Toccoa Ocoee River
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Toccoa is a city in far Northeast Georgia near the border with
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
. It is the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of Stephens County, Georgia, United States, located about from
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and about northeast of
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The population was 9,133 as of the 2020 census.


History

Native Americans, including indigenous peoples of the
Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern United States, Midwestern, Eastern United States, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from appr ...
, and historic Yuchi (linked to the Muscogee Creek confederacy and later allies of the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
), occupied Tugaloo and the area of Toccoa for at least 1,000 years prior to European settlement. The Mississippian culture was known for building earthen platform mounds; in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, the people developed some large, dense cities and complexes featuring multiple mounds and, in some cases, thousands of residents. In what is known as the regional
South Appalachian Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building large, earth ...
, by contrast, settlements were smaller and the peoples typically built a single platform mound in the larger villages. Salvage archeological studies were conducted by Dr. Joseph Caldwell of the
University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...
in 1957, prior to flooding of this area after construction of a dam downriver. He determined the first settlement was founded about 800 CE and lasted to 1700, when the village was burned. By that time, it was occupied by proto-Creek who were descendants of the Mississippians. Colonial maps until the American Revolution identified this village as one of the Hogeloge people (now known as Yuchi). While they later became allies of the Cherokee, they were of a different ethnicity and language group.


Colonial period

Indian agent Col. George Chicken was one of the first English colonists to mention Toccoa in his journal from 1725, calling it Toxsoah.


