60 to 4, Against Flood Insurance. Helen, Georgia, 1975.
The film of this episode premieres October 13, 2026 on YouTube. The documents, the transcript and the sources are below now.
In 1969, a dying Georgia sawmill town of 270 people rebuilt its business district as a Bavarian alpine village — without state or federal money, as the captions of the federal photographer who spent the summer of 1975 there repeat like a chorus.
Transcript
Sixty to four
R001 MAYOR BOB FOWLER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN DISPLAYS A MAP SHOWING A 100-YEAR FLOOD PLAIN FOR HIS SMALL TOWN DURING A CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THEATER HELEN. THE PLAN WAS RECEIVED FROM THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. THE MEETING ATTRACTED CITIZENS WHOSE HOMES AND BUSINESSES WERE INCLUDED IN THE FLOOD PLAIN ZONE. A "STRAW VOTE" RESULTED IN A 60 TO 4 DECISION AGAINST JOINING THE FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15253). View the original.
In May of nineteen seventy-five, the town of Helen, Georgia, held a vote about its river. The count was sixty to four.
R002 ENTRANCE TO HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. MAIN STREET SHOPS LINE HIGHWAY 17/75. THE TOWN WAS A TYPICAL GEORGIA MOUNTAIN VILLAGE UNTIL 1969 WHEN OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS DECIDED UPON A BAVARIAN ALPINE MOTIF FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS DISTRICT. IT WAS DONE WITHOUT STATE OR FEDERAL FUNDS, AND USING EXISTING BUILDINGS BUT CHANGING THE EXTERIORS. A DEVELOPMENT PLAN CAUTIONS ABOUT THE NEED FOR BALANCE BETWEEN COMMERCIALISM AND PUBLIC INTEREST
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15202). View the original.
The vote was about flood insurance. The film you are watching is the federal government's. So was the warning the town voted down.
R003 AERIAL VIEW OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. MAIN STREET SHOPS ALONG GEORGIA HIGHWAY 17/75 ARE AT THE LEFT. LOWER INCOME GOVERNMENT HOUSING UNITS ARE AT THE LOWER RIGHT. CITY HALL IS SEEN IN THE CENTER OF THE PHOTO IN FRONT OF UNICOI HILL, PART OF A UNICOI RECREATION STATE PARK. THE TOWN HAS EXPERIENCED A SURGE OF TOURISM AND COMMERCIAL GROWTH BY USING A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME IN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT. THE PHOTOGRAPHER TOOK THE PICTURE FROM A BALLOON WHOSE SHADOW IS SEEN AT THE LOWER LEFT
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15203). View the original.
The photographer was Al Stephenson, of the EPA. This frame is from a balloon. Everything you will see is period color. Nothing is colorized.
The town the mill left
R004 CATTLE AND A BUILDING ON THE COMER VANDIVER FARM ON GEORGIA HIGHWAY 17/75 ONE MILE SOUTH OF HELEN, WHICH IS NEAR ROBERTSTOWN HELEN WAS A TYPICAL SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 PEOPLE UNTIL 1969. AT THAT TIME THE LOCAL OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED THE RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT LED TO NEW DEVELOPMENT AND ATTRACTED TOURISTS PROPERTY VALUATION INCREASED FROM $1,484,775 TO $3,364,703 BETWEEN 1970 AND 1974
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15297). View the original.
Helen sits on the headwaters of the Chattahoochee, ninety miles northeast of Atlanta. A lumber company built the town, cut the valley bare, and left in the Depression.
R005 THIS MILL ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT NACOOCHEE CONTINUES TO PRODUCE STONE GROUND CORN MEAL AND FLOUR. CALLED THE NORA MILL, IT IS LOCATED ONE AND A HALF MILES SOUTHWEST OF HELEN, ON STATE HIGHWAY 17/75. THE GEORGIA MOUNTAINS PLANNING COMMISSION'S 1975 COMMUNITY GROWTH PLAN FOR HELEN RECOMMENDS THAT EFFORTS BE MADE TO PRESERVE THE MILL SITE AS A SCENIC AND CULTURAL ATTRACTION LOCATED NEAR ROBERTSTOWN, HELEN IS A TOURIST ATTRACTION WITH A RENOVATED BUSINESS DISTRICT IN A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15295). View the original.
What survived, survived by grinding on. The Nora Mill, below town, was still stone-grinding cornmeal when the photographer came through.
R006 FORMER TRAVELERS INN IS NOW A PRIVATE RESIDENCE AT NACOOCHEE, GEORGIA, ONE AND A HALF MILES SOUTHWEST OF HELEN, A SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF 270 PEOPLE
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15296). View the original.
The Travelers Inn had become somebody's house.
R007 CHATTAHOOCHEE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD ON GEORGIA HIGHWAY 356 AT ROBERTSTOWN, A MILE NORTHEAST OF HELEN. THIS LOW MOUNTAIN AREA SOME 90 MILES NORTHEAST OF ATLANTA ATTRACTS CAMPERS AND FISHERMEN.ALSO OF INTEREST IS THE BUSINESS DISTRICT OF HELEN WHICH HAS BEEN RENOVATED WITH A BAVARIANALPINE THEME SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT, BEGUN IN 1969, HAS LED TO NEW DEVELOPMENT WHICH WILL AFFECT BOTH TOWNS. A PLANNING REPORT FOR HELEN CITES THE NEED FOR A BALANCE BETWEEN GROWTH AND PUBLIC INTEREST
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15308). View the original.
By the late sixties Helen was about two hundred seventy people, a church, and a state highway passing through.
R008 JIMMY WILKINS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF ORBIT MANUFACTURING CO. IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. HE STARTED THE SPORTSWEAR FIRM IN 1962 AND NOW EMPLOYS 130 PEOPLE FROM THE SURROUNDING AREA ANYBODY WHO WANTS A JOB IN HELEN AND "DOESN'T MIND WORKING," CAN FIND A JOB IN HIS PLANT, WILKINS SAYS. HIS COMPANY WAS A LEADER IN THE DECISION BY LOCAL OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS TO RENOVATE THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15244). View the original.
The biggest payroll in town was a sportswear plant. Jimmy Wilkins founded Orbit Manufacturing in nineteen sixty-two. A hundred and thirty jobs.
R009 THREE GENERATIONS OF THE TAYLOR FAMILY OF HIAWASSEE GEORGIA, WORK NEARBY AT THE ORBIT MANUFACTURING CO. CLOTHING PLANT IN NEARBY HELEN. THE PLANT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1962 AND EMPLOYS 130 PEOPLE FROM THE SURROUNDING AREA. THE TAYLORS MAKE A 30-MILE ROUND TRIP TO HELEN EACH DAY. THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 RESIDENTS HAS ATTRACTED ADDITIONAL BUSINESSES AND TOURISTS BECAUSE OF A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME FOR THE BUSINESS DISTRICT. ORBIT OFFICIALS WERE LEADERS IN THE RENOVATION PLAN
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15243). View the original.
