Not much is missing in Rabun County, whose county seat, Clayton, today counts a population of some 2,000 souls. Whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing on the nearby Chattooga River, water skiing, hiking await the adventurous. Golf and tennis, nature walks, horseback riding, shopping for antiques and arts and crafts, fly fishing for trout or bass fishing, or just driving the many scenic routes are less strenuous activities.


This was Cherokee land back in 1819, when the Georgia Legislature carved out Rabun County, naming it for William Rabun, then Georgia's governor. Human habitation in these mysterious mountains goes back perhaps 10,000 years, but the Cherokee developed a sophisticated system of communication and trading along footpaths that intersected at a place called The Dividings. Incorporated in 1823 and named for Congressman and Judge Augustus S. Clayton, Clayton now occupies that intersection, formed by the convergence of U.S. 76 and U.S. 441.


Early settlers in these mountains lived on subsistence agriculture as the mountains, while rich in wildlife and vegetation, weren't very hospitable to commercial farming. Today, however, cabbages seem to be grown by the ton. But specialty agriculture is a major economic element today, providing not only produce but also tourism. Two wineries, Persimmon Creek and Tiger Mountain Winery, both produce award-winning wines. Hillside Farms in Tiger does substantial business not only in the production of small-batch jellies, jams, pickles and preserves, but also fosters tourism with its performance facility and its corn maze. The roads are dotted with produce stands that enable residents and visitors alike to buy fruits and vegetables picked that morning. Apples are an important agricultural product.


While tourism has been a significant industry in this corner of the state since the early 20th century, textile manufacturing plays an important role in economic development today, accounting for the largest share of Rabun County jobs.


Many homeowners, a lot of them from Atlanta just 120 miles southwest, occupy second homes around Lakes Burton, Seed and Rabun, doubling the county's 15,000 population in summer season. But families also live permanently in the area. The public school system offers elementary schools; a middle school and a high school. A brand new elementary school opened in 2005. The internationally renowned Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School is a provate college preparatory boarding school, whose 314-member student body comes from a dozen countries, not including the U.S.


Art galleries and artists thrive in this terrain. Main Street Gallery, in downtown Clayton, offers an exciting and constantly changing inventory of contemporary folk art. Just seven miles west of Clayton on U.S. 76, Timpson Creek Gallery is devoted to fine art, antiques and exquisite handmade furniture, much of it by owner Dwayne Thompson.


Mountain culture is a bedrock of all that makes living in Clayton special. Foxfire, which started in 1966 as a high school English class project, is still located in Mountain City on Black Rock Mountain. Foxfire remains a student-run English class project, for which participants interview mountain folk to gather the lore, to learn how they grew up, and how they live. Students have produced 12 books and a semi-annual magazine. In 2006, a 40th anniversary book will be published. Both a play and film, the latter starring Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronin and John Denver, chronicled the Foxfire operation.


A major star in Clayton's cultural firmament is the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1934 by Mary Hambidge, it is located on 600 acres just off U.S. 441, four miles north of town. Hambidge stimulates artistic creativity with its artist-in-residence programs. Composers, choreographers, photographers, scientists, poets and writers are among the fellows, and come from all over the world. In the Weave Shed, where Mary Hambidge's weavers once worked, ceramics by the Antinori studio potters, who work on campus, is shown on an ongoing basis. Literary and musical works on CDs by Hambidge Fellows are sold in the Weave Shed, which also serves as a gift shop. The entire facility is on the National Register of Historic Places.