“Burton: The Town and Its People” Adapted from the Foxfire Magazine, Fall/Winter 1991 and Foxfire 10 Original article by Chastity Grant, Lori Lee, and Ashley Lesley Edited by Kami Ahrens
Rock clean up from dynamite shot at dam construction site
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any do not know that a town once lay beneath the deep waters of Lake Burton. The Burton area was located along the east and west sides of the Tallulah River. The town was described by Mrs. Willie Elliott as a “wide place in the road with an iron bridge crossing the river.” The iron bridge was built in 1902. It was located just above where Dick’s Creek enters the Tallulah River. Now, on any weekend during the summer, you will find the lake teeming with boaters. Most visitors who enjoy the recreation Burton offers do not realize the history beneath the lake. But when we have a dry spell and the lake goes down, boaters can look down through the quiet water of Lake Burton and still catch a glimpse of the old iron bridge.
Old Burton school and church
88 GML - June 2021
Reverend James E. Turpen, Sr. was the grandson of J.E. Harvey—the local entrepreneur who made the land purchases for Georgia Power in anticipation of the dam construction. He recalled that, “Whenever the land acquisition was going on, not all the land was bought. Some land was actually traded for it. I think it was