Three generations of one family sewed there, driving thirty miles round trip every day.
Bavaria, without permission
R010 AN "AIR PAINTING" BY ATLANTA ARTIST JOHN KOLLOCK DEPICTS THE HISTORY OF THE HELEN, GEORGIA, AREA. KOLLOCK ORIGINATED THE VILLAGE'S BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME AFTER BEING CONTACTED BY OFFICIALS OF A SPORTSWEAR MANUFACTURING FIRM AT HELEN. A NORTHERN GEORGIA GOLD RUSH SCENE IS PORTRAYED ON THE BUILDING THAT HOUSES A TEA ROOM AND GIFT SHOP. THE VILLAGE HAS EXPERIENCED COMMERCIAL GROWTH AND TOURISM SINCE THE ALPINE THEME WAS APPROVED IN EARLY 1969. THE VILLAGE IS NEAR ROBERTSTOWN
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15207). View the original.
In December of nineteen sixty-eight, businessmen from the plant asked an Atlanta artist named John Kollock what could be done about the town. He had soldiered in southern Germany. He came back with watercolors of Helen as an Alpine village.
R011 OLD STREET (ALTE STRASSE) IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN, HAS THE TYPE OF ATMOSPHERE WHICH PLANNERS HOPE TO CREATE ON AN OPEN AIR MALL ALONG MAIN STREET. TOURISM AND COMMERCIAL GROWTH HAS COME TO THE VILLAGE SINCE ITS OFFICIALS BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS OKAYED A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME FOR THE BUSINESS DISTRICT. THE MOTIF WAS ATTAINED BY CONSTRUCTING ALPINE EXTERIORS OVER EXISTING BUILDINGS WITHOUT STATE OR FEDERAL FUNDING THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE NOTED SOME 270 RESIDENTS IN 1975
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15206). View the original.
They built the watercolors. Plain brick and concrete block grew timbered gables and painted balconies. The lane behind Main Street became a cobblestoned Old Street.
R012 TOURISTS PASS THE HOUSE OF TYROL ON THE MAIN STREET OF HELEN GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. PAINTING ON THE WALL AT THE TOP LEFT DEPICTS ANNA RUBY FALLS, A FAVORITE ATTRACTION OUTSIDE OF TOWN. THE TOWN HAS EXPERIENCED A SURGE OF TOURISM AND COMMERCIAL GROWTH BY USING A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME IN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT. A STATE DEVELOPMENT PLAN CAUTIONS THAT A BALANCE IS NEEDED BETWEEN COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC INTEREST AND CULTURAL VALUES TO KEEP THE VILLAGE FROM BECOMING A TOURIST TRAP
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15204). View the original.
The captions on these photographs are the photographer's own, and they repeat one sentence like a chorus. A typical Georgia mountain village — until nineteen sixty-nine.
R013 SIGN AND POTTED GERANIUMS OUTSIDE THE "HOUSE OF TYROL", AN IMPORT SHOP ON THE MAIN STREET OF HELEN. IN JANUARY, 1969, RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME WAS STARTED AFTER THE IDEA WAS ENDORSED BY BUSINESSMEN, OFFICIALS AND RESIDENTS SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT HAS LED TO ADDITIONAL BUSINESS AND INCREASED TOURISM. A NEW ALPINE DEVELOPMENT AT THE EDGE OF TOWN IS UNDERWAY THAT WILL DOUBLE PRESENT TOURIST FACILITIES
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15354). View the original.
And one boast, over and over. It was done without state or federal funds. Existing buildings. New exteriors. Local money.
R014 VILLAGE EMPLOYED GARDENERS AT WORK ON THE MAIN STREET OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. TOURISM AND COMMERCIAL GROWTH HAVE COME TO THE SMALL MOUNTAIN VILLAGE SINCE ITS OFFICIALS BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS OKAYED A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME FOR THE BUSINESS DISTRICT. WITHOUT USING STATE OR FEDERAL FUNDS BUSINESSMEN REVAMPED EXISTING BUILDINGS WITH NEW EXTERIORS IN ALPINE MOTIFS. THE SUCCESS OF THE PLAN HAS LED TO NEW DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15213). View the original.
By the summer these frames were made, the town employed its own gardeners on Main Street.
The people who stayed
R015 JIMMY WILKINS, PRESIDENT OF ORBIT MANUFACTURING CO (SPORTSWEAR). STANDS BESIDE HIS GOLF CART WHICH IS BEING REPAIRED BY CHIEF WESTMORELAND (BENDING OVER CART). THE LOCAL "MR. FIX-IT" IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. "CHIEF WON'T EVER SEND ME A BILL" WILKINS SAID, "SO ONCE OF TWICE A YEAR I SEND HIM A CHECK FOR $100." THIS IS NOT AN UNUSUAL WAY OF CONDUCTING BUSINESS BETWEEN HELEN RESIDENTS. RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT HAS ATTRACTED TOURISTS AND NEW BUSINESSES
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15234). View the original.
The company president's golf cart got fixed by a man everyone called Chief. Chief won't ever send me a bill, Wilkins told the photographer. So once or twice a year I send him a check for a hundred dollars.
R016 WARREN BROWN, OWNER OF THE SERVICE STATION AND GROCERY ON MAIN STREET IN HELEN, GEORGIA, SITS IN A 1929 FORD WHILE HIS SON GASSES THE CAR, ONE OF MANY HE HAS COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15235). View the original.
Warren Brown still gassed up his nineteen twenty-nine Ford at his own pumps.
R017 MRS. WARREN BROWN (BEHIND COUNTER) OPERATES THE GROCERY INSIDE THE SERVICE STATION SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAVE OWNED FOR 20 YEARS IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. UNTIL 1969 THERE WERE ONLY A FEW STORES OF THE CONVENIENCE TYPE IN THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF LESS THAN 300 POPULATION. THEN THE TOWN DECIDED TO CREATE A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME AND RENOVATED THEIR BUSINESS DISTRICT. SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT RESULTED IN ATTRACTING NEW BUSINESSES AND TOURISTS
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15236). View the original.
His wife ran the grocery inside the station. They had owned it for twenty years.
R018 BETTY FAIN OPENS FOR BUSINESS ON MAIN STREET AT BETTY's GROCERY IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15229). View the original.
Betty Fain opened her country store every morning, across from the imports.
