Tallulah Falls School founded by The Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1909

A HISTORY OF ACHIEVEMENT

TRADITIONS GROWN DEEP IN OUR MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CONTINUE TO SHAPE OUR SCHOOL’S PRESENT AND FUTURE

Northeast Georgia is an area rich in natural beauty, with mountains soaring into blue skies, and an abundance of streams, lakes, and quiet meadows. By the early 1900’s the region had become a haven for city dwellers who sought the cool and calm of the mountain woodlands.

One such summer resident was Mrs. Mary Ann Lipscomb of Athens, Georgia. She met many of the local children and was moved by their hunger for knowledge. She began to teach a few of these children on her front porch, but she knew this was not enough.

Mrs. Lipscomb saw the need for the mountain children of the area to have a school of their own, and largely through her efforts as president of the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs (which still owns and operates the School today), Tallulah Falls School became a reality in 1909.

On July 12, 1909, the School opened its doors to 21 mountain children from neighboring Habersham and Rabun Counties and continued to serve as both a public and private institution of learning for over sixty years. In 1970, the School became a privately chartered institution serving students from throughout Georgia, the Southeast, the nation, and abroad.

Much change has taken place in the intervening decades since the School’s founding. The original campus, which consisted of five acres of land and one five room building, today includes twenty buildings, 500 acres of land, and a physical plant valued in the millions of dollars. Students once drawn from a tiny mountain area now come from the far reaches of the globe.

Some traditions remain as they were in Mrs. Lipscomb’s day. A bell still rings out over Cherokee Mountain to call students to meals. Students continue to perform daily chores, learning the value of work along with the priceless value of scholarship. Homework assignments are still completed, and rooms are still tidied up before school. And every day, the School community gives thanks for women like Mrs. Lipscomb who had the vision to make Tallulah Falls a reality.

For more detailed information, please visit their web site at www.tallulahfalls.org.