time!
I file little house that, tor so many years,
had been the rendezvous of mountain-
eers and other kindred spirits, and had
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51 £
7 l©C ( C©d-
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often resounded with hearty laughter
and merry jest, iio*v shelters animals
of asinine descent from tin* chilly
blasts of winter and the rain storms of
summer. And we are incli ned to think
it is doing better service n:nv than in
its palmiest days.
The old Whitehead grocery was a
stHiding joke for the town—when il
wasn’t in motion. The people called
it the“m ving grocery,” and common¬
ly asserted that it would be carried to
the door of any man who would buy a
gallon of whiskey of Whitehead.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES ESTABLISHED.
Rut while barpqquis flourished here
i he religious and oducat tonal interests
were not negteeted. During the year
18*4 Eh R. Doyle, ( apt. A. II. Ramsay
and Miss Julia McAllister organized a
union Sunday school in a rude struct¬
ure opposite the depot square. Soon
after*vards the lamented William Hos¬
tel 1 Greatly organized the Presbyterian
church in the same building. Shortly
after this Dr. O. M. Doyle and Capt. A.
H. Raiqsay bought tliu plat of ground
and built the present academy. The
purchase of this lot put in motion the
famous “moving grocery.” Eli R.
Doyle taught the first school in the
academy, The Presbyterians used Un¬
building as tlp?ip place of \yorship unt jl
the erection of their clpnvli in 1880,
the Rev. Mr. Greatly being pastor until
be died.
In the year 1875, the Methodist peo-
pie having effected an organisation,
conimeuced the erection of their pres¬
ent church building. Anus H, McAl-
lister was the moving spirit in this ea-
terprise, and to his efforts more than
those of any other person was their
church building carried to completion,
for the work had been put underway
when there were but few to help.
^«« h, p ,«.* ........... «...
town was by that old patriarch, L n le
Billy" Bowers. This sermon was de
livered from the door of a small, rude
store building on the public square the
congregation seating themselves or
standing op the street in front. The
first Baptist church i organized , ■
was in
1874, with Rev, P. S, Whitman, pastor.
and W. J. Hayes, our present mayor, as
clerk, Their church building was
erected in ls7S.
From rhis date the people of Toecoa
have had the advantages of three
ehurehes. Each has a large member-
ship with a pastorate that will com-
pare favorably with that of any other
town in this section,
During these years the colored peo-
pie, with the assistance of their white
friends, have erected two creditable
church buildings, good school house,
etc.
FIRST NEWSPAPER.
The first newspaper was established
here by Mills A McJunkin in 1874, the
former being a brother-in-law and tin-
latter a brother of Dr. J. McJunkin.
The printing material was moved from
Clearkesville, and the name of the pa¬
per was the North East Georgia II un¬
\fd. Mills died not long afterwards,
and the paper changed lu.n Is and its
name, too, it being called the Toccoa
News. It has had many ups and downs
since that time—mostly downs—but
has borne that name since. It is still
in the ring, and we hope, not much dis¬
figured at the present writing.
RAPID GROWTH.
In two years from the time at which
the woodland lots were sold here, a
thriving town had sprung up. 1 he
t-.u 1\ iiiiUmt.ints were enterprising
people, ami as a result of their efforts
toecoa dre\\ a large trade Iroin an
ex tensive. territory, both in Georgia
in South Carolina. While it was
regarded as a rather tough place by its
old and staid neighbors,it was no worse
than the average new and growing
town.
THE E. A. F. ROAD.
In 1878 the Elherton Air-Line rail-
road was projected from Elherton to
Toccoa. Some of the citizens of this
place subscribed liberally to build the
E. A. L., but others did not favor the
plan, fearing that it would cut oft'
much ofToccoa’s trade in Franklin and
Hart counties. Before this road was
completed it. was learned that the
Atlanta A Gharlotte authorities, who
equipped the E. A. L, after it had
been graded, by the people of this sec-
tion, promised to give Elherton termi¬
nal rates. This unjust discrimination
offended t-he Toccoa people, Tht y
could freight see no justice in giving cheaper
rates to Elherton than to Toe-
eoa, when goods shipped to the former
place had to he transferred from broad-
gauge to narrow-gauge cat's and slap¬
ped fifty miles farther. For this reason
some of our people opposed and retar¬
ded the building of the Elherton
Line road as much as possible. But it
was completed in December, 1878, and
though the little narrow-gauge road,
by causing line, the building of towns along
its has substraeted from Toccoa*s
trade territory, yet it lias aided our
town no little by its repair shops,
which are situated here, and by the
transfer department.
FIRST BRICK Kl'I FIJI NQS.
4'or the next tvvo Of three years Toc¬
coa continued to have a rapid and
healthy growth, and the business
blocks were well filled with wooden
buildings. The first brick house erect¬
ed here was built by R.J. W. Hitt,
and is now occupied by D. I. McCollum
as a store and a residence. It was
considered a fine house, then, The
next brick house built- is the one occu¬
pied by E. P. Simpson A Co,
THE RIG FIRE,
visited In the early by part disastrous of 1883 Toccoa fire, which was
a
swept away an entire block of business
houses, except Jones’ store, extending
at that time from the drug store cor-
tier to tlie corner next to the railroad
park. This loss
was a severe to many, but
with indomitable courage the citizens
began rebuilding in a month or two,
anil not long afterwards the old wooden
buildings had been replaced by sub¬
stantial and handsome brick ones.