R019 MRS. LULA VANDIVER, 101, OF HELEN, GEORGIA, STANDS ON HER PORCH WITH HER NEPHEW, BILL VANDIVER OF NEARBY ROBERTSTOWN. SHE IS THE OLDEST RESIDENT OF WHITE COUNTY. THE HOME IN WHICH SHE HAD LIVED FOR 60 YEARS BURNED SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER AND SHE MOVED INTO A TWO ROOM SHACK ACROSS THE ROAD. ALTHOUGH ALMOST TOTALLY BLIND AND DEAF, MRS. VANDIVER INSISTS ON LIVING ALONE, REFUSING TO MOVE IN WITH ANY OF HER FOUR CHILDREN WHO LIVE IN HELEN
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15252). View the original.
Lula Vandiver was a hundred and one, the oldest resident of White County. Her house had burned. She moved into two rooms across the road and refused to live anywhere else.
R020 OFFICE OF THE LATE ATTORNEY C.N. MALOOF IN HELEN, GEORGIA NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. HE WAS ONE OF THE TOWN'S LARGEST COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS AND A STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF THE BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME FOR THE COMMUNITY'S BUSINESS DISTRICT FROM ITS CONCEPTION IN DECEMBER, 1968. WHEN HE DIED IN 1972 HIS WIDOW LOCKED THE OFFICE, AND IT HAS REMAINED UNTOUCHED AT THE EASTERN END OF HELEN'S MAIN STREET SHOPPING AREA EVER SINCE
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15245). View the original.
The lawyer C.N. Maloof backed the Alpine plan from its first month. He died in nineteen seventy-two. His widow locked the office, and nothing inside has been touched since.
R021 MRS. C.N. MALOOF WORKS IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN IN FRONT OF HER MAIN STREET HOME IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. HER HUSBAND WAS ONE OF THE TOWN'S LARGEST COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS AND A STAUNCH SUPPORTER OF THE BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME FOR THE COMMUNITY'S BUSINESS DISTRICT FROM ITS INCEPTION IN DECEMBER, 1968 WHEN HE DIED IN 1972 MRS. MALOOF LOCKED HIS OFFICE, AND IT HAS REMAINED UNTOUCHED AT THE EASTERN END OF HELEN'S MAIN STREET EVER SINCE
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15246). View the original.
She keeps the vegetable garden in front of their house on Main Street.
The boom
R022 TRAFFIC MOVES THROUGH THE CENTER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN ON AN AVERAGE SATURDAY IN JULY. NO TRAFFIC LIGHT REGULATES THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC, AND PEDESTRIANS AND BIKE RIDERS HAVE TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES WHEN THE POLICEMAN NORMALLY ON DUTY IS IN COURT. A STATE FINANCED PLANNING REPORT FOR HELEN RECOMMENDED STATE CONSTRUCTION OF A BYPASS AS AN ALTERNATE TOURIST ROUTE TO THE NORTH GEORGIA MOUNTAINS
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15255). View the original.
It worked. The captions put the town's property valuation at a million and a half dollars in nineteen seventy — and three point four million four years later.
R023 OUT OF STATE TOURISTS IGNORE A HOMEOWNER'S REQUEST FOR "NO PARKING" IN FRONT OF HIS MAIN STREET HOME IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. TRAFFIC IS CONGESTED, ESPECIALLY ON THE WEEKENDS BETWEEN MAY AND OCTOBER, AS VISITORS ARRIVE TO SEE THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 RESIDENTS. HELEN HAS BEEN AN ATTRACTION SINCE 1969 WHEN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT RENOVATED THE STORE EXTERIORS WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15242). View the original.
On summer weekends the tourists parked where they liked.
R024 MRS. CLO YORK, HOUSEKEEPER FOR THE ALPINE MOTEL ON RIVER STREET IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. SHE LIVED ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE PRESENT MOTEL SITE FOR 27 YEARS BEFORE MOVING INTO THE COUNTRY IN 1974. THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 RESIDENTS HAS GOTTEN TOO CROWDED FOR HER. "I STILL LIKE TO VISIT, AND I LIKE TO WORK HERE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO LIVE HERE ANYMORE. I WANT TO HAVE A PLACE TO PARK MY CAR." ON WEEKENDS ESPECIALLY, TOURISTS TEND TO TAKE MOST OF THE PARKING SPACES
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15240). View the original.
Mrs. Clo York cleaned rooms at the motel across from where she had lived for twenty-seven years. I still like to visit, and I like to work here. But I don't want to live here anymore. I want to have a place to park my car.
R025 THE ANDY ADAMS DOG TAKES HIS EASE AT THE FAMILY HOME ON CHATTAHOOCHEE DRIVE IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE FAMILY PLANNED TO SELL THEIR 2 1/2-ACRE PLOT AND MOVE FARTHER INTO THE MOUNTAINS BECAUSE THEY FELT THE VILLAGE THE FAMILY HAD LIVED IN FOR 20 YEARS WAS BECOMING "TOO CROWDED" AND THE LAST CHILD STILL AT HOME WANTED TO GO WHERE HE COULD "SHOOT MY GUN". A PLANNING REPORT WARNS THAT THE TOWN COULD BECOME A TOURIST CENTER AND LOSE ITS CHARACTER IF COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT IS UNCHECKED
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15226). View the original.
The Adams family put their two and a half acres up for sale. The village they had lived in for twenty years had gotten — their words — too crowded.
R026 JOHNNY ADAMS (IN CAP) AND SUMMER ROOMMATE, DAVID CROOK TRAIN THEIR PET TURTLE FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY RACES AT NEARBY UNICOI STATE PARK
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15225). View the original.
Their son stayed for the summer, training a pet turtle for the Fourth of July races.
R027 HOME ON RIVER STREET, HALF A BLOCK SOUTH OF MAIN STREET SHOPS IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE VILLAGE OF SOME 270 RESIDENTS IS LOCATED 90 MILES NORTHEAST OF ATLANTA. IT WAS TYPICAL OF SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES IN THE AREA UNTIL 1969 WHEN THE TOWN DECIDED TO RENOVATE BUSINESS DISTRICT SHOPS WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. A 1975 COMMUNITY GROWTH PLAN ESTIMATES THERE ARE 22 FAMILIES LIVING IN THE CORE AREA SOUTH OF MAIN STREET WHO WILL BE DISPLACED BETWEEN 1975 AND 1990
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15220). View the original.
A growth plan for Helen, financed by the state, was circulating that year. The captions quote that plan again and again. One estimate: twenty-two families living south of Main Street would be displaced by nineteen ninety.
R028 HOME ON RIVER STREET, HALF A BLOCK SOUTH OF MAIN STREET SHOPS IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE TOWN WAS TYPICAL OF SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES IN THE AREA UNTIL 1969 WHEN THE RESIDENTS DECIDED TO RENOVATE BUSINESS DISTRICT SHOPS WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. A 1975 COMMUNITY GROWTH PLAN ESTIMATES THERE ARE 22 FAMILIES LIVING IN THE CORE AREA SOUTH OF MAIN STREET WHO WILL BE DISPLACED BETWEEN 1975 AND 1990. THE HOME OWNER ON THE PORCH PLANS TO SELL IN A YEAR OR TWO AND LEAVE THE TOWN
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15221). View the original.
