Foxfire Village Museum & Mercantile

The village holds more than 20 historic log buildings, each filled with artifacts from Appalachian life between 1820 and 1940. Historic buildings were relocated here from around the region. There's also a Children's Village with kid-sized structures to explore, a mercantile with Foxfire books and local goods, and the Foxfire Archive, nearly 60 years of oral histories, photographs and video that researchers can request.

Paths between buildings follow the hillside, so wear comfortable shoes. The museum says it may photograph or record visitors for promotion, and entry counts as consent.

It started in 1966 at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, where a new teacher, Eliot Wigginton, had students interview their elders about mountain traditions and publish the results as a magazine called Foxfire. In 1972 The Foxfire Book, built from those articles, became a national bestseller, according to Foxfire's history page. In 1974 the students used book royalties to buy land on Black Rock Mountain, and the village grew from there.

Mountain City is about 34 miles and an hour from Helen, and about six minutes north of Clayton. The museum sits next to Black Rock Mountain State Park, and Tallulah Gorge is a short drive south. For fall color context, see our fall color guide.