Sautee Nacoochee, GA

OUR STORY
Creativity and Community Come Together
We value and nurture individual creativity, along with the historical, cultural, and environmental resources of the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys and surrounding areas.
from SNCA Mission Statement
Complete Statement of Values

Sautee Nacoochee Center and its parent organization, Sautee Nacoochee Community Association, were established in 1981 to recognize the importance of saving the heritage, land and community of this exceptional place in the mountains of North Georgia. Over the last 43 years the scope of the Center's goals in it's stewardship have widened and its responsibility and leadership in the community's life have strengthened.

Today the opportunities it offers the entire Northeast Georgia region have come to include a major Folk Pottery Museum - classes and exhibits in the visual arts - a performance program that provides exposure to the best of national and regional musicians, dancers and actors, and varied educational programs for both adults and children that support learning in all of these areas. The Center also supports the community with scheduled programs and activities which nurture and enhance the lives of its seniors and other special groups.

Founders and Futurists
historic marker

In an area rich in history and cultural heritage the Center supports the preservation and archiving of the area's past to help inform the community's journey into the future. The Sautee Nacoochee History Museum maintains collections of artifacts and memorabilia that chronicle the inhabitants of the area going back as far as 12,000 years or longer.

In the 16th century Hernando De Soto passed through parts of north Georgia, but almost certainly he did not come through Nacoochee. Published stories from the mid-1850s told of the unearthing of large hand-hewn pitch pine beams in Nacoochee. This discovery led some to conclude 16th and 17th century Spaniards may have carried out explorations in this part of northeast Georgia, but no hard evidence has ever been formally documented.

The land cession treaty of 1819 included the Nacoochee and Sautee valleys and the native inhabitants, mostly Cherokee, moved west of the Chestatee River. In 1820 the land in this newly ceded territory was distributed by lottery. Most of the early settlers were not the actual lottery winners, but purchased their deeds from those who won the draw. Gold was discovered in Northeast Georgia in 1828 and full removal of the Chereokee occurred in 1838.

Once settled into the valleys, the newly minted settlers began to create families, homesteads and communities that would add layer after layer of life to the Sautee Nacoochee story. We invite you to come experience the roads our peoples have traveled and the contributions they made to the place we call home.

The trip has been grand in spirit and accomplishment and our residents who represent the continuing journey are strong in their ethnic diversity and human commitment to community.