The retired hydroelectric dam of Habersham Mills Dam on the Soque River is located along Habersham Mills Connector near the old Habersham Mill.
Habersham Mills, situated on approximately 1,200 acres along the Soque River, has played an important part in the history of Habersham County, being the oldest industry and the site of a close-knit mill town.
It all started early in the 1800s, when Burnt Mill was built on Minus Shoals on the Soque. By 1837, Habersham Iron Works and Manufacturing Company began operation on the large shoals, where the current mill now stands.
During the 1860s, Habersham Iron Works forged cannons to help the Confederacy in its efforts to win the Civil War. These cannons, stamped with "Habersham Iron Works," can still be seen at Chickamauga National Battleground. Several Civil War veterans are buried in the Mill cemetery.
By 1882, Habersham Iron Works was replaced by Porter Manufacturing Company, a woolen mill. In 1906, S.Y. Stribling Sr., president of Roswell Manufacturing Company, came to Habersham to look at the possible purchase of Porter Manufacturing, and on February 7, 1906, purchased the company for $38,000.
One of the first changes made was to convert the mill from wool to cotton yarn. In the process, the mill was disassembled and moved. Additional changes were made as follows:
•1914: Lower power plant installed
•1925: Upper power plant built along with a dam and tunnel
•1930: New mill built, doubling Habersham Mills' size and capacity
•1957: Mill completely modernized
•1962: Air conditioning installed
•1965-: Stock purchased by Callaway Mills Company, which later gains a controlling interest; stock later transferred to International Products and Services
•1977-: Mill purchased by Russell Corporation of Alexander City, Alabama; the mill again modernized and round-the-clock operation begun; product lines changed from two-ply cotton weaving yarn to single polyester-cotton knitting yarn
•1999: Mill closed
•2000: Organizations seek ways to preserve property as an historic site
In the early years of the cotton mill's operation, cotton bales were received at the Habersham Station (located across Highway 441 at the Habersham Mills Road intersection) of the Tallulah Falls Railroad, were transported via wagon to the mill; the manufactured yarn was sent back to Habersham Station for shipment.
Until 1914, when it was converted to electricity, the mill was run by water power furnished by a water wheel. All employees who lived in the mill village were provided electricity free of charge by the company.
The mill village originally had 25 houses, which were included in the purchase of Porter Mills. In time, an additional 75 houses, a company store, and a one-room "Little Red Schoolhouse" were built for the employees working at Habersham Mills.
In 1920, the company purchased a movie projector for the entertainment of its employees, and in 1921, they built a new school house for grades one through seven. The company even had its own baseball team.
Source - Historic Habersham Mills (
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The dam is constructed with stone buttresses 12 feet apart, 42 inches thick, 17 feet at base and 4% feet at top, having a slope of 45 degrees upstream. Stringers of 10x12 inch sawed timber span the buttresses, and support the floor which is two ply of 2 inch plank. The height of dam is 10 feet and the spillway is 207 feet long. From the forebay at the dam a steel tube 8 feet in diameter and 164% feet long leads to the power house and gives a power head of 24 feet.
The power house is built of stone and is 27 feet wide by 36 feet long. The plant consists of a pair of 33 inch S. Morgan Smith horizontal turbines developing 400 H. P. and direct connected to a "Westinghouse generator 250 Kva., 3-phase, 60-cycle, 2,300 volts. The speed is controlled by a Lombard governor, and the current is transmitted to the cotton factory above mentioned, where it is used for additional power in the factory.
Source Bulletin - Geological Survey (
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