With the holidays coming, why not go back to the 1870s when the Tabor family lived in the history and Civil War museum that’s now the oldest house in Ellijay?
Get a taste of what it was like at Christmas during that time period at the Tabor House Museum’s special Christmas Open House Saturday, Dec. 4, from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Cost is $5 for adults, and children are free. The museum is located in downtown Ellijay at 138 Spring Street.
Volunteers who give tours of the house will be dressed in 1800s-period clothes. The house will be visited by Civil War soldiers portrayed by local historical re-enactors Mike Davis, Jonathan Davis and Bobby Bradford (all from Sons of the Confederacy Camp 89) and Jason Richards, a school teacher who does Civil War reenactments.
You’ll see how the mountain people decorated their Christmas trees and what music they played. Enjoy hot cider and snickerdoodle cookies while touring the museum.
You’ll see that the tour starts in the Cherokee room to honor the people who were here first. This was the sovereign Cherokee Nation and, in fact, Ellijay is a Cherokee word.
From there, go into the parlor where you’ll see an 1890 pump organ that was a gift from Jesse Harper to his bride, Victoria. They lived on Boardtown Road at the time.
Upstairs is a vintage children’s room, a replica of an 1870s kitchen, a Civil War room and a veterans room, which contains memorabilia of wars from World War 1 to Desert Storm.
Most visitors who come to the museum see the Tabor House website and are looking for things to do when they visit Ellijay. Believe it or not, not many locals come through.
For more on the Tabor House Museum, see GilmerCountyHistoricalSociety.org or call 706-276-1861.