United States era

European Americans did not settle here until after the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, when the government gave land grants in lieu of pay owed to veterans. A group led by Col. William H. Wofford moved to the area when the war ended. It became known as Wofford's Tract, or Wofford's Settlement. Col. Wofford is buried near
Toccoa Falls Toccoa Falls is a waterfall with a vertical drop of on the campus of Toccoa Falls College in Stephens County, Georgia. ''Toccoa'' comes from the Cherokee word "Tagwâ′hĭ", meaning "Catawba place" or "beautiful". Legend The land around ...
. His son,
William T. Wofford William Tatum Wofford (June 28, 1824 – May 22, 1884) was an officer during the Mexican–American War and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life and career Wofford was born near Toccoa in Habersham C ...
, was born near Toccoa (then part of
Habersham County Habersham County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,041. The county seat is Clarkesville. The county was created on December 15, 1817, and named for Colonel Jo ...
). Travelers had to rely on using fords, and later ferries, to get across the Tugaloo River. The first Prather's Bridge was a swinging bridge built in 1804 by James Jeremiah Prather. The first bridge was washed away during a freshet (an overflow caused by heavy rain). Georgia conducted a Land Lottery of 1820, although the Cherokee had not yet ceded this area to the United States. Scots-Irish who acquired land in the lottery moved to this area from the backcountry of North Carolina and the Georgia coast. The
Georgia Gold Rush The Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States and the first in Georgia, and overshadowed the previous rush in North Carolina. It started in 1829 in present-day Lumpkin County near the county seat, Dahlonega, and ...
, starting in 1828, also attracted many new settlers to North Georgia. European Americans pressed the government to take over the land of the Five Civilized Tribes, seeking cheaper land to develop for cotton plantations. Short-staple cotton, which could be grown in the uplands through this area, had become profitable since the invention of the
cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...
for processing it. At the urging of President
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, Congress passed the
Indian Removal Act of 1830 The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...
, authorizing the government to force cessions of land by Southeast tribes in exchange for lands west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, in what became known as
Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
(now Oklahoma). The 1838 removal of the Cherokee on the infamous "
Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was an ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of approximately 60,000 people of the "Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850 by the United States government. As part of the Indian removal, members of the Cherokee, ...
" extinguished most of their land claims to this area. The US government released former Cherokee and Creek ( Muscogee) lands for sale and settlement by European Americans in Georgia. ''Toccoa'' means "beautiful" in the
Cherokee language 200px, Number of speakers Cherokee or Tsalagi ( chr, ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, ) is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people. ''Ethnologue'' states that there were 1,520 Cherokee speaker ...
; it is derived from the Cherokee term for "where the
Catawbas The Catawba, also known as Issa, Essa or Iswä but most commonly ''Iswa'' (Catawba: '' Ye Iswąˀ'' – "people of the river"), are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. Their current lands a ...
lived." A more substantial bridge was built across the Tugaloo River in 1850. That year James D. Prather supervised the construction of his plantation house known as Riverside, on a hill overlooking the upper
Tugalo River The Tugaloo River (originally Tugalo River) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 26, 2011 river that forms the border between the U.S. states of Georgia and South C ...
. The Greek revival
antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...
house was built by his enslaved African-American workers, and the timber for the house was harvested from his plantation. The Prather family cemetery was developed to the right of the house. During the Civil War, General Robert Toombs, a close friend of Prather, used this house as a refuge from Union troops. The soldiers pursued him to Riverside, but he hid and escaped capture. The Prather Bridge was burned in 1863 by Confederate troops during the Civil War to keep the Union enemy from crossing. James Jeremiah Prather and his son, James Devereaux Prather, rebuilt the bridge in 1868. This bridge lasted until 1918, when it was washed away. It was rebuilt in 1920 by James D. Prather. It was afterward replaced by a concrete bridge, but the wooden bridge was kept as a landmark. Vandals burned it down in 1978. According to historical accounts, the Johns House, a Victorian cottage near Prather Bridge Road, was built in 1898. When the Georgia General Assembly created Stephens County in 1905, Toccoa was established as the county seat.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
visited Toccoa on March 23, 1938 during the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Roosevelt's train made a brief stop there, and he made remarks from the rear platform of the presidential train. He traveled to Gainesville to deliver a major speech, and finished at Warm Springs for a vacation. Camp Toccoa was developed nearby as a
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
paratrooper training base. It was the first training base for the
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 506th Infantry Regiment, originally designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) during World War II, is an airborne light infantry regiment of the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regiment ...
of the Army's
101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
. Its
Easy Company E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles", is a company in the United States Army. The company was referred to as "Easy" after the radio call for "E" in the ph ...
was subject of the non-fiction book and an HBO miniseries adaptation of the same name: '' Band of Brothers''. Traveler's Rest, an antebellum 19th-century inn, known locally as Jarrett Manor, is located outside Toccoa. It stands near Lake Hartwell, which was creating by flooding an area of the Tugaloo River after completion of the
Hartwell Dam Hartwell Dam is a concrete and embankment dam located on the Savannah River at the border of South Carolina and Georgia, creating Lake Hartwell. The dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1955 and 1962 for the purposes of flood ...
in 1962. The inn has been designated as a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
.
Toccoa Falls Toccoa Falls is a waterfall with a vertical drop of on the campus of Toccoa Falls College in Stephens County, Georgia. ''Toccoa'' comes from the Cherokee word "Tagwâ′hĭ", meaning "Catawba place" or "beautiful". Legend The land around ...
is located on the campus of
Toccoa Falls College Toccoa Falls College is a private Christian college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. The campus occupies , bordering the Chattahoochee National Forest and is home to Toccoa Falls, a high waterfall. It is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary ...
. The short 100-yard path to the base of the 186-foot (57 m) high natural waterfall is handicap accessible.


Geography and climate

Toccoa is located at (34.574725, −83.319865). According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.60%) is water. Altitude is 313 m (1,027 ft). Toccoa has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
similar to much of the rest of the state of Georgia.


Demographics


2020 census

As of the
2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 9,133 people, 3,359 households, and 2,135 families residing in the city.


2010 census

As of the census of 2010, Toccoa had a total population of 8,491. The 2014 population estimate (as of July 1, 2014) was 8,257. The median age of a Toccoa resident is 35.4. The number of companies in Toccoa is 1,135. In educational attainment, high school graduate or higher percentage was 84.1%. The total housing units in Toccoa is 4,009. The median household income was $34,047. The foreign-born population was 213. The percentage of individuals below poverty level was 24.4%.


Economy

Stephens County Development Authority (SCDA) was established in 1965 to continue and sustain the growth of Northeast Georgia. SCDA is responsible for the recruitment of new businesses such as industrial, manufacturing, distribution, corporate and regional headquarters and customer service centers. SCDA serves the following cities: Toccoa, Eastanollee,
Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...
, and Avalon. Major industrial parks in the area are Toccoa Industrial Park, Meadowbrook Industrial Park, and Hayestone Brady Business Park. The top Stephens County employers in descending order are the Stephens County School System, Caterpillar, Patterson Pump, ASI (GEM Industries), American Woodmark Corp., Standard Register, Sage Automotive Interiors, Habersham Plantation, Toccoa Falls College, Coats & Clark, Eaton Corporation, and PTL Company (an elevator fixtures and parts manufacturer). Founded and headquartered in Toccoa, 1st Franklin Financial Corporation is a regional financial services company with more than 1,300 employees.