The owner of this house told the photographer he would sell in a year or two, and leave.
R029 LOW INCOME GOVERNMENT FINANCED HOUSING AT THE FOOT OF DYE STREET IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE VILLAGE OF SOME 270 RESIDENTS IS LOCATED 90 MILES NORTHEAST OF ATLANTA. IT WAS TYPICAL OF SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES IN THE AREA UNTIL 1969 WHEN LOCAL OFFICIALS, STORE OWNERS AND RESIDENTS BEGAN RENOVATING THE EXTERIORS IN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT USING A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT HAS LED TO NEW COMMERCIAL GROWTH AND A SURGE OF TOURISM
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15218). View the original.
And at the foot of Dye Street stood the thing the boast leaves out — government-financed housing, for the people the boom was not reaching.
R030 RESIDENTS AND FRIENDS ON THE FRONT PORCH OF A RENTED HOUSE ON UNICOI STREET IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE WOMEN ARE COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO HAVE RENTED THE PLACE DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS WHILE WORKING AT UNICOI STATE PARK FIVE MILES NORTH OF THE TOWN. THE STATE PARK, AND THE BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME IN THE RENOVATED BUSINESS DISTRICT OF HELEN HAVE RESULTED IN A SURGE OF TOURISTS. THE TOURISTS HAVE RESULTED IN COMMERCIAL PRESSURE AND CHANGE FOR VILLAGE RESIDENTS
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15222). View the original.
College students rented the spare houses in summer and worked at the state park up the road.
The second village
R031 QUARTER ACRE PLOT OF LAND SURROUNDING THE WURST HAUS (RESTAURANT IN LEFT BACKGROUND) IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE LAND WAS SOLD TO SEVERAL INDEPENDENT DEVELOPERS FOR $200,000. CONSTRUCTION OF A COMMERCIAL COMPLEX OF SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS WILL BEGIN AS SOON AS THE VILLAGE SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM IS COMPLETED. ONCE THE SEWAGE PLANT IS IN OPERATION THE LAND DEVELOPMENT MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN TWO YEARS. THE PHOTO WAS TAKEN FROM THE MAIN STREET WATER FOUNTAIN
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15211). View the original.
The quarter acre of ground around the Worst Haus restaurant sold to developers for two hundred thousand dollars.
R032 DRAWINGS OF WHITE HORSE SQUARE, A PROPOSED QUARTER ACRE DEVELOPMENT ON THE MAIN STREET OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE SHOPS WILL BE LOCATED AROUND THE WURST HAUS (RESTAURANT) IN THE FOREGROUND, WHICH ALREADY OCCUPIED THE SITE AND THE CITY HALL (BACKGROUND AT EXTREME UPPER RIGHT). SEVERAL INDEPENDENT DEVELOPERS PAID $200,000 FOR THE SITE WHICH WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH AN ALPINE THEME WHICH WAS CHOSEN BY THE BUSINESS DISTRICT DURING AN EARLIER RENOVATION
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15212). View the original.
The drawings called it White Horse Square.
R033 A 1/25,000 SCALE MAP DEPICTING LAND OWNED BY THE ALPINE VALLEY INVESTMENT CORPORATION (AVIC) WHICH PLANS A SECOND ALPINE VILLAGE OUTSIDE OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. HELEN TOWN OFFICIALS BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED A BUSINESS DISTRICT RENOVATION WITH AN ALPINE THEME IN 1969. AVIC PAID $1.8 MILLION FOR SOME 1,150 ACRES TO INSURE CONTROLLED GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE ALPINE THEME
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15274). View the original.
Outside town, Pete Hodkinson's Alpine Valley Investment Corporation paid one point eight million dollars for eleven hundred and fifty acres.
R034 DRAWING OF ALPINE VALLEY INVESTMENT CORPORATION'S (AVIC) PLANNED NEW VILLAGE OUTSIDE OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN ALL LOTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT WERE SOLD WITHIN FOUR WEEKS AFTER GOING ON THE MARKET IN APRIL, 1975. THE LOTS ARE DEED RESTRICTED TO INSURE BALANCE BETWEEN SHOPS, RESTAURANTS AND LODGING. THE NEW DEVELOPMENT WILL DOUBLE THE SIZE OF HELEN'S PRESENT TOURIST FACILITIES. CONSTRUCTION COST IS ESTIMATED AT $10 MILLION
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15275). View the original.
Their new village would double the tourist capacity of Helen. Ten million dollars of construction. Every lot sold within four weeks of going on the market.
R035 HELEN VALLEY SEEN FROM THE FRONT OF THE HOME OF MAYOR BOB FOWLER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. STACKED CONCRETE BLOCKS AT THE BOTTOM CENTER OF THE PHOTO MARK THE AREA FOR A NEW TOURIST VILLAGE OUTSIDE OF HELEN WHICH WILL DOUBLE THE SIZE OF THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY'S TOURIST FACILITIES. EARTH MOVING EQUIPMENT AT THE UPPER END OF THE VALLEY IS BEING USED TO INSTALL HELEN'S FIRST SEWAGE TREATMENT LINE. HELEN'S BUSINESS DISTRICT WAS RENOVATED WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME STARTING IN 1969
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15276). View the original.
From the mayor's front yard you could watch it begin. Stacked concrete blocks marking the new village. Machinery at the head of the valley.
R036 CONSTRUCTION OF THE FIRST UNIT OF A NEW ALPINE VILLAGE OUTSIDE OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15278). View the original.
The first unit framed up in June.
R037 DRAGLINE OPERATOR WORKS ON A MOAT AND CANAL SYSTEM FOR A NEW ALPINE VILLAGE AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. WHEN BUILT IT WILL DOUBLE THE SIZE OF THE TOURIST FACILITIES OF THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 PEOPLE. THE CORPORATION THAT IS BUILDING THE FACILITIES IS CONTINUING THE BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME OF THE HELEN BUSINESS DISTRICT. IT WAS RENOVATED, STARTING IN 1969 AFTER ENDORSEMENT FROM TOWN OFFICIALS BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15279). View the original.
A dragline dug the new village a moat and canal system. A moat. In White County, Georgia.
R038 DICK GAY, SECOND FROM RIGHT, TALKS OVER EXPANSION PLANS FOR THE HELLENDOFF INN WITH LOCAL BUILDING CONTRACTORS AT HELEN GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. GAY IS PRESIDENT OF A CORPORATION THAT RUNS THE INN. THE CORPORATION CONSISTS OF INVESTORS WHO PURCHASED THE INN UNITS FOR $20,000 EACH. THESE "CONDOMINIUM" UNITS ARE RENTED OUT YEAR-ROUND AND THE INN'S PROFITS DIVIDED EQUALLY AMONG THE "CONDOMINIUM" OWNERS
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15277). View the original.
