Toccoa
| Toccoa | |
|---|---|
| Nickname : City of Beauty | |
 Stephens County Courthouse in Toccoa |
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| Located in Stephens County and Georgia | |
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| Basic data | |
| Foundation : | 1873 |
| State : | United States |
| State : | Georgia |
| County : | Stephens County |
| Coordinates : | 34 ° 35 ′ N , 83 ° 20 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 ) |
| Residents : | 8,491 (as of 2010) |
| Population density : | 345.2 inhabitants per km 2 |
| Area : | 24.6 km 2 (approx. 9 mi 2 ) |
| Height : | 301 m |
| Postal code : | 30577 |
| Area code : | +1 706 |
| FIPS : | 13-76756 |
| GNIS ID : | 333240 |
| Website : | www.cityoftoccoa.com |
| Mayor : | Evan Hellenga |
Toccoa is a city in the state of Georgia in the United States . It is the administrative center of Stephens County and is located about 140 kilometers northeast of Atlanta .
geography
Geographical location
Toccoa is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains northeast of the Currahee Mountains . The South Carolina border is only eleven kilometers (about seven miles ) and Lake Hartwell is seven kilometers away.
climate
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Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Toccoa, Georgia
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history
Originally the area around Toccoa was populated by Indians of the Mississippi culture . After their decline in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Cherokee followed them in the region. The name of the city comes from the term tagwahi ("where the Catawba lived" or simply "beautiful") of the Cherokee. After the American War of Independence (1775–1783), the first Europeans settled in the area. Since the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) there was already a coal station of the Georgia Air Line Railroad at the so-called Dry Pond (dry pond) . Three investors (OM Doyle, BY Sage and Thomas Alexander), who were speculating on a new railway line, bought 1,765 acres of land around the Dry Pond in 1873 , divided it into plots and then sold it again. The city of Toccoa was officially founded in 1874 and commemorates its three founding fathers with three streets (Doyle Street, Sage Street and Alexander Street) in the city center. Toccoa belonged to Habersham County in the early years and became its administrative seat in 1905 after the founding of Stephens County .
In the course of the industrial development of the region in the 1930s, the industrialist Robert Gilmour LeTourneau built not only a factory for construction machines, but also Toccoa Airport at the end of 1938, just four kilometers from the city center. From Camp Toccoa , which was founded in World War II , the trajectory was used for paratrooper jump training until an accident occurred . The camp, eight kilometers west of Toccoa, served the 506th US Paratrooper Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Armed Forces as the first training ground. The Regiment's Easy Company story is the basis of the book and the miniseries Band of Brothers - We Were Like Brothers . The series made the Currahee Mountain , which the soldiers ran over and over again in training, internationally known. The soldiers of the regiment call themselves "Currahees", after the name of the mountain that derives from the Cherokee term gurahiyi ("where cress grows" or "single").
At the end of the war, Camp Toccoa was closed. However, the city continued to do well and after a successful vote on March 1, 1951, it began developing its own natural gas company , whose network grew to over 90 miles and which sells natural gas in seven counties in Georgia and North Carolina .
When the Kelly Barnes Dam broke on November 6, 1977, at least 39 people were killed on the campus of Toccoa Falls College . The dam was built in 1937 to power the predecessor “Toccoa Falls Bible Institute” and served this purpose for 20 years before the lake was only used for recreational purposes and as a recreational resource.
Population development
| Population development | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Residents | ± in% | |
| 1880 | 679 | - | |
| 1890 | 1120 | 64.9% | |
| 1900 | 2176 | 94.3% | |
| 1910 | 3120 | 43.4% | |
| 1920 | 3567 | 14.3% | |
| 1930 | 4602 | 29% | |
| 1940 | 5494 | 19.4% | |
| 1950 | 6781 | 23.4% | |
| 1960 | 7303 | 7.7% | |
| 1970 | 6971 | -4.5% | |
| 1980 | 8869 | 27.2% | |
| 1990 | 8266 | -6.8% | |
| 2000 | 9323 | 12.8% | |
| 2010 | 8491 | -8.9% | |
| 2014 estimate | 8257 | -2.8% | |
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US Decennial Census
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At the United States Census 2010 there were 8491 residents in Toccoa in 3562 households , of which 2306 were with children. 1,088 of those households were with children under the age of 18. Almost half of them (427 households) were single women. Over 54 percent of the population were female. When classified by "race" and ethnicity in the United States Census , more than 73 percent of the population were white and more than 21 percent were African American .
For 2014, a population of 8257 was estimated.
politics
mayor
Jeanette Jamieson has been mayor of Toccoa since 2017. Your deputy is David Austin. The mayor is elected annually by the City Commission , which consists of five elected members (whose terms of office overlap).
