Georgia's Traveler's Rest Historic Site was built to
accomodate adventurers on America's western frontier. East of
present-day Toccoa, Georgia, the site includes the original Traveler's
Rest and other original buildings as well as faithful reproductions of
a wellhouse and a meathouse. The park was established in 1955 when the
buildings and three acres of land were sold to the state by Mary
Jarrett White, granddaughter of Devereaux Jarrett.
In the late 1700's northeastern Georgia is Indian Country. Only the
bravest souls venture out into the frontier past Augusta. Tugaloo
Valley is home to one of the largest and earliest Cherokee villages in
the state. Tugaloo Old Town has been guarding this valley since 1450 AD.
White men destroy the Tugaloo village during the American Revolution in
response to the Cherokee siding with the British. Bitter fighting
between the settlers and the Cherokee mark other battles in North
Georgia, including General Pickens raid into Long Swamp (present-day
Pickens and Cherokee County, Georgia), and The Battle of Lookout
Mountain (1782). After the losses Georgia's Cherokee and Creek cede the
first land in the area we now know as North Georgia.
Major Jesse Walton receives a land grant from Georgia Governor George
Walton (no relation) and moves to the frontier in 1784 with his wife
and young child. Walton visited the general vicinity prior to
establishing his home on the land that now encompasses Georgia's
Traveler's Rest.
Jesse Walton was present when the Treaty of Hopewell is signed on
November 28, 1785. Over the next five years relations with the Cherokee
worsen, mostly because of white settlers repeatedly violating the
treaty by encroaching on the land promised to the Cherokee. As the
Treaty of Hopewell disintegrates in the late 1780's, tensions between
the Cherokee and settlers increase. Over several weeks in the spring
and early summer of 1789, settlers raid Cherokee towns and Cherokee the
settlers' forts. The Cherokee catch the Major off-guard one day in
1789. Walton, who secures his family in a nearby fort for protection,
stays to work and defend his land. Jesse Walton, the first white owner
of the property, is brutally attacked in July, 1789. His blood-covered
body is carried to nearby friend's house, Revolutionary War hero
Benjamin Cleveland, where he dies. Walton's brother-in-law, Joseph
Martin, is there when he dies.
Walton's widow sells the land to Martin. At the navigable end of the
Tugaloo River, the property is considered valuable by many. In these
days the major form of transportation is by water, and the rivers are
the first great roads inland to the heart of this new county, America.
Martin's land is located near an old Cherokee Trading Path, and James
Wyly knows this is where his future lies.
Over the next 6 decades Georgia will expand six-fold, and the
strategically located Tugaloo will provide the men and material to
build much of the northeastern part of the state. He buys the land from
Mr. Martin for $2000.00 around the turn of the century. Wyly is lead
contractor on the Unicoi (Unicoy) Turnpike, running from the area of
Maryville, Tennessee to the Tugaloo, and directly past the property he
owns.
Model of Traveler's RestThe Park Ranger uses this model to answer questions about the inn.
Wyly begins to build the southern end of the house that becomes known
as Traveler's Rest in 1815, two years after the Unicoi Turnpike is
completed. This wide road features banked turns and tolls to repay
investors for the improvements. Within a year this highway becomes a
major north-south route. By 1819 the entire route is ceded by the
Cherokee to the state of Georgia. Wyly builds the business, expanding
into other areas to serve the needs of travelers.
Over the next 14 years Wyly serves these travelers in a variety of
ways. Business, and the inn, expand in a number of phases. Wyly serves
the state government as commissioner charged with improving navigation
on the Savannah and Tugaloo Rivers. In 1833 Devereaux Jarrett buys the
inn from Wyly and expands on the services that Wyly offered. Over the
next 20 years Jarrett operates Traveler's Rest as a plantation,
tanyard, cotton gin, blacksmith, grist mill, post office, sawmill,
tavern, country store and an inn. Nearby, on what would eventually be
14,000 acres owned by Mr. Jarrett, were a gold mine, ferry, and toll.
At his death in 1852, he was one of the richest men in North Georgia.
Jarrett has served a number of notables, including John C. Calhoun, who
owns a number of businesses in the area of Dahlonega and was a major
investor in a railroad that was to run from South Carolina to
Cincinatti. Joseph E. Brown, governor and senator from Georgia is
rumored to have spent his wedding night on the first floor of the inn.
Land owned by Devereaux Jarrett is divided among the family. Jarrett's
son, Charles Kennedy Jarrett continues to run the inn well into the
1870's, but changing times begin to eliminate the need for the inn.
While the navigable Tugaloo is still a major shipping lane, the
passenger traffic has been gone for years, disappearing with the advent
of the railroads.
Mary Jarrett White, who sold her great-grandfather's inn to the state
of Georgia, was the first woman in the state to vote. In May, 1920,
White was permitted to cast a ballot having registered as as required
by law. This was three months before the ratification of the 19th
Amendment, which gave women in Georgia the right to vote. How her name
got on the voter rolls is unknown.
The large main hall is two stories. At the south end of the building,
under the porch, is a miniature of the estate that park rangers can use
when discussing the inn and surrounding area. Among the other original
buildings are the dairy house, slave cabin, and a 20th century home
built by Devereaux Jarrett's granddaughter and her husband.
The dairy house, closest to Traveler's Rest on the north end, was also
used to raise silkworms. Above the first floor are slaves or servants
quarters now being used to house two looms, one of which is original to
the plantation. The well-house nearby is operational.
At the north end of the present-day grounds is the home built by Sally
Grace Jarrett and her husband, Sam Adams. This is the only 20th Century
building on the property, with the exception of the public restroom to
the east of Traveler's Rest.
Source:
Roadside Georgia. Travelers Rest Historic Site.
