Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site

🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Georgia — One of the finest remaining plantation houses in northeast Georgia — built in 1815 by Devereaux Jarrett, who owned 17,000 acres, 11 plantations, and enslaved over 100 people. The house was also an inn on the Unicoi Turnpike, hosting guests traveling between Charleston and Nashville.

Visitor Information

About Traveler’s Rest

Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site in Toccoa preserves a 1785 plantation house that served as a stagecoach inn on the Unicoi Turnpike — the major road through the Cherokee homeland in northeast Georgia. The house is one of the oldest surviving structures in northeast Georgia. Devereaux Jarrett, who built it, operated a 14,000-acre plantation. The Unicoi Turnpike, now partly the Appalachian Trail, was originally a Cherokee trading path.

Things to Do

Touring the 1785 plantation house, walking the Unicoi Turnpike trace, viewing the original stagecoach inn rooms, attending cultural events, and connecting with Cherokee trading path history.

Getting There

Located on Riverdale Road in Toccoa, Stephens County. Open Thursday through Saturday. Toccoa Falls (186 feet — taller than Niagara) is 5 minutes away at Toccoa Falls College. Lake Hartwell is 20 minutes south. Currahee Mountain — where the legendary Band of Brothers trained for WWII — is 10 minutes north. Two hours northeast of Atlanta.

History & Ecology

The Unicoi Turnpike — now partly the Appalachian Trail — was a 68-mile Cherokee trading path connecting the Tennessee Valley to the Georgia coast. Devereaux Jarrett operated one of the largest plantations in northeast Georgia from this house. Toccoa Falls — 186 feet tall, taller than Niagara — is 5 minutes away. In 1977, a dam failure above the falls killed 39 people at Toccoa Falls College — one of Georgia’s worst natural disasters.

Insider Tips

Plantation inn: Traveler’s Rest was a stagecoach inn and plantation in northeast Georgia — one of the few surviving examples of a frontier tavern-plantation. Pro tip: Devereaux Jarrett, who built the plantation, enslaved 100+ people — the site now interprets both planter and enslaved perspectives. Tugaloo Crossroads: The location was at the intersection of Cherokee and settler roads — a cultural boundary zone.

Best Time to Visit

Spring/fall: Comfortable touring. Summer: Full interpretation. Year-round: Tours available. Winter: Quiet contemplation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was a frontier tavern-plantation?

In early America, wealthy planters often operated taverns at crossroads — offering food, lodging, and stabling to travelers. These combined hospitality and agriculture — tavern profits supplemented farm income, and travelers brought news and trade connections. Tavern-plantations were social hubs in the rural South. Traveler’s Rest shows how the enslaved labor that supported the plantation also served tavern guests — connecting the hospitality industry to slavery.