The Tallulah Falls School has been an important educational institution in Northeast Georgia for many years. In the Heritage of Habersham County, Georgia 1817-2000, it is recorded that the school was founded by Mrs. Mary Ann Lipscomb, President of the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs, in 1909. The school opened on July 12 that year with 21 children from the northeast counties of Habersham and Rabun. It served as a public and private institution until 1970 when it became a private chartered school serving students from Georgia, the South and even abroad.
Two of my aunts, Thelma and Jessie Mae Justus, both now deceased, attended this school. Their father, Jesse Justus, was a farmer living in Germany Valley, where I grew up next door to the old log house built in 1871. As a boy, I often worked beside Papa Jesse in the fields as Dad was often away on defense work in WW II and later working at two or three jobs at once. Papa Jesse practiced conservation methods – and Dad did likewise – before government agencies began telling farmers how to do it. For example, they fenced off creek and streams from livestock and kept borders of willows, brush, ferns and lovely wild flowers in summer.
Papa grew lots of vegetables and fruit, but was low on money. He helped Thelma and Jessie Mae, who worked at the school to help pay their way, by loading up his wagon each year with produce he grew and driving the team of horses down US 441 to Tallulah Falls, I recall mentioning this remarkable trip with a wagon and he then told me of taking wagon loads of produce to sell in Athens before I was born. On the way down and back he would camp in open glades or at times in some farmer’s pasture.
While at Tallulah Falls School Jessie Mae learned to make necklaces, earrings and rings. Years later she used this skill to work with sick and wounded service personnel in WW II and afterwards for some years. I don’t recall what Thelma specifically learned but she had a long and successful career managing the furniture department for Reeves Hardware in Clayton. Both aunts were smart and energetic persons and as a boy I made a few dollars now and then doing work for them, either on the farm or helping Thelma in the summer months.
Once I got popped in the eye while riding the old steam driven train across the lake at Tallulah Falls. On a train ride down to visit folks at Demorest I opened the window to look at the lake and a tiny hot spark from the smokestack lit in my eye! It hurt! Mother had brought a jug of water for drinking and she doused my eye really good, but it still hurt enough to hinder playing with kids at the park in Demorest.
Another connection I have with Tallulah Falls Gorge is when in high school Billy Long and I hiked down from Clayton a few times on weekends to camp and fish in the gorge. In fact, we once climbed down from the highway bridge and explored the gorge down to the lake. We camped, fished and cooked meals by the roaring falls. No wonder Indians were said to fear the gorge. At night, we heard underground rumbles and sometimes hollow gong like sounds. It was fun being Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn!
