Hartwell Railroad

Toccoa - Elberton Line

1893 Official Guide ad / collection

1893 Official Guide ad / collection

Toccoa - Elberton line map / RWH

The Elberton - Toccoa line was built by the Elberton Air Line Railroad, a 3 foot gauge operation chartered in 1871 and opened in 1878. The line was later re-gauged and leased to the expanding Richmond & Danville, which would form the backbone of the Southern Railway system. The branchline connected to the R&D southeastern mainline at Toccoa. After decades of operation by the Southern, successor Norfolk Southern sold the 48-mile line to the Hartwell in 1995, which designated the Great Walton Railroad to operate it. Interchange is with NS at Toccoa on the north end, CSX Transportation at Elberton on the south end. The original Hartwell route, only 10 miles in length, connects midway at Bowersville.

Royston

royston_logo The busy little city of Royston is located in Franklin County in the State of Georgia. The land round about is rich, fertile and well developed into a prosperous cattle and farming section. Sometime in the early 1800's, people passed through this section and found the area very desirable. So it was that Mr. W. Asbury Royston settled here. Mr. Royston, Mr. Robert Berryman, Angus Johnson, and Jackson Burnette were among the first land owners. Mr. Berryman acquired much land in the area, and it was he who made the first recorded sale of land. The purchaser was Mr. Royston, and the total amount was two acres valued at $2.00 per acre. Those two acres now make up most of the extent of the business section of our town. Not too long after this purchase, Mr. Royston built his place of business, on the lot where the Royston Drug Store now stands. He also built his home, which wasn't extremely large, on the space now occupied by the Sanders' Motor Company. Beautiful cedar trees lined his walkway to the front door. Mr. Royston's store held various kinds of merchandise and a man who drove an ox-drawn wagon was kept busy making trips to Athens for supplies.