Culture and sights
Museums
In Toccoa's city center is the Currahee Military Museum , housed in the old train station where the GIs arrived in town. It is dedicated to the paratroopers from Camp Toccoa , 18,000 of whom were trained in the camp - before and after D-Day . The most famous exhibit is a stable from Aldbourne , England , which served as a shelter for soldiers of the 506th regiment.
music
Since 1977 Toccoa has a symphony orchestra that gives at least three concerts a year. It was founded by music teachers Pinkie Craft Ware and Archie Sharretts, who was also the orchestra's first conductor.
Buildings
The Stephens County Courthouse was built in 1908. Since 2000 there has been a new courthouse on the opposite side of the street (district building, district office - the administrative headquarters). The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
About ten kilometers east of Toccoa is the historic Travelers Rest , built around 1815 (also known as "Jarrett Manor"), which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1964.
Parks
Natural monuments
On the campus of Toccoa Falls College is the second highest waterfall in Georgia, Toccoa Falls . They are 57 feet tall and the fifth tallest waterfalls east of the Mississippi .
Economy and Infrastructure
traffic
Toccoa is on Highway 123 , which runs 75 miles (120 kilometers) north and east from Clarkesville , Georgia to Interstate 385 at Greenville , South Carolina . The closest interstate is Interstate 85 at Lavonia .
Toccoa is also on the New Orleans to New York City railroad , which is served by Amtrak with the Crescent long-distance train .
The former private Toccoa Airport has been operated by the Toccoa-Stephens County Authority since 1961 .
Personalities
sons and daughters of the town
- Ida Cox (1896–1967), blues and jazz singer
- DeForest Kelley (1920–1999), actor ( Dr. Leonard "Pill" McCoy )
- Paul Anderson (1932-1994), weightlifter
- Pat Swilling (1964), American football player
- Dale Davis (1969), basketball player
Personalities who have worked on site
James Brown lived in Toccoa for a few years and started his international career as a gospel singer here .
Others
Two years after Toccoa's centenary (1974), the city received the All-America City Award in 1976.
Web links
- Homepage of Toccoa (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The names stayed. In: news.google.com. Calhoun Times and Gordon County News, August 29, 1990, p. 53 of 84 , accessed on June 25, 2015 (Sources include "Myths of the Cherokee" by James Mooney, "Placenames of Georgia" by John Goff and "Indian Place Names in Alabama" by William A. Reed.): "Toccoa comes from tagwahi, meaning Catawba (Indian) place."
- ^ City History. City of Toccoa, accessed on July 30, 2017 (English): "Founded in the aftermath of the Civil War, the City of Toccoa is named for the Cherokee word for" beautiful "."
- ↑ Elizabeth B. Cooksey: Stephens County. Counties, Cities & Neighborhoods. New Georgia Encyclopedia, July 7, 2005, accessed August 12, 2015 : "It was laid out in 1873 around an area formerly known as" Dry Pond "(for a pool there that was dry nearly year-round). In its early days after the Civil War (1861-65), it was the site of a coaling station for the Georgia Air Line Railroad. "
- ^ City History. City of Toccoa, accessed on August 12, 2015 (English): “The three investors - Dr. OM Doyle of Oconee County, SC, BY Sage of Atlanta and Thomas Alexander of Atlanta - anticipated the construction of a new railroad through Dry Pond. They purchased 1,765 acres, had it surveyed into lots, published a May 27, 1873, lot sale and brought potential buyers to the village on excursion trains. "
- ^ City History. City of Toccoa, accessed on August 12, 2015 (English): “The City of Toccoa was officially chartered in 1874 and the names of downtown streets reflect the visionary trio; Sage, Doyle, and Alexander streets still crisscross downtown Toccoa today. "
- ^ Toccoa Stephens County Airport. (No longer available online.) Toccoa Today, formerly the original ; accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): "The airport got its start in the early 1938 when industrialist and aviation buff RG LeTourneau built two runways for his own personal use."
- ↑ Stephens County, GA: History. In: stephenscountyga.com. Stephens County, accessed August 13, 2015 : "Industrialist RG LeTourneau opened an earth moving equipment manufacturing plant in 1938 and the Toccoa Airport was constructed at the end of that year."
- ↑ Stephens County, GA: History. Stephens County, accessed August 13, 2015 : “The mountain was made famous internationally by Steven Spielberg's World War II TV series Band of Brothers. During the American paratroopers training at Camp Toccoa ran up and down Currahee as part of their training regimen. "
- ^ Georgia Place-Names. (PDF) C - Currahee Mountain. Kenneth K. Krakow, p. 25 of 26 , accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): "The derivation is from the Cherokee Indian name gurahiyi, which means" water cress place "or may mean" standing alone "."
