Historic Heritage Trail: Lower Loop

1. Blue Ridge Dam

Built in 1930, the Blue Ridge Dam is one of the largest earth dams in North America. It creates a stunning 1,500-acre lake with 100 miles of shoreline, 80% of which is surrounded by the beautiful and protected National Forest. The dam, managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), plays a crucial role in controlling the lake's water levels. To ensure safety and environmental balance, the TVA lowers the lake levels at specific times throughout the year for maintenance, flood control, and power generation. This historic landmark continues to be an integral part of the region’s natural landscape and energy infrastructure.

2. First County Seat Courthouse

Morganton Fannin County was established in 1854 by merging portions of Gilmer and Union Counties, and the county seat was situated in the town of Morganton because it was as close to the middle of the new county as possible. Because it had become cumbersome and time-consuming for visiting politicians to take a horse and buggy ride from Blue Ridge to the courthouse in Morganton, the county seat was moved in 1895 to be closer to the train depot. The building then served as a school for a few years, and the structure reportedly burned to the ground, but little is known of an exact date or cause.

4. Davenport-Cochran Homestead & Crossroads at Dial

The home is a “two-over-two, modified dogtrot” design. The property was originally owned by Fannin County pioneer Lewis VanZant, built in 1885. Around 1920, the family moved to the larger Cochran home. What makes this property unique is that all of the outbuildings still exist, one of the few fully intact farmsteads in Georgia today. There is a large apple house perched atop a root cellar. There is a smoke house for curing and preserving meats, a large corncrib to dry and store corn, along with a working barn built of tough-hewn lumber. A spring originates under the country road and flows into the distinctive spring house, whose upstairs room was built by Press Davenport as a playhouse for his children.

5. Van Zandt Home & Old Dial Post Office

The name Vanzant is of Dutch origin, usually from the southern Holland area called Zandt. It is spelled several ways: Vanzant, Van Zandt, or Vanzandt. Lewis Vanzant (1802-1888) was one of, if not the, original white settlers in the Dial area. The land that this house sits on was purchased by Lewis in 1834 from William Downs of Effingham County (near Savannah), a revolutionary war veteran who had won the 160-acre parcel of land in the 1832 Georgia Land Lottery. In 1832, Vanzant drove a Conestoga wagon pulled by six horses from North Carolina, bringing his wife Elizabeth to their new farm stead. In the family’s first year on the land, they lived in the wagon as they built a log cabin with the help of the indigenous Cherokee. The original log cabin is still part of the structure of this home 185 years later. The old shed to the left of the house is said to house the original Conestoga wagon. Lewis and Elizabeth had 10 children while residing on the farm. Lewis died at the age of 86 in 1888, preceded by his wife Elizabeth in 1882. They are buried in the VanZandt Cemetery not too far from here.

The small building near the road was once utilized as a Post Office for the area, closing in 1971. Notice the small letter slot on the side of the building.

6. Noontootla Creek Farms

NCF is part of a 1,300-acre property once inhabited by Creek, and then Cherokee Indians. Andrew Jackson’s victory over the Creeks during the War of 1812 (1812-15) helped remove the Creeks, but the land lottery started before the war. The Georgia lotteries of 1805, 1807, 1820, 1821, and 1827 involved Creek and Cherokee lands. The 1832 and 1833 lotteries involved Cherokee lands. A separate lottery in 1832 distributed forty-acre “gold districts” for $10 each in the same Cherokee area. When the lotteries took place, land lots were anywhere from 40 acres to 490 acres. The fee associated with a land lottery draw win was usually around $18.00. The “gold” lot draws were separate. This area became the property of land lottery recipients, and the names of some who settled the area were the VanZant’s, Stanleys, Bradley’s, Baileys, and Kirby’s to name a few. The combined acreage of several lottery land recipients here was eventually purchased by the Owenby Family in 1954 and is owned by the same family to this day.

Farming, hunting and fishing sustained the family throughout the years following their acquisition. They are dedicated to the conservation and preservation of the natural beauty, resources, and immeasurable history the land offers. At one time there was an old mill downriver, where a few of the original millstones can be found. One of those millstones is now an ornamental part on the outside wall of The Mill Restaurant, and you will find another incorporated into the hearth of the beautiful fireplace inside, offering a glimpse into the historic essence of Noontootla Creek Farms. *For a side trip, ask your server about the voting and vegetable stand just down the road.

7. Shallowford Bridge

The Shallowford Bridge wasn’t always at this location. Built in 1918, this steel bridge was constructed for people to cross where the Toccoa River meandered through land that is now under the waters of Lake Blue Ridge. Prior to the lake being filled after the dam completion in 1930, the bridge was dismantled and relocated here, not far upstream from a crossing in the Toccoa River known as a “shallow ford.” A shallow ford can occur naturally due to the riverbed topography, often with a rocky bottom that affords stability for crossing, providing a shallow area in a river or stream where the water is low enough to cross or wade through the water to reach the other side without needing a bridge; The word "ford" itself means a shallow crossing point in a river. In the years prior to 1918, you would cross the river on foot, or with horse and wagon. When motorized vehicles and highways burst onto the scene, the bridge made it easy to drive across the river. A brand-new bridge now parallels the historic one. Driving over the old bridge is no longer open due to the integrity of the structure and its historical value. The Shallowford Bridge is now part of the Benton MacKaye Trail.