The rooms at the town's inn had been sold to investors — twenty thousand dollars apiece, rented out year round, the profits split among the owners.
The first sewer
R039 SEWAGE PIPES READY FOR INSTALLATION AS PART OF THE FIRST SEWAGE SYSTEM FOR HELEN. THE PROJECT BECAME A NECESSITY BECAUSE THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 RESIDENTS HAS BECOME A TOURIST ATTRACTION. IN 1969 LOCAL OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED THE RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE MOTIF. ITS SUCCESS HAS ATTRACTED NEW BUSINESSES AND TOURISTS. PROPERTY VALUATION MORE THAN DOUBLED BETWEEN 1970 AND 1974
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15283). View the original.
This is why the Environmental Protection Agency was here at all. Helen was laying its first sewer line — two hundred seventy residents, hosting crowds the town was never plumbed for.
R040 {{en|A construction worker drills through solid rock along Escowee Street on the bank of the Chattahoochee River prior to laying pipe for the first sewage treatment system in Helen. The project became a necessity to take care of the tourists who visit the small mountain community of some 270 people. In 1969 local officials, businessmen and residents endorsed the renovation of the business district with a Bavarian alpine theme. Its success has attracted new businesses and tourists.}}
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15285). View the original.
Workers drilled through solid rock along the riverbank to lay the pipe.
R041 LANIER CHAMBERS IN HIS RECENTLY PURCHASED SERVICE STATION AND GENERAL STORE AT THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE HELEN, GEORGIA, CITY LIMITS. CHAMBERS IS DEVELOPING LAND FOR RESIDENTIAL USE IN HELEN AND DOES NOT LIVE THERE HIMSELF. HE BOUGHT THE BUSINESS WHEN THE FORMER OWNER REFUSED TO REMODEL IT WITH AN ALPINE MOTIF. THE FORMER OWNER WAS NOT REQUIRED TO REMODEL SINCE THE STATION IS LOCATED JUST OUTSIDE THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE CITY LIMITS. HELEN IS NEAR ROBERTSTOWN
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15238). View the original.
The theme had one holdout. A service station sat just outside the city limits, where the Alpine motif could not be required, and its owner refused it. So Lanier Chambers bought the station.
R042 LANIER CHAMBERS PAINTS PART OF THE NEW ALPINE EXTERIOR OF HIS RECENTLY ACQUIRED SERVICE STATION AT THE EDGE OF HELEN, GEORGIA NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. HE BOUGHT THE STATION WHEN THE FORMER OWNER REFUSED TO RENOVATE. THE PREVIOUS OWNER COULD NOT BE FORCED TO USE THE ALPINE MOTIF BECAUSE THE STATION IS LOCATED JUST OUTSIDE THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE CITY LIMITS. CHAMBERS IS DEVELOPING LAND FOR RESIDENTIAL USE IN HELEN AND DOES NOT LIVE THERE HIMSELF
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15239). View the original.
Then he painted it Alpine himself.
Helen to the Atlantic
R043 PETE HODKINSON, III, PRESIDENT OF THE ALPINE VALLEY INVESTMENT CORPORATION, FIRES THE PROPANE BURNER ON HIS HOT AIR BALLOON, THE HELEN, DURING A WARMUP FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL HELEN TO ATLANTIC OCEAN BALLOON RACE. THE RACE STARTED OUTSIDE OF HELEN, GEORGIA NEAR ROBERTSTOWN IN AN AREA BEING DEVELOPED BY HODKINSON'S CORPORATION AS A SECOND ALPINE VILLAGE. THE TOWN OF HELEN HAS A BUSINESS DISTRICT THAT WAS RENOVATED WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE MOTIF
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15268). View the original.
Hodkinson's other invention was a race. Hot air balloons, from Helen to the Atlantic Ocean. This is him, firing the burner of a balloon named The Helen.
R044 HOT AIR BALLOONS OUTSIDE OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN BEING TESTED PRIOR TO THE SECOND ANNUAL HELEN TO ATLANTIC OCEAN BALLOON RACE. THE COMPETITION STARTED IN THE AREA BEING DEVELOPED BY A CORPORATION AS A SECOND ALPINE VILLAGE THAT WILL DOUBLE THE SIZE OF PRESENT TOURIST FACILITIES. THE TOWN OF HELEN HAS CHANGED SINCE 1969 WHEN LOCAL OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15271). View the original.
The second annual race lifted off in May, nineteen seventy-five.
R045 HOT AIR BALLOONS BEING INFLATED WITH PROPANE BURNERS OUTSIDE OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL HELEN TO ATLANTIC OCEAN BALLOON RACE. THE COMPETITION BEGAN OUTSIDE OF TOWN IN AN AREA BEING DEVELOPED BY A CORPORATION AS A SECOND ALPINE VILLAGE. HELEN WAS A TYPICAL SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY UNTIL 1969 WHEN TOWN OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE MOTIF
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15269). View the original.
From the corporation's own ground. Pilots came in from Florida and Atlanta.
The Fourth of July
R046 MAYOR BOB FOWLER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN WAITS TO LEAD THE FOURTH OF JULY PARADE DOWN MAIN STREET. HELEN WAS A TYPICAL SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF LESS THAN 300 UNTIL EARLY 1969 WHEN TOWN OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED THE RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT AS A BAVARIAN ALPINE VILLAGE. THE PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS AND RESULTED IN NEW BUSINESSES AND A SURGE OF TOURISM. THE BUSIEST TIME IS BETWEEN MAY AND OCTOBER, PARTICULARLY ON WEEKENDS
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15258). View the original.
On the Fourth of July, Mayor Bob Fowler led the parade down Main Street.
R047 WHITE COUNTY FARMER PARADES A MINIATURE MULE TEAM DOWN MAIN STREET IN THE FOURTH OF JULY PARADE IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. HELEN WAS A TYPICAL SMALL MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OF LESS THAN 300 UNTIL 1969 WHEN TOWN OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH AN ALPINE THEME THE PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS AND RESULTED IN NEW BUSINESSES AND A SURGE OF TOURISM. A PLANNING REPORT CAUTIONS ON THE NEED FOR BALANCE BETWEEN GROWTH AND PUBLIC INTEREST
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15262). View the original.
A farmer drove a miniature mule team past the Bavarian gables.
R048 WHITE COUNTY BEAUTY QUEEN (OVERALLS) AND HER DRIVER TOSS BUBBLE GUM AND CANDY TO THE CROWD LINING THE MAIN STREET OF HELEN GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN DURING A FOURTH OF JULY PARADE. HELEN WAS A TYPICAL SMALL MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OF LESS THAN 300 PEOPLE UNTIL EARLY 1969 WHEN TOWN OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME THE PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS AND ATTRACTED NEW BUSINESSES AND A SURGE OF TOURISTS
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15265). View the original.