Arts and culture


Annual events

Annual events include the Currahee Military Weekend, the Ida Cox Music Series, Taste of Toccoa, Summer Movies at the Ritz, Costume Parade, Harvest Festival, ChristmasFest, and Christmas Parade.


Music

Toccoa is the center of a thriving music scene and the home of a regional orchestra. The Toccoa Symphony Orchestra is made up of volunteer musicians from the surrounding community, in
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
, and Georgia. The symphony exists to provide quality symphonic music to the region and to bring together musicians from throughout northeast Georgia. The symphony was founded in 1977 by Pinkie Craft Ware and Archie Sharretts, both music educators. Since its founding, the symphony has performed at least three concerts every season. It is supported by a board of directors and an extensive network of patrons. The orchestra collaborates with many musicians and provides a wide range of concert experiences. The ensemble has premiered works by young composers, presents a yearly Christmas concert with a one hundred voice choir, and incorporates budding performers from nearby Toccoa Falls College.


Miles Through Time Automotive Museum

The Miles Through Time Automotive Museum was a co-op style automotive museum in a restored 1939 dealership but has moved to Clarkesville, GA in Habersham County. There are over 100 years of automotive history on display. Vehicles can be stored, listed on consignment, for sale by owner or donated and everything is displayed as museum exhibits.


Currahee Military Museum

The Currahee Military Museum, located in downtown Toccoa at the original train station where arriving GIs would disembark, is dedicated to the paratroopers of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
who trained at Camp Toccoa. Camp Toccoa was located just outside the city proper, at the foot of Currahee Mountain, and was formerly known as Camp Toombs. The museum houses the original Aldbourne stables where paratroopers of the
101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...
were housed temporarily in England in 1944. Only one building remains of the original Camp Toccoa (the building is believed to be a former food supply storage facility, based on its position near the former camp's gates and the foundation's construction), and it was donated to the museum in 2011 by the Milliken company, which was using it as a machine shop. The museum intends to restore the building, along with the surrounding grounds.


Annual Currahee Challenge

On the first Saturday of every October, a six-mile race is held along the Colonel Sink Trail, the same trail used by the paratroopers as part of their training for combat. Known as one of the most daunting races in America, the common refrain is "Three Miles Up And Three Miles Down." The race is part of the Currahee Military Weekend, which features World War II military reenactments in a staged military camp, weapons demonstrations, book signings by veterans, a parade through the downtown historic district, a hangar dance at the airport, and a special
banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...
featuring keynote speakers and veterans.


Ritz Theatre

The Ritz Theatre is a restored 1939 art deco movie theater, located in the Downtown Toccoa Historic District at 139 Doyle Street. It is an active venue for a variety of entertainment.


Other points of interest

Local lore includes the Hanging Tree, located on the western side of the Stephens County Courthouse. The actual tree used for the executions is now just a stump on the courthouse lawn, the tree having been removed in 2011. On June 14, 1915 Sam Stephens was taken from the Stephens County Jail and lynched by a mob of 100 armed men. The clock at the spire of the courthouse was restored to operational condition in 2010 as part of an overall renovation of the building, and is the highlight of the historic district which features several buildings from the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
period. The Toccoa Casket Company, now out of business, was the largest supplier of caskets to the military until Vietnam. Its building, located on the main road leading into Toccoa from the south, on the route from Toccoa to Currahee Mountain, was razed in 2014. Toccoa also has a thriving
classic car A classic car is an older car, typically 25 years or older, though definitions vary.While other languages, such as German and Dutch, may refer to classic cars as "oldtimers", this usage is unknown in English, where "old-timer" refers to an elder ...
culture, as evidenced by frequent car shows. In addition, classic cars from the late 1920s through the 1970s can easily be spotted on the roads and in parking lots. "Born from fire, and twice rebuilt from ashes, Downtown Toccoa's Albemarle Hotel has witnessed Toccoa's growth, and its struggles, for more than 100 years." The current building, dating from the 1930s, retains some of the previous structure. For many years, it was known as the Alexander Apartments. The hotel is located in the Downtown Toccoa Historic District, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.


