Travelers Rest (Toccoa, Georgia)

Traveler's Rest
HABS photo, 1934
Nearest city Toccoa, Georgia
Coordinates 34°36′33″N 83°14′20″W / 34.60926°N 83.23878°W / 34.60926; -83.23878Coordinates: 34°36′33″N 83°14′20″W / 34.60926°N 83.23878°W / 34.60926; -83.23878
Area 4 acres (1.6 ha) (size of landmarked area)
Built 1816
Architect Unknown
Architectural style No Style Listed
NRHP Reference # 66000283
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL January 29, 1964[2]

Travelers Rest State Historic Site is a state-run historic site near Toccoa, Georgia. Its centerpiece is Traveler's Rest, an early tavern and inn. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 29, 1964, for its architecture as a well-preserved 19th-century tavern, and for its role in the early settlement by white men of northeastern Georgia.[2][3]

Description and history

Travelers Rest is about 6 miles (10 km) east of Toccoa, Georgia, near the Tugaloo River, on Riverdale Road just north of United States Route 123. The main building is a large and rambling two story wood frame structure, more than 90 feet (27 m) long. It is built out of wide pine planking and has six chimneys. The front porch has seven rooms on each level with separate entrances, and an inside staircase providing access to the second floor. The rear of the house is where the innkeeper's family lived, with public rooms (dining room and parlor areas) in between. The post office was located on the second floor. The property includes, in addition to the main building, recreations of typical outbuildings of the 19th century, including slave quarters.[3]

The Tugaloo valley where Travelers Rest stands was once Cherokee land, and the inn's site is close to the former Cherokee town of Tugaloo. The land was first granted to Jesse Walton, an Indian fighter and politician, in 1784. The main house was built sometime between 1816 and 1825, in two stages, by James R. Wyly. Wyly opened the house as an inn for travelers on the newly constructed Unicoi Turnpike. In 1833 it was purchased by Devereaux Jarrett and became the headquarters of his 14,000-acre (57 km2) plantation. It remained in the hands of Jarrett's descendants until 1955, when it was acquired by the state.[3]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Traveler's Rest (Toccoa, Georgia).

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Traveler's Rest (Georgia)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  3. 1 2 3 Blanche Higgins Schroer (1978) National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Traveller's Rest / Jarrett Manor, National Park Service and Accompanying three images, exterior, from 1968 and c. 1960

External links

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