Big Canoe () is a common interest development gated community, consisting of over 8,000 acres (32 km), located in the mountains north of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States. It is located in Pickens County between

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

and Dawsonville and has about 3,000 residents. Approximately 60% are full-time and 40% are weekenders.

History

Tate family

In the 1830s, Samuel Tate, the owner of a hotel on Federal Road, discovered

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

on his property and began buying up the surrounding land through the

land lottery A land lottery or land ballot is a method of allocating land ownership or the right to occupy land by lot. Some examples are: * Moses' allocation of Promised Land territory to the Israelite tribes by lot, as mandated in Numbers 26:55 and 33:54 an ...

. In 1850, he entered a partnership which opened a quarry near the present-day town of

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

. By 1880, the Georgia marble industry was suffering. However, the construction of the Marietta and North Georgia Railway allowed the stone to reach new markets, and the Tate family founded the

Georgia Marble Company The Georgia Marble Company was founded in 1884 by Samuel Tate. Tate leased out all the land in Pickens County, Georgia, which contained rich Georgia marble. Pickens County has a vein of marble long, a half mile wide, and up to deep. Company h ...

in 1884 in response to growing business and newly interested investors. In 1905, Tate's grandson, Colonel Sam Tate, became president and general manager of the company, and oversaw a period of dramatic growth and profit. Colonel Tate was responsible for bringing numerous improvements to the area, including Wolfscratch School. The school was established and operated in the building now housing the Big Canoe

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

pro shop. Two large

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...

s standing next to the real estate office are all that is left of a house built in 1913 for the school's

principal Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Ser ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

s. As other educational alternatives became available, the school was eventually closed. The house with the two chimneys became the primary residence of Steve and Lucille Tate until it burned down in 1959.

Development

Following the death of Steve Tate, the Wolfscratch property was sold. It lay unused for a number of years, until

Cousins Properties Cousins Properties Incorporated is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in office buildings in Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, Austin, Texas, Austin, Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Tampa, Florida, Tampa, ...

in Atlanta and the Sea Pines Corporation of Hilton Head partnered to create the community of Big Canoe in 1972. Fifteen years later, in 1987, the Byrne Corporation assumed responsibility for developing and marketing the community, until 1997, when it merged with Greenwood Development Corporation as Big Canoe Company, LLC.

Geography

The community covers over 8,000 acres (32 km) in both Dawson and Pickens counties. It includes three man-made lakes: Petit, Sconti, and Disharoon. Lake Petit, the largest, supplies the community's drinking water. Nearly one-third of the total property has been set aside as wildlife areas and parks.

References

"Big Canoe History"

"New Georgia Encyclopedia: Marble"
Unincorporated communities in Dawson County, Georgia Gated communities in Georgia (U.S. state) Golf clubs and courses in Georgia (U.S. state) Unincorporated communities in Pickens County, Georgia Unincorporated communities in Georgia (U.S. state) {{Golfcourse-stub