Toccoa, Georgia

Indian agent Col. George Chicken was one of the first English colonists to mention Toccoa in his journal from 1725, calling it Toxsoah.[8]

European Americans did not settle here until after the American Revolutionary War, when the government gave land grants in lieu of pay owed to veterans. A group led by Col. William H. Wofford moved to the area when the war ended. It became known as Wofford's Tract, or Wofford's Settlement. Col. Wofford is buried near Toccoa Falls. His son, William T. Wofford, was born near Toccoa (then part of Habersham County).

Travelers had to rely on using fords, and later ferries, to get across the Tugaloo River. The first Prather's Bridge was a swinging bridge built in 1804 by James Jeremiah Prather. The first bridge was washed away during a freshet (an overflow caused by heavy rain).

Georgia conducted a Land Lottery of 1820, although the Cherokee had not yet ceded this area to the United States. Scots-Irish who acquired land in the lottery moved to this area from the backcountry of North Carolina and the Georgia coast. The Georgia Gold Rush, starting in 1828, also attracted many new settlers to North Georgia.[9]

European Americans pressed the government to take over the land of the Five Civilized Tribes, seeking cheaper land to develop for cotton plantations. Short-staple cotton, which could be grown in the uplands through this area, had become profitable since the invention of the cotton gin for processing it. At the urging of President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, authorizing the government to force cessions of land by Southeast tribes in exchange for lands west of the Mississippi River, in what became known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The 1838 removal of the Cherokee on the infamous "Trail of Tears" extinguished most of their land claims to this area. The US government released former Cherokee and Creek (Muscogee) lands for sale and settlement by European Americans in Georgia.

A more substantial bridge was built across the Tugaloo River in 1850. That year James D. Prather supervised the construction of his plantation house known as Riverside, on a hill overlooking the upper Tugalo River. The Greek revival antebellum house was built by his enslaved African-American workers, and the timber for the house was harvested from his plantation. The Prather family cemetery was developed to the right of the house.

During the Civil War, General Robert Toombs, a close friend of Prather, used this house as a refuge from Union troops.[10] The soldiers pursued him to Riverside,[11] but he hid and escaped capture.

The Prather Bridge was burned in 1863 by Confederate troops during the Civil War to keep the Union enemy from crossing. James Jeremiah Prather and his son, James Devereaux Prather, rebuilt the bridge in 1868. This bridge lasted until 1918, when it was washed away. It was rebuilt in 1920 by James D. Prather. It was afterward replaced by a concrete bridge, but the wooden bridge was kept as a landmark. Vandals burned it down in 1978.

According to historical accounts, the Johns House, a Victorian cottage near Prather Bridge Road, was built in 1898. When the Georgia General Assembly created Stephens County in 1905, Toccoa was established as the county seat.[12]

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Toccoa on March 23, 1938 during the Great Depression. Roosevelt's train made a brief stop there, and he made remarks from the rear platform of the presidential train. He traveled to Gainesville to deliver a major speech, and finished at Warm Springs for a vacation.[13]

Camp Toccoa was developed nearby as a World War II paratrooper training base. It was the first training base for the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the Army's 101st Airborne Division. Its Easy Company was subject of the non-fiction book and an HBO miniseries adaptation of the same name: Band of Brothers.

Traveler's Rest

Traveler's Rest, an antebellum 19th-century inn, known locally as Jarrett Manor, is located outside Toccoa. It stands near Lake Hartwell, which was created by flooding an area of the Tugaloo River after completion of the Hartwell Dam in 1962. The inn has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Toccoa Falls

Toccoa Falls is located on the campus of Toccoa Falls College. The short 100-yard path to the base of the 186-foot (57 m) high natural waterfall is handicap accessible.

As of the 2020 United States Census, there were 9,133 people, 3,359 households, and 2,135 families residing in the city.

As of the census of 2010, Toccoa had a total population of 8,491. The 2014 population estimate (as of July 1, 2014) was 8,257. The median age of a Toccoa resident is 35.4. The number of companies in Toccoa is 1,135. In educational attainment, high school graduate or higher percentage was 84.1%. The total housing units in Toccoa is 4,009. The median household income was $34,047. The foreign-born population was 213. The percentage of individuals below poverty level was 24.4%.[19]

Annual events include the Currahee Military Weekend, the Ida Cox Music Series, Taste of Toccoa, Summer Movies at the Ritz, Costume Parade, Harvest Festival, ChristmasFest, and Christmas Parade.

Toccoa is the center of a thriving music scene and the home of a regional orchestra. The Toccoa Symphony Orchestra[25] is made up of volunteer musicians from the surrounding community, in South Carolina, and Georgia. The symphony exists to provide quality symphonic music to the region and to bring together musicians from throughout northeast Georgia.

The symphony was founded in 1977 by Pinkie Craft Ware and Archie Sharretts, both music educators. Since its founding, the symphony has performed at least three concerts every season. It is supported by a board of directors and an extensive network of patrons.

