The Northeastern Railroad was chartered in 1870 by the Georgia General Assembly to meet this request by the state, and the new railroad opened its first 39 miles on September 1, 1876, from Athens, Georgia to Lula, Georgia. A second line was opened in 1882 from Cornelia, Georgia, to Tallulah Falls, Georgia.
The railroad never paid dividends to its stockholders and it was later sold before construction could reach Clayton. The Cornelia-Tallulah Falls line was purchased in 1887 by the newly chartered Blue Ridge and Atlantic Railroad, also doomed to fail. While in the hands of the Tallulah Falls Railway, these tracks were extended all the way to Franklin, North Carolina before they were abandoned; they are no longer in operation.
The Athens-Lula line was consolidated into the Southern Railway Company in 1899. These tracks are now owned by Norfolk Southern Railway.
This railroad was largely responsible for the economic development of the following cities, each being a stop on the line (shown here from north to south, with counties):
Athens - Lula line
- Lula (on the Banks and Hall county line)
- Gillsville (Banks)
- Maysville (on the Banks and Jackson county line)
- Harmony Grove (Jackson)
- Nicholson (Jackson)
- Center (Jackson)
- Athens (Clarke)
Cornelia - Tallulah Falls line
- Tallulah Falls (Habersham)
- Tallulah Lodge (Habersham)
- Tallulah Park (Habersham)
- Turnerville (Habersham)
- Hollywood (Habersham)
- Anandale (Habersham)
- Clarkesville (Habersham)
- Demorest (Habersham)
- Cornelia (Habersham)
Famous quotes containing the words north, eastern and/or railroad:
“The Anglo-Saxon hive have extirpated Paganism from the greater part of the North American continent; but with it they have likewise extirpated the greater portion of the Red race. Civilization is gradually sweeping from the earth the lingering vestiges of Paganism, and at the same time the shrinking forms of its unhappy worshippers.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“My second husband was an American. We traveled all over the world and everywhere we went he would say to people, “I am an American. I am an American.” They finally shot him in one of those Eastern countries.”
—John Paxton (1911–1985)
“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say—I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
—Harriet Tubman (1821–1913)