Page 8 � Union County GA Magazine � Holiday 2022 Winter 2023
Bit ‘ o History
The Civilian Conservation Corps in Union County was known as “ Blairsville , GA Co . 431 SP-2 Camp Enotah .”
Those boys called a place near Suches home from whence they built things that are still in existence today - including the shelter on Blood Mountain and the original tower on Brasstown Bald .
Lake Trahlyta is a 22-acre body of water in Vogel State Park that stands as witness to the accomplishments of the boys of the Civilian Conservation Corps . They dammed up the lake and they built the park .
The CCC began with U . S . President Franklin D . Roosevelt and operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed , unmarried men .
Originally for young men ages 18 to 25 , it was eventually expanded to young men ages 17 to 28 . Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000 .
Over the course of its nine years in operation , three million young men participated in the CCC , which provided them with
www . rusticmountaindecorga . com
Local Handcrafted Custom 706.400.5716
38 Merchant ’ s Walk Suite D Blairsville , Ga . Across from Blairsville City Hall
Our mission is to offer quality yet affordable product
Locally owned & Operated Jim & June McEldowney
For your home , cabin or home away from home
Custom Kitchen & Bath Cabinetry - Rustic Knotty Alder Handcrafted Local Furniture Barnwood , Cedar , Log
Wood Carved Screen Doors Custom Rustic Lighting Unique Rustic Accent Pieces & Gifts
By Norm Cooper Editor , Union County GA Magazine
shelter , clothing , and food , together with a small wage of $ 30 , of which $ 25 had to be sent home to their families
At the start of the 20th century Augustus Vogel and Fred Vogel Jr . began a lumber mill in Union County . The mill employed many of the men in the county to cut and process lumber from the 65,000 acres of land owned by the Pfister Vogel Leather Company . In 1929 the Vogels donated nearly 259 acres to the state , much of it still encompassed within the 233- acres within Vogel State Park . Civilian Conservation Corps Company 431 dammed Wolf Creek to form Lake Trahlyta and built housing around the lake for the CCC boys .
White men first visited the area around Brasstown Bald in the 1500s under the command of Hernando deSoto .
Cherokee Indians inhabited the area near the bald . The Cherokee , who called it Enotah , respected the peak but worshiped Blood Mountain , unusual in a culture that traditionally took the highest places as holy .
When whites began to encroach en masse after the Georgia Gold Rush the Cherokee Nation was forcibly removed from the area in the " Trail of Tears ."
The name " Brasstown " comes from settler ' s confusion
www . unioncountymag . com � 10th Anniversary
Civilian Conservation Corps
FDR ’ s CCC built things in Union County that are still around today
Rock building by CCC now called Mountain Crossing
Cell 706-835-6406 Office 828-837-7322
photo / NormC
5530 West US 64 Murphy , NC 28906 over the Cherokee itse-yi ( place of fresh green ) and untsaiyi ( brass ).
The Civilian Conservation Corps built a tower on Brasstown Bald . A rough sketch of the tower was completed in less than a week . The men would follow and improve an old logging road up to the peak , build a camp and used local material to construct the station .
The stone building was completed during the summer of 1935 and remained until a modern steel structure was completed by its side in the late 1940s .
Jack ' s Knob Trail , which heads south from the parking lot is the logging road the CCC improved to build the original tower in the 1930s . It serves as an access path to the Appalachian Trail .
When the United States suffered the economic problems of The Great Depression , President Franklin D . Roosevelt extolled the virtues of hard work . It was in his acceptance of the nomination for president in 1932 that FDR began his conservation movement , proposing putting men to work , a massive operation destined to become the most popular experience of the New Deal .
Americans were without work , banks were closed , there
Continued on Page 8
L o ui se M c Tag gart mountaineer @ brmemc . net
Associate Broker � Phoenix Club
Licensed in Georgia & North Carolina
Knowledge � Experience � Trustworthy Native of Area 35 years of Helping People with their Real Estate Needs
SERVING ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS