You've probably been to Helen if you've had a spare weekend in October and lived in North Georgia for more than a year, or taken a high school German class. It's Georgia's third most popular tourist destination next to Savannah and Atlanta. But it wasn't always pretzels and Alpine hats, and there's more to it that commemorative beer stein and a horse-drawn carriage ride.
Before Helen was Helen, around and before the 1800's, the whole area, including Nacoochee and Hiawasee were home to Cherokee tribes. The Unicoi Turnpike was approved in 1813, and it eventually became Highways 17 and 75, and later, the Trail of Tears. (If you're unfamiliar with Georgia history, check out information about the Trail of Tears here.) And, like a lot of North Georgia towns - gold was found in them hills - and Helen became a gold rush town.
But the city itself has humble beginnings. After the gold disappeared in the 1880's, the loggers came, and the city was named Helen after a sawmill manager/railroad executive's teenage daughter in 1913. The sawmills brought along the Gainesville and Northwestern Railroad.
After the logging business died down, an argyle sock factory opened (I'm not making this up) in the 1940's. Charlie Maloof started up manufacturing in the area and sold what was left of the woods to the U.S. Forestry Service. But, when the fashions changed, the factory closed, then another company tried to manufacture pants, but also fell short. In 1969, Helen residents were left wondering what to do.
That's when they called on a man named John Kollock.
Paula Ash is a longtime resident of the Alpine city. She moved to the hills of Helen in the early 1970s, just as the Alpine plan went in to place.
Ashe said some local businessmen had seen a town in South Georgia renovated and revitalized, and wanted to do the same back home. They called their friend, John, for his ideas. And Kollock delivered: he brought them drawings of a little Alpine town.
"John had been stationed in Germany when he was overseas in the military," said Ashe. "He just thought that architecture fit."
Kollock didn't just have any old idea for architecture though. While overseas, he would compare the mountains of Bavaria to the mountains of home - Helen.
"He drew it up, and it was cute, and they kind of redid the fronts [of the buildings]," said Ashe. "They pretty much redid everything in '69. There were two different builders and they just started working."
Ashe said it didn't even take them a year to transform Helen.
And, the little German Village took off, drawing in huge crowds - and it still does. It's the third most popular tourism destination in the state of Georgia.
Ashe said Kollock did all of the original drawings - some you can see at the Helen Arts and Heritage Museum, where Ashe volunteers.
"He had the pictures of the before and the after, and actually drew out and helped the builders. They'd say, 'Ok, John, I'm ready for the gingerbread. Draw me up something.' And so he'd draw them up a little template."
Ashe said that's how Kollock worked with the builders until the whole town was completed.
The Alpine theme sets Helen apart from others, but little do most tourists know, art has replaced gold in those hills.
"After a lot of the buildings were done, he painted a lot of the murals," said Ashe. She said his sister would help, too, adding flowers and details. Kollock would come paint the signs and names of their shops.
In fact, most of the murals painted in Horsey Duckey (Horse and Duck Plaza) are originals of Kollock's, though other artists have come in throughout the years and made their own marks on other buildings.
"The original ones - on Old Street - there's about four. And some of his are down Horsey Ducky."
Though the artists change over the years, each painting is still hand painted.
"I do like the historic ones that John did. On Old Street, the first ones he did, he did the depiction of the gold mining and the Indians and the settlers. And of course, he put some of the local people's faces," Ashe said. "I like the one of the back of the Helendorf that Elizabeth (Rainey) did with all the balloons. It's like two stories - a huge thing. And of course, the dancers on the Festhall, that's just fun."
I wandered around Helen for an awful long time after speaking with Paula, looking for the things she had mentioned and also looking at each object with a new light. You know how sometimes you can't "unsee" something after you learn something else, making it a totally different thing in your perspective?
That's how I felt about walking through Helen. Alone, armed only with my camera.
I went in wanting to learn about the city, buy a funny hat and maybe tweet some goofy pictures of myself in said hat, but instead, I happily paid for parking and then wandered the streets, half looking at art and looking for my car. Oh yeah - I got lost in Helen. (At least now I know my way around?)
But I made the most of getting lost. I checked out Hansel and Gretel's Candy Kitchen, which was once the Argyle Sock Factory, in Horsey Ducky, which still boasts original murals painted by Kollock. I saw the Helendorf and imagined it as the old lumber mill. I wandered up and down and all around. Learned where all the parking lots, parks, and beirgartens were, as well as locating a mini-golf course, an Alpine chapel and the Festhall, several toy stores and snack shops, as well as numerous flower displays.
Aside from the Alpine charm, pretzels and lederhosen, there are a few other things out in Helen that I'll be taking a trip back for. Like Charlemagne's Kingdom, a miniature railroad model that features intense detail of the largest Alpine model railroad, and overall miniature charm. It's tucked on a hill behind a toy shop, and hopefully I can make a stop next time the little Kingdom open's its doors (I'm not letting the "for sale" sign stop me - the Lindhorsts should expect a call from me soon!) And, lest I forget, the Helen Balloon Festival!
To get to Helen, grab a friend and maybe your dog (many places are pet friendly!) and head north on Cleveland Highway (US 11), and turn right on to Helen Highway (US 75 N). Then, you'll come right up on it. It's a little less than an hour away from Gainesville.
Be sure to join me next week as I go a little further south into Cumming and stop at the infamous gravity hill with a haunting local legend: Booger Hill.
Until then, stay curious.
This article merely scratches the surface of the vast history of the city of Helen. The full story is left up to you to research - I'm not just going to hand it to you, get off your computer and go check it out! The comments made in this feature article, by myself and by those who have been mentioned or quoted, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jacobs Media Corporation. Read, enjoy and explore at your own risk.
