Helen Georgia is a tourist town in the north east part of the state. Along the banks of the Chatahoochee river it lies in a tight valley in this southern section of the Blue Ridge with many large peaks like Tray and Yonah nearby. Unicoi State Park and the Chatahoochee National Forest boarder it’s northern boundaries. This is an area with numerous falls, lakes and scenic views. Hiking and camping are very popular - the southern section of the Appellation trail runs nearby. It’s an old lumber town that boomed while old growth hardwoods remained. Ice age glaciers stalled out in this area leaving a rich fertile valleys with high cool weather slopes. An astonishing number of tree species from northern red oaks and sugar maples to southern magnolias, poplars, long and short leaf pine, plus abundant stands of catawba rhododendron and mountain laurel. When the lumberman left it became a gasoline stop on the road from Cleveland to Hiawasse. During the 1970’s some local entrepreneurs came up with the idea of promoting it as a bavarian style alpine village. It stuck, and over the years its Tyrolean style buildings, funnel cake shops and lone liquor privileges in a dry county have made it a popular day trip destination. During Oktoberfest and just about any weekend it will fill with cars and tourist shopping and staying in the numerous hotels and cabins.
The valley just before you get to Helen is called Sautee-Nachoochee. It is considered sacred by the Cherokee indians and as you pass over the river there is a raised burial mound. A small victorian style gazebo now perches where the chiefs of mound building indians once ruled over a large settlement. Mount Yonah (bear), an extremely dramatic peak with granite escarpments provides a dramatic background. Gold was discovered near by in the early 1800’s. This brought prospectors and settlers who forced out the native Cherokee, eventually on their way to Oklahoma and the Trail of Tears. In the 1890’s it was the dramatic flow of the Tallulah River through the Tallulah Gorge and cool temperatures that brought tourists up for the summer to stay in small victorian hotels from as far away as Florida. Though the river was damned in the 20’s you can still find people who have escaped Florida to enjoy these cooler mountain valleys. Airline pilots and executives form Delta, Eastern, and others discovered the area and began buying vacation homes along the shores of the lakes created by several damns owed by Georgia Power. Lake Rabun and the beautiful Lake Burton are the jewels of the area with mahogany Chriscrafts and million dollar properties. Both are surrounded by high peaks and dense pine forest. Burton is the largest and its sheltered water makes it fantastic for water skiing and boating.
Just north of Helen is a small crossroads called Robertstown. It was settled by families seeking property and moving down from Burke North Carolina in the 1820’s. John Trammel and his wife, six children and slaves settled where Robertstown now stands and bought land from the Indians for a penny an acre!. legends go that at one time there was a 10 room roadhouse run by Margaret Rosette Dillard Wiklea one of the matriarchs of the famous Dillard family. Also author/poet James Dickey in his poem Faces Seen Once curiously mentions Robertstown.
There was a lumber mill at this location but now only a convenience store, a barbecue restaurant and the Alpine Flea Market are noticeable. I say noticeable because Robertstown is deceiving - Traveling up GA 75 you will not even see the real Robertstown. You have to take Curtis Road up the hill to find a small square with about six houses, the Center Baptist Church and my little shop - Wurl Wood.
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