In 1850, Tate, Atkinson, and Company opened a marble quarry near the Georgia Marble Company's present location. Three years later, Pickens County was officially formed. After the Civil War, the Tate family was operating a sawmill on Long Swamp Creek in the section that is colloquially called Pendley Creek.
At the time, a main road came north from Tate and bisected the old Dawsonville Jasper Highway (Cove Road) before heading directly to the sawmill. Afterward, the road descended into the valley, crossed Long Swamp Creek, and moved northwest.
The 1869 Pickens County map by B.W. Froebel is the only one to show the Tate Saw Mill. It also shows another Tate Mill in the Sandy Bottoms area of Long Swamp Creek.
If you notice on the south side of the map, Harnageville (present-day Tate) is indicated.
I found the 1869 reference map four years ago but never dared to contact the owner about my discovery. Many people are rightfully protective of their land, regardless of what historical remnants may be on their property. That is their right, and I must respect that.
With a lot of luck and good timing, I was contacted by a nearby property owner who knew the mill site property owner. I was graciously granted permission to hike down into the valley where Long Swamp Creek and the mill site are. I had no idea what a treat I would be in for.
Looking closely at the picture, you'll notice several support pillars off to the left. The terraced walls center and back center were different levels of the milling operation. The water at the site, even though the creek is low, flows remarkably fast at this site.
Near the site, at a fork at the northern fork of Long Swamp Creek are the remains of a large chimney. Set on a hill to avoid flooding, the fireplace is nearly perfectly intact.
It is wider than most fireplaces I've seen in North Georgia.
The front of the fireplace is spectacular. The trees have grown up inside what would have been the home's main floor.
Further away beside the creek bottom is a large foundation of what I presume to be a storage building and not a house. There is no evidence of a chimney, and the foundation walls are five feet high. I assume the foundation was built to prevent flooding of a storeroom.
The area around Long Swamp Creek, not far from the mill site, was likely a single-family residence. It is beautiful and largely undisturbed. For that reason and out of respect for the privacy and safety of the property owners, I will not disclose its location, nor detail how to access the site. Sites like these are a rare find, and without the use of old maps and modern technology, I wouldn't have known about it. I am grateful for the opportunity.
In Reverand Charles O. Walker's Cherokee Footprints series, he briefly refers to the mill site as the Pendley Mill. If the Pendleys ever owned it, it was after the Tate family, and not before. The section of Long Swamp Creek the mill is on is locally referred to as Pendley Creek.
The second Tate Mill can be seen in the Sandy Bottoms area along Long Swamp on the way to the Cove. The Perseverance Quarry (presently gated to prevent trespassers) can be seen north across the Dawsonville Jasper Highway. (Now Cove Road.)
Note: The mountain the quarry is in is Cove Mountain. Cove Road is named for Cove Mountain and took on the name sometime after the 1940s.
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