A Bavarian beauty perched on the Chattahoochee River in the Northeast Georgia Mountains, White County is home to a flourishing arts-centric community – The Sautee Nacoochee Center: Visual and Performing Arts where you can take in a gallery show or live theatre performance; the Helen Arts and Heritage Council and Unicoi State Park and Adventure Lodge, with gallery showings, theatre, art and history exhibits and Saturday evening concerts.
Nearby, the only known slave cabin still existing in the Northeast Georgia Mountains has recently been renovated and now joins the heritage landscape in Sautee. Explore age-old folk pottery traditions at the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia, housed in a post and beam building; this is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to folk pottery and showcasing a 200-year tradition of men and women who shaped the earth and water of the Georgia Mountains into once essential household items now valued and collected as distinctive folk art. People in the Appalachian Mountains once created utilitarian products such as pottery or gourd jugs made from the earth around them and now these once necessary products are art and still contributing to the way of life in the region. Drive Georgia’s Folk Pottery Trail for an added dose of cultural and mountain heritage.
Around the corner visitors can pick up Farmers Cheese and old-timey candy from the Old Sautee Store, founded in 1872 and carrying on a tradition of good ‘ole country hospitality; then head around back to The Green House with its sod roof above and plants and patio and garden accessories within. Sautee Village is ideal for scouting out local art and historical finds in the valley’s shops and attractions.
Enrobed in authenticity, the Nacoochee Valley has spawned many legends, the most famous of which is of the Indian lovers from opposing tribes – Sautee, a brave of the Chickasaw Tribe, and Nacoochee, daughter of a Cherokee chief – who fell in love and ran away to Yonah Mountain to be together. Later, they met with Nacoochee’s father to talk about creating peace between the two nations, at which point Chief Wahoo ordered Sautee thrown from the cliffs. Forced to watch, Nacoochee leapt from the cliff to join Sautee. As the tale is told . . . “At the foot of the cliff, the lovers dragged their broken bodies together and locked in a final embrace and died there. The Chief, overcome with remorse, realized the greatness of love and buried the lovers, still locked in death, near the banks of the Chattahoochee River.” It is today known as Nacoochee Mound.
Nacoochee Village on Main Street just outside of the Helen city limits is a unique mixture of art and heritage where visitors can visit an 1876 grist mill at Nora Mill – still producing grains – and buy some grits or pioneer’s porridge at Nora Mill Next Door. Also included is The Willows, a working potter’s studio with Paint Your Own Pottery studio and Nacoochee Antique Mall in an historic home
In Cleveland, visitors can browse through the past at antique shops or explore genealogy records and the tools and equipment used to shape the area’s heritage, climate and terrain at the White County Historic Court House. The early arts and crafts of the Cherokee Indians and pioneering forefathers have been passed down – and Cleveland’s historic treasures reflect their lasting influence. Also in Cleveland, the spectacular home of BabyLand General Hospital, a Southern-style mansion sits majestically on a 100-acre spread in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains. The 70,000-square foot complex is home of the beloved Cabbage Patch Kids, newborn, preemie and Lullaby editions and BabyLand Exclusives, as well as playful museum-like vignettes of Kids dating back to 1977. There is a busy retail shop, a (shhh!) Nursery, and the Cabbage Patch planted charmingly beneath the Magic Crystal Tree – the only place you can find “hand-stitched to birth” soft-sculpture Original Cabbage Patch Kids. The site was chosen by Cabbage Patch Kid creator, artist Xavier Roberts, after he saw stork-like birds resting on the hill, marking the perfect place to “deliver” babies.