Education


Stephens County Schools

Stephens County Schools serves students in preschool through grade twelve. There are four elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 304 full-time teachers and over 4,405 students.


Schools

*Stephens County High School (SCHS) (grades 9–12) *Stephens County Fifth Grade Academy (at SCMS) (grade 5) *Stephens County Middle School (SCMS) (grades 6–8) *Liberty Elementary (grades 1-2) *Toccoa Elementary (grades 3-4) *Big A Elementary (grades Pre K-K) Stephens County High School finished building its new facility in the spring of 2012. It includes a four-sided gymnasium arena, better fine arts facilities, and a larger media center. Crossroads Juvenile Academy is an alternative school in Stephens County, that gives behaviorally impaired students a second chance. Mountain Education Center is an online night school that grants full Georgia high school diplomas. This course is designed not only for full-time students but also part-time students who are working to recover lost credits.


Higher education

Toccoa is the home of
Toccoa Falls College Toccoa Falls College is a private Christian college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. The campus occupies , bordering the Chattahoochee National Forest and is home to Toccoa Falls, a high waterfall. It is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary ...
, a private Christian college.
North Georgia Technical College North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) is a public technical college in Clarkesville, Georgia, with additional campuses in Toccoa (known as the Currahee campus, named after nearby Currahee Mountain) and Blairsville. It is part of the Technical C ...
has a campus (the Currahee campus) just south of Toccoa.


Infrastructure


Transportation

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's Crescent connects Toccoa with the cities of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
,
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
,
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
,
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, and
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
. The
Amtrak station This is a list of train stations and Thruway Motorcoach stops used by Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation in the United States). This list is in alphabetical order by station or stop name, which mostly corresponds to the city ...
is at 47 North Alexander Street. The picture to the left is how the station appeared before the extension of the Currahee Military Museum, which was built to house the Aldebourne Stables and a growing collection of artifacts. That extension was enlarged in 2009 to include a community room and gift shop. The Amtrak line is shared with the
Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
. Before Amtrak, Toccoa was a stop on the ''
Airline Belle The ''Airline Belle'' or ''Air-line Belle'' was a steam passenger train running between Atlanta and Toccoa, Georgia, on the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railway (later the Southern Railway) between 1879 and 1931. Its route was long with 39 ...
,'' a regional train of the Southern Railway from 1879 to 1931. Toccoa is also home to the
Toccoa Airport Toccoa Airport , also known as R. G. LeTourneau Field, is a public use airport located two nautical miles (3.7 km) northeast of the central business district of Toccoa, a city in Stephens County, Georgia, United States. It is owned by the To ...
, a small executive airport to the northeast of town. The airport was built by
R.G. LeTourneau Robert Gilmour LeTourneau (November 30, 1888 – June 1, 1969), born in Richford, Vermont, he was a prolific inventor of earthmoving machinery and the founder of LeTourneau Technologies, Inc. His factories supplied LeTourneau machines which rep ...
and is sometimes referred to as R.G. LeTourneau Field. The nearest interstate highway is Interstate 85. State highway 17 bypasses Toccoa, and highway 17 Alt runs through Toccoa. US highway 123/ state highway 365 runs through Toccoa as well.


