Although the name “Scull Shoals”, sounds like something out of a horror movie, it is not scary. The once-thriving town was home to many famous people including Hernando De Soto in 1500s and textile factories of the 1800s. Many buildings survived despite the fact that the mills were shut down by the Civil War.
The Scull Shoals Historic Site was once a small picnic and fishing area, but in the 1970s, the site was closed to the public due to the danger of flooding. To avoid these eight-foot-deep gullies the old roads had become, new roads were constructed. Although the old roads that crossed Sandy Creek are still accessible, they are not currently in use. Some of the old roads are still visible as you approach this site.
In the 1960s, it was added to Oconee National Forest. Since then, it has remained a peaceful mill town. In the woods lie the remains of a mill town. Nearby are remnants from Native American settlements. Visitors are encouraged to explore the ruins, which are still intact. Scull Shoals makes a wonderful place to spend a day.
Scull Shoals was an economically thriving town before the Civil War. It went through many ownership changes after the war. It was home to Georgia Penitentiary Company 3. Prisoners worked in the cotton mills and fields. The mills grew steadily after 1812. It was a small, farming community with a population less than one thousand in the early 19th centuries.
Today, Scull Shoals is a recreation area that was used by local farmers in the past for silviculture research. It was also home for a number Native American tribes. The town once employed 600 workers, and it is home to ghosts. The haunting ghost of the murdered maid haunts this place. Scull Shoals, Georgia’s oldest and most abandoned jail, is located in addition to the mills.
Scull Shoals began as a frontier settlement in the 1780s. The settlement was settled by settlers even after the 1802 treaty with Native Americans. The settlers brought both black slaves as well as white settlers, making the village an important hub for commerce. George Paschal, Zachariah Sims built the paper mill in 1812. In 1812, they expanded the paper mill.
It was established as a frontier settlement in 1782. The fort was built to protect the town. The Governor ordered Michael Cupp’s construction of a fort in order to protect the settlers and the Indians. The Treaty of 1802 & 1805 saw the Creek Indians relocated to the south. Scull Shoals was quickly populated by settlers who moved across the Oconee River. After the cotton gin was invented in 1793, the village started a steady growth of people.