Happy New Year!

For me, 2025 was a wonderful year of travel and local discoveries. I visited two cities outside the U.S. (Berlin and Montreal) and traveled up and down the East Coast here at home. Thank you so much for coming along with me on my Weekly Journeys—it keeps me inspired to explore even more.

This journey is the last of my Northern Georgia series for a bit. I’m planning to travel back to the area in 2026, so I may have more to share later on. If you’ve been to Northern Georgia, I’d love to hear about your favorite places so I can add them to my list. (Reply to this email—I’ll be sure to see your message.)

May 2026 bring you all the best, including new travels, new friends, and lots of memories to cherish.

Sautee Nacoochee is located just south of Helen, Georgia, about 45 minutes north of Atlanta.

Legend has it that the area is named after two Native American lovers—Sautee, a warrior from the Chickasaw tribe, and Nacoochee, the daughter of a Tsalagi (Cherokee) chief. They met while exploring the woods, fell in love, and eloped. Sadly, their tribes were at war, and their love was forbidden. Sautee was tragically thrown from a mountain by the Cherokee tribe, and Nacoochee threw herself to her death, unable to imagine life without him.

Europeans discovered the area in the late-1500s but didn’t settle there until the 1820s. The Chattahoochee River provided easy access to water and made it an ideal place to establish a mill. Sautee Nacoochee appeared on the 2010 Census as its own town, and as of 2020, it has just 332 residents.

This small area, has lots of fascinating history, so let’s get to it!

Hardman Farm is one of the most interesting places I visited in 2025. This 170-acre historic preserve features an Italianate farmhouse mansion, a dairy barn, spring house, historic outbuildings, and walking trails. What makes this site especially unique is how meticulously the mansion and outbuildings are furnished with artifacts from the original owners—most historic sites rely on donated pieces.

After checking in at the Visitor Center, take a walk along the tree-lined road leading to the mansion. This path is a remaining portion of the historic Unicoi Turnpike. The turnpike was originally envisioned as a toll road meant to compensate the Cherokee for its use. They were never compensated and were instead forcibly removed from the area.

Originally a foot and horse path, the Unicoi Turnpike was a major trade route connecting Augusta, Georgia, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Toll takers once lived in small houses along the road, collecting fees from travelers. Most toll collection ended in the 1860s, though some continued into the early 1900s. Eventually, the route was widened to accommodate carriages, and much of it became the state roads we still drive today.

A Brief History of the Farm

James Hall Nichols (1835–1897), a Confederate Civil War captain, inherited a vast sum of money from a Yankee relative. In 1869, he used that inheritance to purchase 473 acres of land for his family. He built the farmhouse the following year, along with the fourteen outbuildings that can still be toured today.

Nichols equipped the home with many modern conveniences for the time, including hot and cold running water, gas lighting, coal-burning fireplaces, and closets. The house features bay windows, heart pine flooring, intricate moldings, and plaster walls.

A gentleman farmer and businessman, Nichols continued expanding his landholdings. Yet his wealth did not shield his family from tragedy. After losing several children in childbirth, his wife Kate became mentally incapacitated. James tried to keep her at home for as long as possible, but she was eventually placed in an asylum in the early 1890s.

In 1893, Nichols sold the home, 604 acres, and all its furnishings to Calvin Hunnicutt of Atlanta for $22,500—possibly along with Hunnicutt’s Atlanta home as part of the deal. A wealthy businessman, Hunnicutt used the farm as a summer retreat and made no significant changes to the property.

The final owner, Dr. Lamartine Hardman (1856–1937), purchased the property in 1903. One of Georgia’s wealthiest men at the time, he married Emma Willey Griffin at the residence in 1907 after a six-year courtship—just before she was set to marry someone else. The couple and their four children spent many summers there.

Dr. Hardman later served as Georgia’s governor from 1927 to 1931. He is best known for establishing the Allen Commission on Simplification and Coordination, a study in government efficiency. While the legislature did not adopt its findings during the early years of the Great Depression, many of the recommended reorganizations were later implemented by his successor.

The Hardman family carefully preserved the farm and its contents during their ownership. In 1999, they donated the property to the state, allowing it to become the historic site we can visit today.

Entrance Fees, Hours, and Parking

I highly recommend taking the mansion tour. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, and there’s so much to see. Tours are offered Thursday through Saturday, on the hour starting at 10:00 a.m., with the last tour at 2:00 p.m.

The website lists a Grounds Admittance Only fee of $7.00 (no mansion access), though I’m not entirely sure how that’s enforced unless you use the Visitor Center bathrooms. They do hand out stickers for the mansion tour, so perhaps that’s how.

In January and February, the grounds are open Thursday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The rest of the year, they’re open seven days a week. Parking is clearly marked, but be prepared for a steep hill down to the Visitor Center—there are stairs or wheelchair-accessible ramps available.

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Today, the Nacoochee Indian Mound is part of the Hardman Farm Historic Site and can be viewed from State Route 75 (Helen Highway), with a small pull-off area. It is a traditional burial ground for the Native people who lived in the area between 1350 and 1600.

In the 1870s, James Nichols removed about two feet from the top of the mound while farming the land and even built a gazebo on top of it. Artifacts were uncovered during this process, yet the mound was not respected, and many ancient relics were displayed in his home.

In 1915, while the Hardmans owned the farm, archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution investigated the mound. They discovered 75 human remains along with numerous artifacts, including pottery similar to that found at other regional mounds. Sadly, the items removed are still part of the Smithsonian collection and have not been returned.

The Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center sits on an 8.5-acre campus and is well worth a visit. With gallery shops featuring local artists, a Folk Pottery Museum, an African American Heritage Site, and rotating exhibits and programs, there’s plenty to explore.

The center is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free, making it a great stop even if you only have an hour or two.

This recently renovated museum is filled with information about pottery-making and the potters who passed the craft down through generations. The work is stunning, and it’s one of the few places where you can see exhibits tracing 200 years of Northeast Georgia’s folk pottery history.

The center also helps keep folk pottery alive through rotating exhibits, classes, workshops, and a studio that local potters can join.

The Nacoochee Slave Cabin is one of the few remaining slave dwellings in Georgia. Built more than 150 years ago on a stacked stone foundation with hand-hewn lumber, it is believed to have housed domestic servants owned by E.P. Williams. In 1860, three cabins on the property were home to 18 enslaved people.

The site also includes a slave garden—a small plot where enslaved people were allowed to grow food to supplement their limited rations. Any surplus could be sold to purchase small “luxuries” like fishhooks or farm tools. Crops included beans, peas, greens, squash, yams, melons, and potatoes.

The cabin was moved to its current location in 2005 after being donated to the center and opened to the public in 2015. Its relocation and restoration are fascinating, and if you’d like to read more, click for the full report.

There is an incredible amount of history packed into such a small town—from its original inhabitants, to the wealthy families who owned Hardman Farm, to the potters of the Georgia mountains, and the preserved slave cabin. I could easily write several more posts about this area, but for now, I’ll move on to Northern Florida in my next issue.

Thank you for reading my Weekly Journey, and may the New Year bring many new adventures your way.

‘til next week, happy exploring!
Kathleen

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