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| Original signs above The Old Sautee Store door. |
There’s something authentic and charming about The Old Sautee Store, located just a mile from Lucille’s Mountain Top Inn & Spa on Georgia Highway 17. The rustic wooden structure, with its wide front porch, old rockers and porch swing call to you to stop by. The worn advertising signs for Dental Sweet Snuff, Lydia Pinkham’s Tonic and Knox Knit Hosiery are still nailed to the store’s front and stir a curiosity that no true treasure hunter can resist. You know that there is something real and lasting about The Old Sautee Store. Listen close as you approach the porch and you may hear the sounds of the old player piano located just inside a well worn wooden screen door.
Since 1872 when The Old Sautee Store was built as a general store, it has remained open for business, both as a general store and later as a community post office. For 141 years, it has served residents and travelers alike. It’s dark inside the front of the shop, with lantern lamps hanging from the ceiling to light the interior as they did when it first opened for business. The shelves are packed tightly with medicinals, mercantile goods, and other necessary items from the early 1900s that were required by locals and travelers on the historic trading route that passed in front of the store. The boxes are dusty, original and have never been opened. The scarred wooden counter, as long as the store’s width, remains covered with weight scales, heavy iron gadgets and a grinder. Tacked to the front of the counter are a line of advertisements and political momentos urging ghosts of customers past to plant victory gardens during the war. An oval tin piece near the player piano reads “Hoover for President.” Walk to the back corner of the store on a creaky wooden plank floor and you’ll find a child sized black coffin standing on end. Enduring and simple, The Old Sautee Store magically lifts you from these modern times and places you square in another century. You may find that you like it here.
A step to the right of inside the store places you into a wonderful modern day shop that offers something for everyone. Since 2003, present owners Galen and Jean Greene stock the bright side of The Old Sautee Store with some of the best names in sport and outdoor wear with gear from Woolrich, Columbia Sportswear, Life Is Good, Crocs and more. A special line of Scandinavian items are available, introduced into the store’s gift section from earlier Scandinavian owners. Amber jewelry, in a wide selection of colors and styles are ready for you to try on. In fact, The Old Sautee Store has one of the largest selections of amber available in the U.S. Prices on the jewelry items are more than reasonable and you’re guaranteed to walk away with a truly one-of-a kind piece.
A trip to The Old Sautee Store wouldn’t be complete without checking out their vast selection of jams and jellies, fruit butters, salsas, pickles, relishes and good old fashioned penny candies that we all remember…Mary Janes, Peanut Butter Logs, Nickel-Nips, Tootsie Rolls and more. Your stop at The Old Sautee Store won’t be complete until you sample their famous sliced Farmer’s Cheese paired with Anna’s Thin Scandinavian Ginger Cookies or a toasted cracker. There is plenty to take home from the Old Sautee Store. Plan to spend plenty of time here and in the surrounding area exploring the rich history of the Sautee and Nacoochee Valleys, including the Native American legacy. There is no better place to take it all in than from the front porch of The Old Sautee Store.
Call us at Lucille’s Mountain Top Inn & Spa at 706-878-5055 if you need any assistance planning your exploration of The Old Sautee Store or any of the other historic sites around the valleys. Lucille’s is a comfortable base for all your travels in the mountains of Northeast Georgia.