new town. His able assistant in the Georgia Legislature was
Col. Dugger Kiker representing Fannin County.
C.R. Walton was superintendent of construction for the
railroad. Colonel McKinney secured convict labor for much
of the tedious clearing, blasting and grading work
necessary for laying the railroad tracks.
It was on New Year' s Eve, 1886, that "Little Mary," the
steam engine of the Marietta and North Georgia Railroad
came puffing into Blue Ridge amidst a crowd applauding
onlookers awaiting the auspicious event.
Blue Ridge, although not named as town until 1887, had
white settlers as early as 1832 prior to the Cherokee
Indian Removal in 1838. Blue Ridge post office was opened
March 30, 1837 with William L. Buchanan as first
postmaster. When Fannin County was officially formed by
signature of Governor Herschel Johnson on January 21,
1854, Blue Ridge post office, which had been in Old
Gilmer, was incorporated into the new Fannin County.
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The first city officers to serve the new city of Blue Ridge
were John W. Gray, mayor; William Taylor, Michael
McKinney, Frank H. Walton, W.T. Buchanan, E.L. Wuce,
aldermen.
August 13, 1895 is a significant date in Blue Ridge's
history. Morganton had been the county seat town since
the founding of Fannin County in 1854. The railroad did
not extend to Morganton. Judges, lawyers and other
officials of the court had to hire transportation on to
Morganton. An appeal was made to the Georgia Legislature
for a bill to make Blue Ridge the county seat. The
referendum passed with a two-thirds majority. Due to
protests, a ruling by the Legislature upheld the vote. A
stately new courthouse, the second for the county, was
built on West Main Street. The edifice burned on July 3,
1936. The third courthouse was completed in 1937. The
fourth courthouse, built
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under Commision Chairman Dr. Richard Wollrath, opened
with the twenty first century.
Since the advent of the railroad in Blue Ridge in late 1886,
the town has been a tourist mecca. Passanger trains no
longer travel the tracks to Blue Ridge, the the Blue Ridge
Scenic Railroad between Blue Ridge and McCaysville draws
thousands of visitors per year. No longer do the
once-famous Blue Ridge Inn and various hotels tower
above Blue Ridge streets, but part-time residents and
tourists seeking fresh mountain air and the recreation to
be found on Blue Ridge Lake make tourism one to the
town's top industries. An observer stated in 1937: "The
businessmen of Blue Ridge and Fannin County still have
the energy and ambition that marked the development of
this section." In 2007, one hundred and twenty years after
the town's founding, this is still a true statement.
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