„,VKM.„KT HOI-SK b* K.vtu.
I'he town sustained another serious
Housl* iSoSr* 12 , ‘irn > * V *“ P " f
This, in brief, is a record of note-
worthy events in the early hi-toii ot
s?-.■ mV"-
*>f enterprise and ster„ng in-
^ . by ^nRcDng^^eet^
r
,: Kti o Iial affair and aiding ail public
me asures that tend to benefit a town,
have laid the foundation lor Toccoa-
future greatness. To the pioneer eit-
lzens ot tins place wno still reniaui
here and continue their lives of useful-
ne ss, we uncover our head in token of
profound respect.
PROGRESSIVE TOGGGA.
A Description of the Enterprising Town as it Appears at the
Present.
A TOWN WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE-.
Toecoa s Afany Advantages; Her Climate, Her People,
Her Alamifacturies aiul Other Tilings
Which Alalce Her Attractive.
At an alt itude of 1010 above sea level,
shaded by innumerable handsome trees
and tanned' h\ mountain breezes, is
the town ol 1 occoa. Just lour miles
distant old Currahee mountain looms
"l** i ogged bur awe-inspiring, torming
the beginning of a chain of mountains
which constitute almost a semicircle.
A look northwest and north dis-
* loses the tall peaks ot the Blue Ridge
mountains, hazy but shapely.
I'occoa is rather hilly ami some of her
houses occupy commanding positions
upon eminences, while others nestle in
the little valleys below. With a wis¬
dom that is not usually displayed in
the building of a town, the first resi¬
dents of this place left standing many
ot the original forest trees, and since
a good many other trees have been set
out upon our streets, the result is that
Toecoa is finely shaded anil delightful¬
ly cool in summer.
R.11 LUO AD FACIFITIES.
The town has exceptional railroad
facilities, being on the Richmond
A Danville road and the terminus of
the Elherton Air-Line road. Atlanta
is 5)3 miles south and can be reached
in three hours’ ride. Elherton is 50
m jj es southeast, Six daily trains pass
here on the It. & D., and four come and
go over the E. A. L.
AS A HEALTH RESORT.
With such inducements to tourists as
beautiful scenery, pure atmosphere,
cool and sparkling water and an
unsurpassed record for healthfulness,
R seems natural that Toecoa should
have many visitors, especially in sum-
|lwr< But our tovvn is not a great
8lunn)er resort, and the reason is, sufii-
0 j eiJ k preparations have not been made
t o entertain them. Before the burn-
inff of the Daven port House a large
number of city people spent the
8Umim . r here, but since that time,
owing to meager accommodations, not
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TOCCOA FALLS.
many summer boarders have come,
Next year when the hotel at the falls
will have been completed, we may
«P«* thetM* ot visitors to «w again
m t ji ire tion.
CUU -' TE «■>
Truly we have a delightful climate.
'iq, e mean temperature of winter is 40
?r::f -Rira.e and ?r.? elevation * B ot ^. this place T,w are
just such as to insure exemption from
ere cold and extreme heat. ^ ‘j 6
writer is quite tamihar vv ith Middle
and Southwest Georgia, having -pent
a ], of his n fe in those sections of the
state, until the present year. Those
P©°pl , e w ho , have , never visited ....... higher
up in the state than Atlanta simply
NUMBER 26.
do not know what good water is.Right
inthis vicinity from the hillsides
numerous crystal springs gush fortli
u f such coldness as to make the teeth
che , and the well water is as good,
Here one has no earthly use for ice in
the water. To take a drink from the
old oaken bucket at Mr. J. J. Bright's
well would be a liquid revelation to a
Georgian who had spent
his i ife in that section.
r feasant nights.
And the temperature in summer is
another charm. While it is true that
old Sol does not fail to beam warmly
upon us at times, yet one here does not
become debilitated from the effects of
heat as lie does in lower latitudes, for
hot days here are really rare,
and the nights are always pleasant.
June is usually the hottest month, but
not a night this summer have we failed
to sleep under cover. When the sun
goes down the temperature rises until
the atmosphere is pleasant. You do
not have to be taking medicine all the
summer, here.
NO MOSQUITOES AND GNATS.
And at night when one retires he
can sleep without being smothered
with a mosquito net, for that trouble¬
some little insect, the mosquito is
almost a stranger here. We have been
serenaded by the festive mosquito only
once this summer, and he w r as so small
that his voice was above high D. That
other pestiferous insect, the gnat, is
not troublesome in Toecoa.
HEALTFULNESS.
And in addition to the inducements
of pleasant atmosphere and pure, cool
water, Toecoa can boast of her health-
fillness. Habersham county shows the
lowest rate of mortality of any county
in the United States, and the elevation,
perfect drainage and surroundings of
our town preclude the possibility of
any local cause for disease, and servo
to make invalids recuperate rapidly.
FINE SCENERY.
Th . abounj5 , grlnd and
s n
beautiful scenery. Toccoa falls are
i»« W® *»H« «W.nt from onr town,
* urrahee mountain is four miles away,
and a drive of sixteen miles through a
there are very many
of clmrming verdure, clear swift-
r^M-k^nif^vfnfn^ preoipielJ’
tPat deliffht an(I avve the beholder, all
j wo or three miles of town.
MINERAL SPRINGS.
Year town are several mineral
continued on page 2.