Tate is a small
unincorporated village, but one that is well known worldwide for its
incomparable Georgia Marble.
Tate travels back in
time before life existed at the foot hills of the Blue Ridge
Mountains. Centuries later, Cherokee Indians became
inhabitants of the land.
The old Federal Road had
its beginnings as a plain country road, but many years later it
became a road for travel. The Federal Government negotiated
with the Cherokee Nation, thereby receiving it name "Federal
Road". Between 1805 and 1813, the road became useful. As
the area opened up, white settlers began building homes along and
the the road.
In 1818, Andrew Harnage
and his Cherokee wife, Nancy Sanders Harnage, owned and operated a
tavern where the Pink Marble Mansion sits today.
In 1819, this historical
Tavern was selected as the Federal Post office. The post
office was known as Marble Works for a period of time and then
renamed Harnageville. When the railroad came through the long
Swamp Valley in the 1880's, the town and the post office became
known as "Tate".
Mr. Harnage owned land
lot 147 where Harnage Tavern was located and all the land holding
rights to the beautiful marble. He eventually lost the land
and Samuel C. Tate bought it. The old tavern burned and a
large two story framed house was built by Sam Tate.
Henry T. Fitzsimmons, a
native of Ireland, is credited with finding the marble cropping and
saw it was a superior grade of marble. He then quarried marble
on a small scale and opened a marble processing plant.
The Georgia Marble
Company was chartered on May 1, 1884.
Colonel Sam Tate became
president of The Georgia Marble Company in 1905. Because of
him the people of Tate were enriched by the marble industry as it
afforded work for the families, homes, excellent schools, an intense
cultural environment, strong Christian ideals and a rich heritage.
In
1921, Same Tate tore the old house down and built the Pink Marble
Mansion that you see today.
Tate and The Georgia
Marble Company are listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.
