Etowah and Cherokee History
This area was once home to the Etowahs, and later the Cherokees. Artifacts from their time here can be found in the area even today in the whole area around Cane Creek Falls.
Rev. Fred Glisson
The Rev. Fred Glisson, a Methodist minister, was so instrumental in establishing the “Methodist Assembly” near Cane Creek Falls in Dahlonega in the 1920’s and 1930’s that the youth camp was renamed to honor him. The first camp was held in the summer of 1925, with campers living in rough wooden cabins and sleeping on straw-filled mattresses. The cooking was done on wood stoves, and water had to be hauled from a nearby spring.
Camp Glisson Begins
Rev. Glisson and other leaders raised money to buy the land around the falls, and construct a permanent camp. The original cabins, Dining Hall, Old Rec Hall, and the Chapel were built in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In 1946, the camp purchased Cane Creek Falls from Georgia Power for $1500.
“The friends I made there are still my closest. My life’s direction was set there. Our family sent 3 generations there. Glory to God for this holy place!”
Growth & Progress
An interracial conference was held here in 1962, making Glisson one of the first places in Georgia to voluntarily integrate, despite threats from the Ku Klux Klan to storm the camp and disrupt the conference.
In the early days, camp was only used in the summer. In the mid-1960s, Glisson leaders decided to make Glisson a year-round camp, adding windows and heaters to the buildings.
Restoration
Glisson has endeavored to restore the banks along Cane Creek, under Trout Unlimited’s supervision. One project has been the construction of a wetlands area near the Outpost camp.