Our Chapter

“Toccoa” is derived from the Cherokee word “Tagwa’hi,” meaning “beautiful place,” likely in reference to the beauty of Toccoa Falls and Currahee Mountain. The City of Toccoa, incorporated in 1874, is the county seat of Stephens County, Georgia, which was created in 1905 from a portion of Habersham County.

The Toccoa Chapter was organized on October 31, 1923, with 20 charter members. Mrs. Mary Jarrett White served as the Organizing Regent. Mrs. White holds the distinction of being the first woman to vote in the State of Georgia because she had the foresight to register before the suffrage legislation passed. Her family was among the first to settle in the area, and her home—Travelers Rest, on Riverdale Road in Toccoa—is now a state historic site.

Camp Toccoa at Currahee Mountain was the original training site for the first paratroopers in World War II, later made famous by the miniseries “Band of Brothers.” The mountain training site is being recreated with some of the original barracks and equipment. The Stephens County Historical Society Museum and the Currahee Military Museum are located at the Toccoa Train Depot.