The annual Folk Life Festival is held each May at the African American Heritage Site at the Sautee Nacoochee Center
county was named White after the state representative from Newton County who assisted Shelton in getting the bill passed. The county seat, which was a small community known as Mt. Yonah, would be named Cleveland after Gen. Benjamin Cleveland, a landowner in Nacoochee. The original BabyLand General Hospital was The County of White was created Dec. 22, located on Underwood Street in Cleveland. This 1857. Later in 1863, a small portion of Lumpkin photo was taken in 1979. County was added to the western side. The historic courthouse was completed in 1859 and commands the attention of anyone coming into Cleveland. It is now the home for the White County Historical Society. The War Between the States had its effects on the newly created county. Ninety men met at Denton’s Spring in August by Shirley McDonald 1861 to form a company. They marched from Mossy Creek Campground on the third Monday in August with soldiers from he Cherokee Indians once lived in this area, conadjoining counties. tent and happy. All that is left of them today are the After the Civil War, the county took on a new life when names of rivers, and communities. lumber mills were erected in the northern end, where the town In the early 1800s, white settlers came into of Helen was chartered in 1913. The Byrd-Matthews Lumber the northern part of the county because of cheap Company was responsible for bringing the Gainesville-Northland. Then came the discovery of gold in 1828, which forever western Railroad into the county. changed the area. Along came World War I and World War II. Roy Head was For more than a century, gold was mined here, and one-third the first Georgia boy killed in World War I. He was from Cleveof Georgia’s gold came from this county. The gold rush led to land, and a memorial bridge was built on U.S. 129 North in his disputes with the Indians over land, eventually leading to the honor. Cherokees’ forced removal in the 1838 “Trail of Tears.” Truett-McConnell College was established in Cleveland so This area was part of Habersham County until William B. that mountain children could receive an education. This was a Shelton introduced a bill to create White County. The new
The way we were A brief history of White County
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