The county beauty queen wore overalls and threw bubble gum to the crowd.
R049 THE "VON TRAPP" FAMILY, STARS IN THE "SOUND OF MUSIC" THEATRICAL OUTSIDE THE THEATER HELEN IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. IT IS THE THIRD YEAR OF ITS SUMMER PERFORMANCE WITH A CAST THAT INCLUDES PROFESSIONAL ACTORS AND ACTRESSES FROM NEW YORK CITY AS WELL AS ACTING STUDENTS FROM COLLEGES IN THE SOUTH AND FOUR CHILDREN WHO LIVE IN HELEN. THE THEATER WAS BEGUN FOLLOWING RENOVATION OF THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF LESS THAN 300 PEOPLE WITH AN ALPINE BUSINESS DISTRICT
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15272). View the original.
That summer, Theater Helen staged The Sound of Music. Its third season. Professional actors from New York — and four children from Helen.
R050 GUESTS AT THE "SOUND OF MUSIC" OPENING NIGHT PARTY EXAMINE PROGRESS PHOTOS AND PLANNED DEVELOPMENT DRAWINGS LINING THE WALLS OF THE ALPINE VALLEY INVESTMENT CORPORATION OFFICE. THE FIRM IS STARTING A SECOND ALPINE VILLAGE OUTSIDE OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE TOWN OF HELEN HAS SUMMER PERFORMANCES OF THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS. THE THEATER WAS STARTED AFTER THE TOWN RENOVATED THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15273). View the original.
The opening-night party was held in the investment corporation's office, under the drawings of the town to come.
The map
Now, the vote. On the last day of nineteen seventy-three, Congress had passed the Flood Disaster Protection Act. Its stated purpose is printed in the heading: requiring known flood-prone communities to participate in the program.
Section two hundred one. The government would notify every known flood-prone community. Each one would then join the program — or prove, within six months, that it was not seriously flood-prone.
Section two hundred two gave the notice teeth. After July first, nineteen seventy-five, no federal officer or agency could approve financial assistance for construction in an identified flood hazard area, unless the community joined.
And every federally regulated bank was barred from writing a loan on improved property in such an area. Same date. Same condition.
D01 MAYOR BOB FOWLER OF HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN DISPLAYS A MAP SHOWING A 100-YEAR FLOOD PLAIN FOR HIS SMALL TOWN DURING A CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT THEATER HELEN. THE PLAN WAS RECEIVED FROM THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. THE MEETING ATTRACTED CITIZENS WHOSE HOMES AND BUSINESSES WERE INCLUDED IN THE FLOOD PLAIN ZONE. A "STRAW VOTE" RESULTED IN A 60 TO 4 DECISION AGAINST JOINING THE FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15253). View the original.
The federal flood map for Helen is dated September sixth, nineteen seventy-four. In May, the mayor put it before a council meeting at Theater Helen — weeks before the statute's deadline. The caption records the straw vote. Sixty to four, against.
The river's record
R051 TOURIST PAUSES FOR A MOMENT OF SOLITUDE THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER SOUTH OF THE GEORGIA HIGHWAY 17/75 BRIDGE AT THE WESTERN ENTRANCE TO HELEN, A SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 PEOPLE IT WAS A TYPICAL VILLAGE IN THE AREA UNTIL 1969 WHEN LOCAL OFFICIALS BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED THE RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT ATTRACTED NEW BUSINESSES AND A SURGE OF TOURISTS BETWEEN MAY AND OCTOBER
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15294). View the original.
Whether Helen was seriously flood-prone was not, on the record, a close question.
R052 ONE OF THE UNITS OF THE ALPINE RIVER LODGE ON RIVER STREET IN HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE STRUCTURES ARE LOCATED ON THE 100-YEAR FLOOD PLAIN OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER, SEEN AT THE EXTREME RIGHT EDGE OF THE PHOTO ABOVE THE BUSHES. ON AT LEAST ONE OCCASION IN RECENT YEARS LODGE OCCUPANTS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED BY ROWBOAT. THE LODGE ALPINE THEME ECHOES THAT OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT IN THE SMALL COMMUNITY OF 270 RESIDENTS
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15241). View the original.
And the caption on this frame — a lodge on River Street — says the buildings stand on the hundred-year flood plain of the Chattahoochee. On at least one occasion in recent years, it says, lodge occupants have been evacuated by rowboat.
R053 PEDESTRIAN ROUTE UNDER THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER BRIDGE CONNECTS THE HELEN, GEORGIA, CITY PARKING LOT IN THE BACKGROUND WITH MAIN STREET SHOPS AND ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR TOURISTS TO CROSS BUSY GEORGIA HIGHWAY 17/75 THAT RUNS THROUGH THE TOWN
Al Stephenson · June 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15208). View the original.
This is the river in question. The Geological Survey's flood record at Helen carries three peaks from before the vote, entered as estimates. The largest two — nineteen sixty-seven, and nineteen seventy-three — around ten thousand cubic feet per second.
R054 MONTHLY MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AT CITY HALL IN HELEN GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. THE THREE WOMEN IN THE FOREGROUND PRESENTED THE COUNCIL WITH A PETITION SIGNED BY 30 "PROPERTY OWNERS" OF HELEN WHO OPPOSED PARTICIPATION IN THE FEDERAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM PROPOSED BY THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. THE MAN WITH THE CAMERA WAS A FLORIDA POWER COMPANY EMPLOYEE WHO WAS STUDYING HELEN'S DEVELOPMENT AS A GUIDE TO REVITALIZING SMALL TOWNS WHICH HIS COMPANY SERVES
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15254). View the original.
In July the council met again. Three women presented a petition signed by thirty property owners of Helen, opposed to participation in the federal flood insurance program. Also in the room, the photographer noted, was a Florida power company man — studying Helen as a model for reviving small towns.
R055 CHILDREN AT PLAY ON A ROPE SWING AT "BIG ROCK", THE FAVORITE LOCAL PLAY AREA ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER 250 YARDS SOUTH OF THE RIVER BRIDGE AT THE WESTERN ENTRANCE TO HELEN. IN THE LEFT BACKGROUND CAN BE SEEN THE FIRST UNIT OF A NEW ALPINE VILLAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF HELEN. THE PROJECT CARRIES OUT THE BAVARIAN THEME OF THE HELEN BUSINESS DISTRICT. CHILDREN FEAR THEY WILL LOSE ACCESS TO THEIR SWIMMING HOLE WHEN THE DEVELOPMENT IS COMPLETED
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15286). View the original.
No caption records the town's reasons. What the film records is what the river was to Helen that summer.