Historic Town Mall

Downtown Toccoa is located near the courthouse and the train depot, which connects to Atlanta. From the 1950s through 1980s, business bustled in this "mall." Each day people would flood to shop in downtown Toccoa. Several national retail outlets were then located in downtown Toccoa, including the Belk Gallant department store. In the early 1960s, around the country, local downtown businesses faced competition with large shopping malls, and many began to fail. As an answer to the depressed conditions in downtowns, Toccoa and many other towns erected concrete canopies and closed streets to create a pedestrian mall. In less than ten years it was evident that instead of enhancing businesses and creating a positive downtown image, these canopies actually accelerated the downtown's decline. When the Belk Gallant department store announced it was going to move along a four lane road called Big A, community leaders organized Main Street Toccoa in 1990. In 1991, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Resource Team recommended that the canopies be removed and that the street be opened once again to vehicular traffic. However, for many years the project was not supported. During that time, Main Street Toccoa implemented many changes and improvements to the downtown mall area. Brick pavers were installed and trees were planted. However, the canopies themselves began to deteriorate, and no support was found to repair them. During this time, businesses continued to flounder and many of the buildings were empty and in disrepair. Over time, however, with growing support, approval was given to start the canopy removal project. Efforts that helped contribute community support for the project included county-wide public surveys, a University of Georgia market study, a UGA design charrette, and renderings of individual buildings without the canopies provided by the GA Trust for Historic Preservation and UGA Community Design Planning and Preservation. To gather the necessary funds for the project, Toccoa partnered with six state agencies (Appalachian Regional Commission, Georgia Department of Community Affairs, One Georgia Authority, United States Department of Agriculture, and Georgia Department of Transportation) that provided $1.3 million, with additional local funding of $552,000. During the canopy removal and street re-opening project, private interest in downtown increased. In 2008, downtown saw 33 storefronts renovated (under the guidance of the Georgia Mountains Regional Development Center Historic Preservation Planner), 11 new business, 17 new jobs, 28 part-time jobs and 68 full-time equivalent jobs retained, and private investment of $3.5 million. Toccoa's Main Street was re-opened to vehicular traffic. The Currahee Military Museum, featured recently in the PBS series ''GA Traveler'', and named as one of the best museums along the East Coast by Blue Ridge Mountain Magazine, is another attraction that continues downtown's resurgence. Located in the restored historic
train depot A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
, the museum features a massive exhibit of 506's Easy Company memorabilia. This World War II paratrooper company was popularized by the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers''. The depot housing this museum was recently restored to its pre-1940s appearance. The depot building had previously been used as a maintenance and storage area for Norfolk Southern. Now it has been transformed to a publicly owned building that is home to the Chamber, Welcome Center, Stephens County Historical Society Museum, the Currahee Military Museum, and Amtrak. Funding for the million dollar project was received through Transportation Enhancement Activity and GDOT funds of $400,000; local funding of $100,000 and private investment funds of over $500,000 were contributed. The museum just completed its second addition, funded by Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). Enhancing Toccoa as a Northeast Georgia destination is the newly restored courthouse, which anchors the downtown district. The renovation project was overseen by a governmental appointed citizen authority. Funded entirely by SPLOST dollars, the $2 million renovation project brought a historic 1907 building back to life while adding green space to the historic district and retained government offices and downtown customers in the city's square.


Sister Cities

Toccoa has no active
sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...
program. In the 1970s, a sister city relationship was established with Meßstetten,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, but the relationship has not been renewed.


