Suches history

The Canada District

When Emanuel M. Burnett passed on in 1923 one of his sons, Tom Berry Burnett inherited around 92 acres of land in the Canada district, now in the area know as Suches. Emanuel owned and operated the Natal Post Office and a small grocery store. To supply the store required a 2 day horse and wagon trip to Gainesville Georgia about 40 miles away. Emanuel had the first threshing machine and the first one cylinder gas engine powered Grist-Mill in the Canada district.

In 1927 Tom Berry and other students in the area attended school in the Zion Church near Lake Winfield Scott. There may have been a small amount of cash flow within the area, but nobody went hungry. There was milk and cornbread, wild game and the occasional hog killed after cold weather set in. The residents were proud, hard working folks.

Pictured above is Anna Mae and Tom Berry Burnett. This photo was taken in the Union County Courthouse in Blairsville, now open as a museum. They were married there in May 1941 and reside in Suches, "The Valley Above The Clouds".

Tom Berry's grandpa Micajah Burnett, born in 1838, lived by a 3,260 feet above sea level water springs. He carried the pure water to his house in a bucket. The springs are now know as the Appalachian Springs. The high elevation and abundance of water allows for complete gravity flow of water. The springs have provided the purest drinking water for over fifteen families for more than 75 years. In 1997 the Appalachian Springs, Inc. was formed. Appalachian Springs now bottles the pure mountain spring water in 16.9 oz, 20 oz, 500 ml, 1.0 liter, 1.5 liter and 5 gallon containers. The water has been filtered and ozonated. For more information about Appalachian Springs water, contact Tom Burnett, J. R. Holloway or J. D. Elliott at 706-747-1298 ~ fax 706-747-1403. All three were born and raised in Suches and can tell you anything you want to know about the springs.

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