Rabun County Georgia
In 1920, Rabun County consisted of eight towns, five of which included Black communities. Stonepile has the largest Black population with approximately 156 people. Chechero has the smallest Black population with 1 Black family and a Black servant working for a white home. Many of the families and individuals that lived in the towns were young and middle aged adults. Looking at the census, in Stonepile, there were several boarding homes. There were 58 boarders in the area. Interestingly, some of the boarders were not from the south and even came from out of the country. Those places would include Lousianna, Portugal, and Puerto Rico. Most of the boarders, like many of the men in the town, worked as laborers in public works. However, there was one woman who worked in that labor department. Rabun County was known to be where six hydroelectric dams were built on the Tullah and Tugaloo Rivers in Georgia. The assumption could be made that many of these community members, particularly from Stonepile, were workers for the dam companies. In the town named Tennessee Valley, there was not a big Black population but every family owned and worked on farms. According to records there were at least two Black schools in Rabun County, Ivy Hill and Well's Chapel. According to the census, most of the children from Clayton attended school, while only one family from Stonepile attended school. That corresponds considering there were not many children in Stonepile.
Negro Workers Village
Photos from Rabun County Historical Society
The Negro Workers’ Village was at the site for Georgia Power’s construction of the Terrora Dam on the Tallulah River in Rabun County in the 1920s. The people who lived there were the workers. Some of them had their families with them. When the dam construction was complete, they left the area to find work elsewhere, and the shacks in the village were torn down. They were not local people, and the only reason they were here was for work. This was a poor mountain community, and there were no other opportunities for employment. There were 93 one-room, 42 two-room shacks, 3 three-room shacks, and one dance hall.
Segregated Schools
Ivy Hill School
Photos from Rabun County Historical Society
Well's Chapel School
Photos from Genealogy Trails
In Rabun County, there were two African American Schools, Ivy Hill and Well’s Chapel. Ivy Hill hailed near a place called “Colored Town.” It was a one-room building that was typically used as a church. The floor was covered in motor oil for wood rotting and saw dust to stop people from slipping. The school was located near a spring The teacher, May Gibson, taught an estimated 34 students with an average attendance of 21 according to a 1914 census. The students had to work with old textbooks from the white schools with half of the content missing, which made it hard to learn. The school closed in 1965 due to integration. Well’s Chapel was located just outside of Rabun Gap. The teacher was thought to be from Spelman College. The students were said to be well read and intelligent, which was a rare comment for all schools in Rabun County. The teacher was paid $40 a month. The students were enrolled for a nine-month school year.