R056 CHILDREN AT PLAY ON A ROPE SWING AT "BIG ROCK", THE FAVORITE LOCAL PLAY AREA ON THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER 250 YARDS SOUTH OF THE RIVER BRIDGE AT THE WESTERN ENTRANCE TO HELEN. NEARBY (NOT SHOWN) IS THE FIRST UNIT OF A NEW ALPINE VILLAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT THE OUTSKIRTS OF HELEN. THE PROJECT CARRIES OUT THE BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME OF THE HELEN BUSINESS DISTRICT. CHILDREN FEAR THEY WILL LOSE ACCESS TO THEIR SWIMMING HOLE WHEN THE DEVELOPMENT IS FINISHED
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15287). View the original.
The swing at Big Rock, two hundred fifty yards below the bridge.
R057 CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT HELEN IS A POPULAR SPOT TO BEGIN INNER TUBE FLOAT EXCURSIONS. THESE YOUTHS ARE PART OF A GROUP TOURING THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS REGIONS. SPONSORED BY THE CHRISTIAN ATHLETES OF COCOA BEACH, FLORIDA, THE TOUR INCLUDES A TWO MILE TUBE TRIP WHICH STARTS AT THE RIVER BRIDGE AT HELEN. THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY ATTRACTS OTHER TOURISTS WHO COME TO SEE THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WHICH HAS BEEN RENOVATED IN AN ALPINE THEME
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15290). View the original.
Tour groups came to float the river on truck inner tubes.
R058 TWO YOUTHS ON TRUCK INNER TUBES FLOATING DOWN THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT HELEN. THIS IS ONE OF THE FAVORITE SUMMER PASTIMES FOR THE YOUNG RESIDENTS OF THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 PEOPLE. IN 1969 LOCAL OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED THE RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT ATTRACTED NEW BUSINESSES AND A SURGE OF TOURISTS. CHILDREN ARE AFRAID NEW DEVELOPMENT WILL THREATEN USE OF THEIR FAVORITE SWIMMING HOLE
Al Stephenson · May 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15289). View the original.
And the swimming-hole captions carry the only fear anyone voiced about the water. The children were afraid of losing Big Rock — to the new development. Not to the river.
Oktoberfest
R059 THE ALPINE VILLAGE THEME OF HELEN BEGAN TAKING SHAPE IN JANUARY, 1969, AFTER LOCAL MERCHANTS DECIDED TO CHANGE THE TOWN'S IMAGE IN AN ATTEMPT TO INCREASE TRADE. THE FIRST OKTOBERFEST WAS HELD IN 1971 AND HAS BECOME AN ANNUAL EVENT. FESTIVITIES FOR 1975 TOOK PLACE IN A LARGE CIRCUS TENT SET UP JUST OUTSIDE THE DOWNTOWN SHOPPING DISTRICT OF HELEN. RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT RESULTED IN INCREASED TOURISM AND A NEW ALPINE DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL DOUBLE PRESENT FACILITIES
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15334). View the original.
September. The fifth annual Oktoberfest.
R060 VISITORS, INCLUDING MANY OF GERMAN ANCESTRY, ATTENDED THE FIFTH ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST IN HELEN. THE 1975 EVENT WAS HELD IN A LARGE CIRCUS TENT SET UP IN A FIELD NEAR THE HELENDORF INN (SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND) AND WITHIN EASY WALKING DISTANCE OF HELEN'S MAIN STREET SHOPPING DISTRICT WHICH HAS BEEN RENOVATED WITH A BAVARIANALPINE THEME. THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 PEOPLE WAS TYPICAL OF VILLAGES IN THE AREA UNTIL THE RENOVATION BEGAN IN 1969
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15335). View the original.
A circus tent in the field by the inn, an easy walk from Main Street.
R061 VISITORS TO THE ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST AT HELEN DANCE TO AUTHENTIC BAVARIAN STYLE MUSIC PROVIDED BY TWO GERMAN SKI INSTRUCTORS ON LEAVE FROM A NEARBY NORTH GEORGIA SKI RESORT. THE SMALL MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY OF SOME 270 PEOPLE WAS TYPICAL OF VILLAGES IN THE AREA UNTIL 1969. AT THAT TIME BUSINESSMEN, OFFICIALS AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED THE RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. THE PROJECT HAS INCREASED BUSINESS AND TOURISM
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15337). View the original.
Two German ski instructors, on leave from a north Georgia ski resort, played the music.
R062 A GROUP OF "UNICOI CLOGGERS" FROM WHITE COUNTY, GEORGIA PERFORM AMERICAN MOUNTAIN DANCE ROUTINES TO BAVARIAN POLKA MUSIC DURING THE FIFTH ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST HELD AT HELEN. THE GIRLS ARE EXECUTING A CLOGGING STEP KNOWN AS THE "SHUFFLE-HOP". THE ANNUAL FESTIVAL IS A RESULT OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SMALL COMMUNITY'S BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A UNIFIED ALPINE THEME. THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT HAS LED TO INCREASED BUSINESS AND A SURGE OF TOURISM
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15341). View the original.
Between songs, a team of White County girls danced mountain clogging routines to Bavarian music. The step is called the shuffle-hop.
R063 WURST COOK ON AN OUTDOOR CHARCOAL GRILL AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST AT HELEN. IN THE BACKGROUND RESIDENTS AND VISITORS IN ALPINE ATTIRE RELAX IN A TREE SHADED AREA ADJACENT TO THE CIRCUS TENT USED AS FESTIVAL HEADQUARTERS. THE ANNUAL EVENT WAS BEGUN AFTER BUSINESSMEN, OFFICIALS AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF A SMALL COMMUNITY'S BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. THE PROJECT IS A SUCCESS AND HAS LED TO ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15343). View the original.
Knockwurst on charcoal.
R064 VISITOR TO THE FIFTH ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST AT HELEN, PAUSES WITH A COPY OF THE HELEN MOUNTAIN EAGLE. THE MONTHLY NEWS-MAGAZINE WAS FOUNDED IN JULY 1975, AND FEATURES ARTICLES OF INTEREST BOTH TO RESIDENTS AND TOURISTS VISITING THE ALPINE COMMUNITY. THE VILLAGE OF 270 GAINED RECOGNITION WHEN BUSINESSMEN, OFFICIALS AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH A BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. THE PROJECT IS A SUCCESS AND HAS LED TO ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND INCREASED TOURISM
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15347). View the original.
The town had its own paper now. The Helen Mountain Eagle, founded that July.
