The little cabin, more than a century old, sat just off the mountain highway in Sautee Nacoochee, deteriorating board by board, nail by nail.

The long-abandoned structure no longer provided shelter to anything – save for the history of Georgia.

Though we associate slavery with coastal and south Georgia, enslaved people once called this mountain cabin home, eating and sleeping here after long days of forced labor as loggers, corn farmers, brick masons.

Their stories might have been lost for good had it not been for two women – one white, one black – who looked at this old place and saw a piece of American history worth saving.

What they learned along the way, and what you'll learn about them, was often startling.

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The city of Brookhaven's mayor and City Council last week decided to remove the colored panes of glass from the dome of Brookhaven's new City Centre after residents objected to the brightness of the colors, seen here Friday, June 27, 2025. (Reed Williams/AJC)

Credit: Reed Williams/AJC