The Sautee Nacoochee Center is a community located in a very small town called Sautee Nacoochee in the northern mountainous region of the U.S. state of Georgia. How famous is this place? Well, it is not really famous as it is overshadowed by a more famous town known as Helen which is a few miles west of here. However, you can visit the Sautee Nacoochee Center and see the artwork of local artists as well as the Folk Pottery Museum and the Valley Heritage and History Museum. If that is not enough, they event have a theater where performing arts take place, and there are also classes you can take. If you are in the northern region of Georgia, you will enjoy a visit to the Sautee Nacoochee Center.
Some of you are saying, “This is interesting. When you hear about Georgia, you rarely hear about its mountains and its mountain towns. This could be a great place to visit. There is one very big problem. What is the very big problem? This place has nothing to do with the railroad. Therefore, I will not make an art of visiting this place.”
You do have a good point. Why visit the Sautee Nacoochee Center?
As you arrive, you see the Sautee Nacoochee Center. What you do not see any sign of the railroad here. Neither the property nor the structure has any connection to railroad history. You enter and you notice the numerous galleries. Unless you see a picture of a train, you will see nothing about the railroad here. You then enter the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia. You see how pottery is made, and you see the great works of pottery on display. What does this have to do with railroad history? Well, absolutely nothing. You can also tour an old African American Heritage site which also has no history with the railroad.
So why visit the Sautee Nacoochee Center?
This brings us to the Valley Heritage and History Museum which is also located inside the center. What is significant about this museum? Well, as most of you have figured out, it tells the history of the region in northern Georgia to include the nearby town of Helen. If you were to visit the town of Helen, you would feel as if you were in Germany. Well, they try to make you feel as if you were in Germany. What will you not see in the town of Helen? You will not see a railroad. You will not see an old train station. You will not see a rail trail.
So why see the Valley Heritage and History Museum?
The town of Helen, Georgia was founded as a saw mill town in 1914, and it had one of the largest saw mills in the eastern United States of America. At the Valley Heritage and History Center, you will see how the railroad was used to transport lumber as well as gold from the mills and the mines to the town of Gainesville, a major town south of here where it connected to other railroads. The town of Helen as a railroad town was short lived as mining for gold ceased. Through the years, the town would eventually be transformed into what it is today.
The Sautee Nacoochee Center is owned and operated by the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association. It is located at 283 Highway 255 North in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm and on Sunday from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Parking is on site. Admission is free to visit the museums and galleries, but admission may be required to attend the shows. The facility is wheelchair accessible. You can get more information and directions at https://www.snca.org/snc/home.php.
As you enjoy the mountains of northern Georgia, make a trip to the Sautee Nacoochee Heritage Center. Visit the Valley Heritage and History Museum. See how the railroad once transformed this region.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 