Hall’s Boat House

Hall’s Boat House was started by Guy Hall, Sr. in 1932. This little store provided fuel, candy, and guided tours for lakegoers. Foxfire student John Harrison sat down with two of Hall’s former employees to learn more about this historic Lake Rabun business.

Ben McCracken: “I started to work at Hall’s when I was twelve years old. I worked as a dock boy for about two years. While working as a dock boy pumpin’ gas, I started tinkerin’ with little outboard motors, Evinrudes, and little John boats. It was a lot different than what it is today. As a dock boy, when I first started here, there was no main road on the backside of the lake, so a lot of people came in here and we had to haul their luggage in. Then we’d take ‘em across the lake, unload their luggage, pump gas, and deal with rental boats.

Guy Hall, Sr. started Hall’s Boat House back in 1932. They had a two-stall boat house with a store over the top. He had a little storeco-colas, candy bars, and stuff. That’s ‘bout all he had, and oil. Guy Hall, Jr. took over in the early ‘50s. He owned up ‘til 1971.”

John Bedingfield: “We had about five or six [dock] boys working all the time. We had three on the boats - they were going on scenic cruises. I think for $15 you could go all the way around the lake. It was just a guided tour. We did that, boatload after boatload, every day from 7:30 in the morning ‘til nine o’clock at night. Then we had three on the dock. We pumped gas and helped people get out of the boats. We had to put all the boats up every night. They had to be hung up and all the drain plugs out.

One time, Guy told me and Calvo Shirley to go up to the head of the lake to pick up a 35-horsepower Johnson motor. The boat we [were on] had a 10-horse motor on it, fishin’ boat. I’ve always been real mechanically inclined. We got that 35-horse motor and I decided I could fix it. I cranked it while it was on the other boat. We put that motor on the little wooden fishin’ boat and we come down the lake! I mean we had her skint back. Calvo was layin’ up in the front of the boat to hold it down, we were goin’ so fast. We come around the point at Pigeon Mountain and I just shot it in there and turned it. We hit a big wave and the motor jumped off there and went in the lake. We put the little 10-horsepower motor back on and we went back around there where it came off. It was in about thirty feet of water. We got out and finally got down to it. We tied a rope to it, pulled up to the bank, and put it in the boat. Both of us were soaking wet. Guy said, “What happened boys?” I said, “We was takin’ that motor off the back of the boat up there and we fell in the lake with it.” That was one of the wildest things we ever done.”