The orchestra collaborates with many musicians and provides a wide range of concert experiences. The ensemble has premiered works by young composers, presents a yearly Christmas concert with a one hundred voice choir,[26] and incorporates budding performers from nearby Toccoa Falls College.

The rock band Luxury originated in Toccoa, at Toccoa Falls College, in the early 1990s.

The Miles Through Time Automotive Museum was a co-op style automotive museum in a restored 1939 dealership but has moved to Clarkesville, GA in Habersham County.[27] There are over 100 years of automotive history on display. Vehicles can be stored, listed on consignment, for sale by owner or donated and everything is displayed as museum exhibits.

Currahee Military Museum

The Currahee Military Museum, located in downtown Toccoa at the original train station where arriving GIs would disembark, is dedicated to the paratroopers of World War II who trained at Camp Toccoa. Camp Toccoa was located just outside the city proper, at the foot of Currahee Mountain, and was formerly known as Camp Toombs. The museum houses the original Aldbourne stables where paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division were housed temporarily in England in 1944. Only one building remains of the original Camp Toccoa (the building is believed to be a former food supply storage facility, based on its position near the former camp's gates and the foundation's construction), and it was donated to the museum in 2011 by the Milliken company, which was using it as a machine shop. The museum intends to restore the building, along with the surrounding grounds.

On the first Saturday of every October, a six-mile race is held along the Colonel Sink Trail, the same trail used by the paratroopers as part of their training for combat. Known as one of the most daunting races in America, the common refrain is "Three Miles Up And Three Miles Down." The race is part of the Currahee Military Weekend, which features World War II military reenactments in a staged military camp, weapons demonstrations, book signings by veterans, a parade through the downtown historic district, a hangar dance at the airport, and a special banquet featuring keynote speakers and veterans.

The Ritz Theatre is a restored 1939 art deco movie theater, located in the Downtown Toccoa Historic District at 139 Doyle Street. It is an active venue for a variety of entertainment.

Ritz Theatre

Local lore includes the Hanging Tree, located on the western side of the Stephens County Courthouse. The actual tree used for the lynchings is now just a stump on the courthouse lawn, the tree having been removed in 2011. On June 14, 1915, Sam Stephens, a black man, was taken from the Stephens County Jail and lynched by a mob of 100 armed men.[28]

The clock at the spire of the courthouse was restored to operational condition in 2010 as part of an overall renovation of the building, and is the highlight of the historic district which features several buildings from the American Civil War period.

The Toccoa Casket Company, now out of business, was the largest supplier of caskets to the military until Vietnam. Its building, located on the main road leading into Toccoa from the south, on the route from Toccoa to Currahee Mountain, was razed in 2014.

Toccoa also has a thriving classic car culture, as evidenced by frequent car shows. In addition, classic cars from the late 1920s through the 1970s can easily be spotted on the roads and in parking lots.

"Born from fire, and twice rebuilt from ashes, Downtown Toccoa's Albemarle Hotel has witnessed Toccoa's growth, and its struggles, for more than 100 years." The current building, dating from the 1930s, retains some of the previous structure.[29] For many years, it was known as the Alexander Apartments. The hotel is located in the Downtown Toccoa Historic District, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.[30]

Albermarle Hotel

Stephens County Schools[31] serves students in preschool through grade twelve. There are four elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school.[32] The district has 304 full-time teachers and over 4,405 students.[33]

• Stephens County High School (SCHS) (grades 9–12)
• Stephens County Fifth Grade Academy (at SCMS) (grade 5)
• Stephens County Middle School (SCMS) (grades 6–8)
• Liberty Elementary (grades 1-2)
• Toccoa Elementary (grades 3-4)
• Big A Elementary (grades Pre K-K)

Stephens County High School finished building its new facility in the spring of 2012. It includes a four-sided gymnasium arena, better fine arts facilities, and a larger media center.

Crossroads Juvenile Academy is an alternative school in Stephens County, that gives behaviorally impaired students a second chance.

Mountain Education Center is an online night school that grants full Georgia high school diplomas. This course is designed not only for full-time students but also part-time students who are working to recover lost credits.[34]

Toccoa is the home of Toccoa Falls College, a private Christian college. North Georgia Technical College has a campus (the Currahee campus) just south of Toccoa.

Amtrak's Crescent connects Toccoa with the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham, and New Orleans. The Amtrak station is at 47 North Alexander Street. The picture to the left is how the station appeared before the extension of the Currahee Military Museum, which was built to house the Aldebourne Stables and a growing collection of artifacts. That extension was enlarged in 2009 to include a community room and gift shop. The Amtrak line is shared with the Norfolk Southern Railway. Before Amtrak, Toccoa was a stop on the Airline Belle, a regional train of the Southern Railway from 1879 to 1931.

Toccoa is also home to the Toccoa Airport, a small executive airport to the northeast of town. The airport was built by R.G. LeTourneau and is sometimes referred to as R.G. LeTourneau Field.

The nearest interstate highway is Interstate 85. State highway 17 bypasses Toccoa, and highway 17 Alt runs through Toccoa. US highway 123/state highway 365 runs through Toccoa as well.