- ^ The History of TNG. Voters overwhelmingly support natural gas. (No longer available online.) Toccoa Natural Gas, archived from the original on October 2, 2015 ; Retrieved on August 13, 2015 (English, Information for this story came from 1950 and 1951 issues of The Toccoa Record, Toccoa City documents, Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation and former Toccoa attorney George B. (Boots) Ramsay Jr.): “March 1, 1951: The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of issuing bonds, and Graves wrote that the turnout and approval of the natural gas system was “a shining example of the community interest which prevails in Toccoa.” “ Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Toccoa Natural Gas. City of Toccoa, accessed August 13, 2015 : "Toccoa Natural Gas is a regional natural gas utility serving more than 7,000 residential and commercial customers from more than 90 miles of pipe running through seven counties in Georgia and North Carolina."
- ^ City History. City of Toccoa, accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): "Tragedy struck the community in 1977 when a dam located on the waters of Toccoa Creek above Toccoa Falls College broke and the ensuing flood claimed 39 lives."
- ^ TFC Remembers the Flood. (No longer available online.) Toccoa Falls College, archived from the original on January 8, 2016 ; Retrieved on August 13, 2015 : "On November 6, 1977, at 1:30 am, a wedge-shaped wall of water poured down the creek and shot over Toccoa Falls, tumbling huge boulders and tree trunks before it. The earthen dam above Toccoa Falls burst and sent a 30-foot wall of water rushing across the Toccoa Falls College campus, killing at least 39 people. " Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014. Georgia. US Census Bureau, May 21, 2015, accessed August 13, 2015 : "162,13,000,76756,00000,00000,0, A, Toccoa city, Georgia, 8491,8448,8443,8326,8331,8296 , 8257 "
- ^ Census of Population and Housing. US Census Bureau, accessed August 13, 2015 .
- ↑ American FactFinder. Toccoa City, Georgia. American Fact Finder, accessed August 13, 2015 .
- ↑ American FactFinder. Toccoa City, Georgia - 2014. American Fact Finder, accessed August 13, 2015 .
- ^ City Commission. City of Toccoa, accessed on July 31, 2017 (English): "Five City Commissioners are elected at large for four-year overlapping terms. The City Commission elects one of its members to serve as Mayor annually. "
- ^ Currahee Military Museum. Currahee Military Museum. City of Toccoa, accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): “The museum, housed in the Toccoa Train Station, tells the story of trainees who spent time in Toccoa, to become some of the most physically fit soldiers in the Army. More than 18,000 paratroopers trained at Camp Tocco a prior to and after D-Day. including an actual stable that housed members of the PID before and after D-Day. One of the most popular exhibits is a horse stable from Aldbourne England that served as housing for 506th PIR, American paratroopers. "
- ^ Toccoa Symphony Orchestra. About us. Toccoa Symphony Orchestra, accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): “The driving force behind the creation of the Symphony was Mrs. Pinkie Ware, a Toccoa resident and music teacher. ... Archie Sharretts was the first Conductor of the Orchestra. "
- ^ Stephens County. Courthouse. GeorgiaInfo, accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): "Stephens County's first courthouse was completed in 1908. That structure is still in use, but a new courthouse across the street from the original opened in May 2000."
- ^ National Register of Historical Places. GEORGIA (GA), Stephens County. National Register of Historical Places, accessed August 13, 2015 : "Stephens County Courthouse (added 1980 - - # 80001232)"
- ^ Traveler's Rest Historic Site. (No longer available online.) Georgia State Parks, archived from the original on September 9, 2015 ; Retrieved on August 13, 2015 (English): "Thanks to both its architectural significance and its role in the early history of the area, Traveler's Rest was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964." Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Toccoa Falls. City of Toccoa, accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): “A beautiful 186-foot-high waterfall, Toccoa Falls is one of the tallest free-falling waterfalls east of the Mississippi River. It is located on the campus of Toccoa Falls College, a four-year, fully accredited Christian college. "
- ^ Toccoa-Stephens County Airport. Stephens County, accessed August 13, 2015 : "LeTourneau donated the runways to the city and county in 1961 and the the airfield was named in his honor."
- ^ City History. City of Toccoa, accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): "Soul singer James Brown and Olympic gold medalist Paul Anderson have called Toccoa home."
- ^ City History. City of Toccoa, accessed on August 13, 2015 (English): "The city observed its centennial in 1974 and was named an All-America City in 1976."
