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Pickens County, Georgia
Links:
"Pickens County lies at the southern end of the
Appalachians in North Georgia. The
Cherokee Indians called this area home after they were forced from
the Carolinas in the 1770's. In
1805, the Federal Government forced the Cherokees to accept a road
through their lands to Nashville. Portions of the
Old Federal
Road are still visible in the County
today. The Cherokee lands were distributed to white men by
Georgia in 1832 Land
Lottery. The thirst for gold discovered in these lands forced the
Cherokees to move westward in the now infamous Cherokee Removal or
Trail Of Tears of 1838.
The
County was formed from portions of Cherokee and Gilmer
Counties in
1853. During the Civil War, some Pickens Countians were pro-Union.
For almost a month after Georgia seceded, the Union flag flew
from the Court House, but Pickens County sent six companies to
the Confederate Army. There were no major battles fought in the
County, though some guerilla warfare did occur
here.
Pickens
County
is renowned for its exceptionally pure marble. The deposit is five
to seven miles long, one/half wide and as deep as 2,000 feet. This
marble was known as used by the Indians as early as 800 AD. Henry
Fitzsimmons established the first marble quarries and the first
marble mill in the 1830's. The Georgia Marble Company was organized
in 1884 and leased all of the Tate Marble lands. The coming of
Marietta & North Georgia Railroad into Pickens County in 1883 opened outside markets for
Georgia marble. Col Sam
Tate became President and General Manager of Georgia Marble Company
in 1905. The firm grew rapidly until concrete replaced stone as
building material. Georgia marble was used in the
construction of many notable buildings, including the Lincoln
Memorial, House
Office Building, East Wing of the National
Gallery of Art, National Air and Space Museum, New York Stock
Exchange Annex, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank, Chicago's Buckingham Fountain, and
Bok Sing Tower in Florida.
The
corn whiskey stills that provided a cash crop for citizens of
Pickens County are now gone. Legal
before the end of the Civil War, stills were then made illegal
unless a Federal Tax was paid. There were eight or ten legal stills
during the 1880's, but these provided their owners with little more
than repayment for the costs of corn, sugar and taxes. Some of the
more independent mountaineers 'skirted' the taxes, risking
imprisonment and the distruction of their stills at the hands of
"Revenuers". Tales are still told of local drivers who risked life
and limb to transport their goods to Atlanta by automobile in later
years."
... from Marble
Valley Historical
Society | 