Notable people

The following list includes notable people who were born or have lived in Toccoa. * Paul Anderson (1932–1994) – 1955 World weightlifting champion, 1956 gold medal winner in
Olympic weightlifting Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...
; resident of Toccoa *
Howard "Doc" Ayers Howard Edmonds Ayers (October 30, 1922 – December 19, 2020), better known as Doc Ayers, was an American high school and college football coach. Career Football career Ayers played high school football in his hometown of Toccoa, Georgia and a ...
(1922-2020) - football coach at the
University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...
*
Dan Biggers Daniel Upshaw Biggers (January 18, 1931 – December 5, 2011) was an American college official and actor best known for his role as Frank "Doc" Robb on the television series '' In the Heat of the Night''. Life and career Biggers was born in New ...
(1931–2011) – actor *
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
(1933–2006) – singer, songwriter, dancer, and bandleader * Bobby Byrd (1934–2007) – musician, songwriter, and record producer * Dee Clark (1938–1990) – singer *
McKenzie Coan McKenzie Coan (born June 14, 1996) is an American swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she swam the 400m Freestyle in the S8 category. Coan was one of four S8 category swimmers chosen to compete for Team USA at the games. She later ...
(born 1996) - swimmer and 2016 gold medal winner in the
2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...
* Ida Cox (1896–1967) –
blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
singer and
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
performer * Dale Davis (born 1969) – former professional basketball player * The Famous Flames -
R & B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
group *
DeForest Kelley Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999), known to colleagues as "Dee", was an American actor, screenwriter, poet, and singer. He was known for his roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the in the televisio ...
(1920–1999) – actor *
R. G. LeTourneau Robert Gilmour LeTourneau (November 30, 1888 – June 1, 1969), born in Richford, Vermont, he was a prolific inventor of earthmoving machinery and the founder of LeTourneau Technologies, Inc. His factories supplied LeTourneau machines which rep ...
(1888-1969) – inventor and Christian philanthropist *
Herb Maffett Herbert Sidney Maffett (March 5, 1907 – December 26, 1994) was a college football player. University of Georgia Maffett was a prominent end and four-year starter on the Georgia Bulldogs football team. He was elected captain of the 1930 tea ...
(1907-1994) - All-American football player at the
University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...
*
Ethan Martin Ethan Cash Martin (born June 6, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies in and . Professional career Los Angeles Dodgers Martin was drafted in the 1st ro ...
(born 1989) – professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
player *
Evan Oglesby Evan Shawntell Oglesby (born December 18, 1981) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, and Miami Dolphins. He was signed by the Bills as an undrafted ...
(born 1981) – professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player *
Tauren Poole Tauren Chasmaine Poole (born October 19, 1989) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Tennessee. College career Poole attended University of Tennessee from 2008 to 2011 under head coaches Phillip Fulmer, Lane ...
(born 1989) - professional football player *
Ralph E. Reed Jr. Ralph Eugene Reed Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American political consultant and lobbyist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition of America, Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the Republican ...
(born 1961) – political activist * Oral Roberts (1918–2009) – pastor and
televangelist Televangelism (wikt:tele-, tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning "Christian ministry, ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are minister ...
*
Kimberly Schlapman Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbro ...
(born 1969) – member of the country music band Little Big Town *
Ramblin' Tommy Scott Ramblin' Tommy Scott (June 24, 1917 – September 30, 2013), aka "Doc" Tommy Scott, was an American country and rockabilly musician. Biography Thomas Scott was born outside of Toccoa, Georgia, United States, and began playing the guitar at ag ...
(1917-2013) -
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and
rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...
musician * Billy Shaw (born 1938) – former Georgia Tech and
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
football player;
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
member * Aaron Shust (born 1975) – Christian singer and three time
Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...
winner * Jerry Kenneth "Ken" Swilling (born 1970) – football player and a safety on the Georgia Tech 1990 National Championship Team *
Pat Swilling Patrick Travis Swilling (born October 25, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and the Oakland Raiders. He had ...
(born 1964) – professional football player and politician *
The Watkins Family The Watkins Family are an American acoustic Southern gospel/bluegrass music performing group based in Toccoa, Georgia, United States. The group comprises Judy Watkins, her two adult children Todd, Lorie, and various side musicians. The group has be ...
-
Southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian music. Its name comes from its origins in the southeastern United States. Its lyrics are written to express either personal or a communal faith regarding biblical teachings and Christian life, as ...
/
bluegrass music Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...
performers *
William T. Wofford William Tatum Wofford (June 28, 1824 – May 22, 1884) was an officer during the Mexican–American War and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Early life and career Wofford was born near Toccoa in Habersham C ...
(1824-1884) -
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
general


