History Museum of Sautee Nacoochee

history

	OF SAUTEE NACOOCHEE Museum Hours Monday through Saturday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Sunday 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm Physical Address 283 Highway 255 Sautee Nacoochee, GA 30571 Mailing Address P.O. Box 460 Sautee Nacoochee, GA 30571 No Admission Charge Handicapped Parking	TRAIL OF TEARS ASSOCIATION Georgia Chapter Saturday, July 10, 2010 10:30 am in the Center Theatre	>>>
		Georgia Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association’s meeting will be held at the Sautee Nacoochee Center Theatre on Saturday, July 10, at 10:30 a.m. The guest speaker will be Dr. Jack T. Wynn, retired U. S. Forest Service archaeologist. A founding officer of the Georgia Council of Professional Archaeologists Dr. Wynn has a Ph.D. in Anthropology and teaches part-time at North Georgia College and State University at Dahlonega. His topic will be the Unicoi Turnpike trade route. The Georgia Chapter is made up of volunteers who have a common interest in the preservation of the Native American heritage of Georgia. You need not be Native American or a member of the GaTOTA to attend our meetings, they are free and open to the general public. For more information contact Vice President Leslie Thomas, 706-635-3864 (leave message) or via email aeriehollow@ellijay.com.
		ECHOES FROM THE EARTH Temporary Exhibit
		Did you ever wonder what that familiar artificial hill at the intersection of Highway 17 and Highway 75 is? What is in it? Who made it? Did anyone ever investigate? Well, find the answers when you visit the new exhibit in the SNCA History Museum. Come learn about the 1915 excavation of the Nacoochee Mound by the Heye Foundation and the American Bureau of Ethnology. Learn about techniques used and some of the artifacts unearthed. You may even be able to help us identify some of the people on the archeology team. And why is that building on top? The history museum has the answer.
		THE HISTORY MUSEUM Permanent Collection
		We welcome visitors to our History Museum where they will share some of the rich history of our beloved Sautee and Nacoochee Valleys. Numerous artifacts on display have been recovered from the area and preserved for future generations. Your walk through history begins with the earliest inhabitants of the valleys, the Cherokee Indians. Names of the 62 white families who came across the Southern Appalachians from North Carolina to settle the valleys are listed. With them came slaves, descendants of whom still live nearby, continuing their influence through many generations. The discovery of gold in 1828 on Dukes Creek at the upper end of Nacoochee valley is documented, as well as the tools used for its mining. As gold played out, railroading, the lumber industry, and asbestos mining grew in the Helen area. There is so much more to see than just pictures and graphs. There are exhibits in smaller scale, and even a small model of a Shay locomotive that actually works.

Come Help Us Create the New SNCA Heritage Center!

In 2004, an antebellum slave cabin was donated to SNCA and with this gift the organization was given the responsibility to preserve a significant historic structure and the opportunity to develop a major new exhibit detailing the story of slavery in the Northeast Georgia Mountains. But rather than simply interpreting this single story in a vacuum, SNCA is working to develop a new Heritage Center on the SNCA campus documenting the history of the mountain area from the prehistoric mound builders to modern day, including the previously untold story of the African American community in this mountain region.

We have been working with Kathy Dixson, a museum consultant, on the conceptual plan for the new Heritage Center. Ms. Dixson has created a planning document to help us identify the comprehensive story to be interpreted, individual chapters within this story, and how our existing museum collection of over 900 historic artifacts will be used to convey this story to visitors.
Stayed tuned!

Planning Document:

Adobe Acrobat File

Microsoft Word Document