Map from an early Tate Mountain Estates Publication (early 30's)
Aerial photograph of the area with notable locations (1949)
In 1930 Colonel Sam Tate had a vision. He would buy 10,000 acres and build a summer colony in a valley nestled near the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Trail's southern terminus would suit just a few miles away on top of the mountain he successfully petitioned the state of Georgia to rename. He built a 51-acre lake and name it after the great Cherokee teacher, Sequoyah. He built an 18-hole golf course and Dude Ranch. His crowning achievement was the magnificent Connahaynee Lodge set atop Mt. Burrell. The lodge was made of stone, chestnut logs, and marble. It had 30 rooms with marble bathrooms. There was a giant guest room with a massive fireplace. The lodge was so massive that it could be easily seen from over ten miles away from Amicalola Falls.
Colonel Sam sold the estates before he died in 1938. In 1946 his beautiful lodge burned to the ground on a cold spring night.
Today there are still some thirty-odd homes surrounding Lake Sequoyah. The lodge ruins rest atop Burnt Mountain and its one remaining chimney stands some forty feet tall, just barely beneath the canopies of the seventy-year-old trees that surround it.
The last chimney of the Connahaynee stands like a lone sentinel beneath the trees (2018)
The original plans from the golf course architect Van Kleek
The 18-hole golf course is no more, but still can be seen from satellite imagery quite easily.
The quarry from where the roads were made has been inoperable for decades.
The ghosts of the 1930s haunt us still. The old gym stands abandoned. This property still has the name Fritz-Orr in its legal description. Fritz-Orr ran a summer camp called Camp Tate here for about two years in the late 30's. This was near the second Dude Ranch location.
A postcard showing the interior and exterior of the Connahaynee Lodge, and Lake Sequoyah.
Bedroom at the lodge
Dining Room at the lodge
Sports Room at the lodge
Hall at the lodge
A more modern version of the map of the Automobile Route to Tate Mountain Estates from Atlanta. Camp Tate (The Second Dude Ranch location) only operated for a few years in the late 30s.
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