Year Erected: 1993

Marker Text: Three local citizens, W. M. Loggans, B. B. Heyward & W. P. Furr, donated 300 acres of prime farm land to entice location of the Ninth District School of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, a boarding high school, on this site. Since 1906, thousands have come here to learn a wide range of subjects. Here they made new friends, formed lifelong relationships and prepared for good livelihoods. “The A & M School" operated until 1933; closing due to the Great Depression.

Habersham School Supt. Claude Purcell purchased the site from the state for a dollar and due to his foresight and with the support of President Roosevelt’s National Youth Administration, Habersham College opened in 1938. The coeducational vocational school closed when the NYA lost funding in 1943, in the midst of World War II.

In 1943, Georgia Legislature created the Vocational Division of the Dept. of Education which used the assets of Habersham College to open the first state-operated technical school, North Georgia Trade and Vocational School. In 1985, NGTVS became a part of the new State Board of Technical and Adult Education and today the name is North Georgia Technical Institute. Citizens continue to come here to live and learn before seeking success in the working world.