R065 HOT AIR BALLOON IS PREPARED FOR AN ASCENT AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL OKTOBERFEST AT HELEN, GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN. BALLOON ENTHUSIASTS LIVE IN HELEN AND ALSO COME FROM ATLANTA. BALLOONING HAS BECOME A POPULAR SPORT IN THE AREA IN RECENT YEARS. THE TOWN SPONSORED ITS SECOND ANNUAL HELEN TO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN BALLOON RACE IN MAY, 1975. BALLOONISTS OFTEN SHOW UP IN TOWN DURING SPECIAL EVENTS SUCH AS OCTOBERFEST AND USUALLY OFFER TETHERED FLIGHT RIDES FREE
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15348). View the original.
And a balloon went up over the tent, giving free tethered rides. The next year, Pete Hodkinson — who had led the merchants into all of it — was killed in a ballooning accident. He had been on these fields in May.
R066 MAIN STREET SHOPPING DISTRICT IN HELEN SHOWS THE VILLAGE STORES WITH A UNIFIED BAVARIAN ALPINE THEME. THE STREET IS SPLIT INTO TWO BLOCKS OF APPROXIMATELY EQUAL LENGTH BY THE ALTE STRASSE (OLD STREET) UNDER THE SMALL TOWER IN THE BACKGROUND AT THE RIGHT. THE OLD STREET IS A COBBLESTONED CUL-DE-SAC WITH SHOPS. HELEN GAINED RECOGNITION AFTER THE TOWNSFOLK DECIDED TO RENOVATE THE STOREFRONTS WITH A COMMON THEME. THE PROJECT IS A SUCCESS
Al Stephenson · Sept. 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15355). View the original.
Main Street, September, nineteen seventy-five. Among the last frames of the assignment.
What came after
The mortgage ban Helen defied outlived the vote by twenty-seven months. In October nineteen seventy-seven, Congress rewrote it into a notice requirement — a bank now simply had to tell the borrower whether disaster relief would be available. The page carrying the retreat is headed: Sanctions.
Helen came into the National Flood Insurance Program on April third, nineteen eighty-four. Nine years after the straw vote. That line is from the federal government's current community status book — where the September nineteen seventy-four map date still sits two columns away.
What is still buried
R067 AN ELDERLY RESIDENT OF NEARBY ROBERTSTOWN WATCHES THE FOURTH OF JULY PARADE DOWN THE MAIN STREET OF HELEN, GEORGIA, FROM STEPS ON UNICOI HILL BEHIND CITY HALL
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15263). View the original.
One document from that year stays buried. The Georgia Mountains Planning Commission's growth plan for Helen — quoted seven times in these captions — has never been digitized, as far as we can find. If a copy survives in White County, the comments are open.
D02 WHITE COUNTY 4-H GIRLS MARCH DOWN MAIN STREET OF HELEN GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN, WITH A BANNER PROCLAIMING THE CHANGING ROLE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION. HELEN WAS A TYPICAL SMALL MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OF LESS THAN 300 UNTIL 1969 WHEN TOWN OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH AN ALPINE THEME. THE PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS AND ATTRACTED NEW BUSINESSES AND A SURGE OF TOURISTS. A PLANNING REPORT CAUTIONS THE NEED FOR BALANCE BETWEEN GROWTH AND PUBLIC INTEREST
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15264). View the original.
The county four-H girls carried this banner in the parade. It reads: it ain't what it used to be. The caption says the banner is about their club. But no six words in the file say more about the town it was marching through.
R068 WHITE COUNTY 4-H GIRLS MARCH DOWN MAIN STREET OF HELEN GEORGIA, NEAR ROBERTSTOWN, WITH A BANNER PROCLAIMING THE CHANGING ROLE OF THEIR ORGANIZATION. HELEN WAS A TYPICAL SMALL MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OF LESS THAN 300 UNTIL 1969 WHEN TOWN OFFICIALS, BUSINESSMEN AND RESIDENTS ENDORSED RENOVATION OF THE BUSINESS DISTRICT WITH AN ALPINE THEME. THE PROJECT WAS A SUCCESS AND ATTRACTED NEW BUSINESSES AND A SURGE OF TOURISTS. A PLANNING REPORT CAUTIONS THE NEED FOR BALANCE BETWEEN GROWTH AND PUBLIC INTEREST
Al Stephenson · July 1975 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-15264). View the original.
The same federal project photographed the air over Birmingham. That film is on this channel.
Sources
- Photographs: Al Stephenson for Project DOCUMERICA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. National Archives, Record Group 412-DA (series NAID 542493, unrestricted), Helen / Robertstown, White County, Georgia, May–September 1975. Full-resolution originals free at https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=Helen%20Georgia%20Stephenson — every frame's National Archives identifier is on screen with the frame. Every caption claim in narration — the 60–4 straw vote, the petition of 30, "evacuated by rowboat," the valuations, prices and dates — is NARA's transcription of the photographer's caption card, quoted as the record's own words. (The two caption transcriptions of the 1970 valuation differ by one digit, so narration rounds.) This is period film. Nothing in this episode is colorized and there is no AI imagery.
- Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, Public Law 93-234, 87 Stat. 975, December 31, 1973 — the heading ("…requiring known flood-prone communities to participate in the program"); §201 (notification; the six-month rebuttal window); §202(a) (no federal financial assistance for acquisition or construction in identified flood hazard areas on and after July 1, 1975, unless the community participates); §202(b) (the parallel prohibition on loans by federally regulated lenders). Scan: https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-united-states-statutes-at-large_1972_87 (the item is mislabeled 1972; it is vol. 87, 1973 — leaves 1006 and 1013). All quotes read off the page images.
- Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, Public Law 95-128, 91 Stat. 1111, October 12, 1977 — §703(a), printed under the running heading "SANCTIONS," rewriting §202(b) of the 1973 act into a notice requirement. Scan: https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-united-states-statutes-at-large_1977_91 (leaf 1175). Read off the page image.
- FEMA, National Flood Insurance Program Community Status Book, Georgia (current edition, fema.gov/cis/GA.pdf; also the OpenFEMA NfipCommunityStatusBook dataset): Helen, CID 130192 — initial Flood Hazard Boundary Map identified September 6, 1974; program entry April 3, 1984; initial Flood Insurance Rate Map April 3, 1984.
- U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System, annual peak streamflow for station 02330450, Chattahoochee River at Helen, Ga. — peaks of record 10,500 cfs (Aug. 23, 1967) and 10,000 cfs (May 28, 1973), both entered as historic estimates (qualification codes 2,7); continuous annual record begins 1981. https://nwis.waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/peak?site_no=02330450
- New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Helen" — the Byrd-Matthews sawmill era and the town's decline; John Kollock's role and his Army service in southern Germany; Pete Hodkinson leading the merchant effort; Hodkinson killed in a balloon accident, 1976. https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/helen/
- The Georgia Mountains Planning Commission's 1975 Community Growth Plan for Helen is named and quoted in the photographer's captions (NAIDs 557655, 557670, 557705, 557745 among others). We could not locate a surviving digitized copy; if one exists, corrections and additions are welcome.
- Narration is AI-generated. The research is not.