In literature and film

The novel ''Fireworks Over Toccoa'' by Jeffrey Stepakoff was published by St. Martin's Press and released nationwide on March 30, 2010. A day-long celebration was held in Toccoa culminating in a fireworks display at Boyd Field in the evening. Several films have been shot in Toccoa: * County Line (2017) - starring Tom Wopat, Jeff Fahey, and
Grant Goodeve Grant Goodeve (born July 6, 1952) is an American actor and television host. He is best known for his role as David Bradford, the eldest son on ABC television's ''Eight Is Enough'' from 1977 to 1981; he sang the theme song for the show, as well. M ...
* Heritage Falls (2016) - starring
David Keith David Keith may refer to: * David Keith (novelist) (1906–1994), pen name of American scholar Francis Steegmuller *David Keith (actor) (born 1954), American film and TV performer and director *David Keith (physicist), Canadian-born Harvard Profess ...
* Legal Action (2018) - starring Eric Close, Nick Searcy, and
Tommy Flanagan Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...
* The Legend of Five Mile Cave (2018) - starring Adam Baldwin and
Jeremy Sumpter Jeremy Robert Myron Sumpter (born February 5, 1989) is an American actor. His prominent roles include the title role in the 2003 live action film ''Peter Pan'', Jacob in the 2014 disaster film '' Into the Storm'', and the recurring role of J. D. ...
*
Southern Comfort Southern Comfort (often abbreviated SoCo) is an American, naturally fruit-flavored, whiskey liqueur with fruit and spice accents. The brand was created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874, using whiskey as the base spirit. W ...
(2001) - documentary about resident
trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...
Robert Eads Robert Eads (1945–1999) was an American trans man, whose life and death was the subject of the award-winning documentary ''Southern Comfort (2001)''. Eads transitioned later in life, and as such it was deemed inadvisable for him to seek sur ...
* The Warrant (2019) - starring Neal McDonough,
Steven R. McQueen Steven Chadwick McQueen (born July 13, 1988), known professionally as Steven R. McQueen, is an American actor, best known for his role as Jeremy Gilbert in The CW fantasy supernatural drama ''The Vampire Diaries'' from 2009 to 2015 and in 201 ...
, Casper Van Dien, and
Annabeth Gish Anne Elizabeth "Annabeth" Gish (born March 13, 1971) is an American actress. She has played roles in films ''Shag'', ''Hiding Out'', '' Mystic Pizza'', ''SLC Punk!'', ''The Last Supper'' and ''Double Jeopardy''. On television, she played Special ...
* When We Last Spoke (2018) - starring Cloris Leachman,
Corbin Bernsen Corbin Dean Bernsen (born September 7, 1954) is an American actor and film director. He appeared as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series '' L.A. Law'',
, and Melissa Gilbert


In media

The Weather Channel remembered the 1977
Toccoa Falls Toccoa Falls is a waterfall with a vertical drop of on the campus of Toccoa Falls College in Stephens County, Georgia. ''Toccoa'' comes from the Cherokee word "Tagwâ′hĭ", meaning "Catawba place" or "beautiful". Legend The land around ...
dam break and flood. The rock band
Luxury Luxury may refer to: *Luxury goods, an economic good or service for which demand increases more than proportionally as income rises *Luxury tax, tax on products not considered essential, such as expensive cars **Luxury tax (sports), surcharge put ...
was formed in Toccoa in the early 1990s. On May 7, 2000, Mary Ann Stephens of Toccoa was shot to death outside a Ramada Inn in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
while on vacation with her husband. The incident received national attention and resulted in an Academy Award-winning French documentary, ''
Murder on a Sunday Morning ''Murder on a Sunday Morning'' (french: Un coupable idéal, lit. ''An Ideal Culprit'') is a 2001 documentary film directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. Its subject is the Brenton Butler case, a criminal case in which a fifteen-year-old African-Ame ...
'', on the arrest and acquittal of the original suspect.


Awards

* 2008 Excellence in Downtown Development Award from the Georgia Downtown Association * 2009 Great America Main Street Top Ten Semi-finalist from the National Trust for Historic Preservation * 2009 Excellence in Rehabilitation Award from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation * 2014 and again in 2021 Georgia Exceptional Main Street (GEMS) Community designation from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, the highest designation awarded in the state * 2017 Chairman's Award for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation * 2018 Downtown Excellence Award in Promotions from the Georgia Downtown Association * 2018 Community Grand Award from the Georgia Urban Forest Council * 2019 Live, Work, Play Community award from GeorgiaTrend and the Georgia Municipal Association


Kelly Barnes Dam failure

On November 6, 1977, the earthen
Kelly Barnes Dam Kelly Barnes Dam was an earthen embankment dam in Stephens County, Georgia, just outside the city of Toccoa, Georgia, Toccoa. Heavy rainfall caused it to collapse on November 6, 1977, and the resulting flood killed 39 people and caused $2.8 mi ...
failed and released over 170 million gallons of water above the
Toccoa Falls College Toccoa Falls College is a private Christian college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. The campus occupies , bordering the Chattahoochee National Forest and is home to Toccoa Falls, a high waterfall. It is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary ...
campus. The failure killed 20 children and 19 adults.
First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
Rosalynn Carter visited Toccoa the next day.


References


External links

* of the City of Toccoa
Main Street Toccoa website

The 1977 Toccoa Flood Report of Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam Flood and Findings
from the USGS
Photograph of downtown Toccoa, 1941
from Kenneth Rogers Photographs, Atlanta History Center
Toccoa's Historic Ritz Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toccoa, Georgia Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Stephens County, Georgia County seats in Georgia (U.S. state)