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One of the regular stopping points on the Old Federal Road, known locally as the Georgia Road, was a tavern run by Ambrose Harnage. It was here, in 1830, that the state of Georgia convened the first court in the newly formed Original Cherokee County. This should not be confused with today's Cherokee County, which is actually just a small part of the original.
The original county was designed to extend Georgia's law over the Cherokee Nation, which would later be ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. Yet the state pushed ahead with its attempts to take the Cherokee homeland by force. Harnage, who was a mixed-blood Cherokee, moved to Cincinnati to get away from the problems in Georgia. After this lottery that Samuel Tate brought land lot #147 along the Old Federal Highway where the Harnage House sat.
Tate, who had not seen the property when he moved from Habersham County, Georgia to his new home, made an interesting discovery rather quickly. The property not only had the Harnage Tavern and outbuildings, but the remains of a long-vacated Cherokee village, behind the tavern. This was the site of Long Swamp village, which Andrew Pickens destroyed during the American Revolution (1782). The Cherokee, who sided with the British during that conflict, paid dearly for their choice. Pickens destroyed villages from the present-day South Carolina-Georgia border to Long Swamp, then demanded the Cherokee cede land to him to make up for backing the English. Pickens didn't know it, but the Cherokee gave up land that belonged to the Creek and moved on.
British writer and geologist G. W. Featherstonhaugh visited the tavern in 1837, now being run by Tate. In his diary he noted:
After a very hot and exhausting journey of forty-five miles, thirty of which I had to walk, we arrived at 8 p.m. in a valley where there was a tolerable tavern kept by one Tate; and having refreshed myself with some good food and got a bath for my feet, I was most glad to lie down.
One of Samuel Tate's sons, Stephen Tate, was an adventurer. When gold fever struck Stephen headed west to California. By 1854 Stephen had returned to Georgia and was selected to help decide the new county seat.
Stephen Tate and his wife raised 19 children on the Tate property. Towards the end of the 19th century quarrying marble was a booming business in the area, with many small, independent producers. Stephen Tate tried to organize the independent producers, but died before he completed the task. Tate's son Samuel, who was known as Colonel Sam, completed the task his father set out to do and created the Georgia Marble Company.
In 1923 one of Sam's quarries (on the old Nelson property) ran into a unique vein of pink marble. The Colonel decided to use for the home he was building. Sometimes called the "Pink Palace," this is the mansion that is known as the Tate House.
After Sam's death in 1938 the property fell into disrepair. When Ann Laird purchased the mansion in 1974 the roof was nearly gone and there was a moonshine still in one of the rooms. She and husband Joe worked hard, first bringing the mansion up to current building code, then creating one of the most unique bed and breakfast offerings in the state. The Lairds recently sold the mansion to a management group, who now use the facility as an upscale event facility.
Tate House is located just west of Tate, Georgia. From Atlanta, take I-75 north to I575. Take I575 north to the Georgia Mountain Parkway (515). At Route 108 turn right and go through Tate. The mansion is on Route 108 past the town on the right.
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