Tallulah Falls School

Tallulah Falls School occupies a mountainside campus in northeast Georgia, close to Tallulah Gorge. It began in 1909 when the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs, led by Mary Ann Lipscomb, opened a school for children of remote mountain families on five donated acres. Lipscomb Cottage, designed by Athens architect Fred Orr and built by J. A. Saye, set the pattern: rough local stone, exposed timbers and dark stains meant to blend with the hillside. Later buildings such as the Giddings Clinic, Sheldon Workshop, Trustees' Guest House and faculty houses followed this Craftsman-influenced approach, ending with the Willet Building of 1946. From 1917 students built stone walls, steps, terraces and memorial gates, partly to control erosion. The campus is recognized for its educational history, its architecture and its landscape work. The school still operates, and Lipscomb Cottage now houses its museum. Losses include several earlier buildings, though their sites and landscaping remain.