Prior to 1800, this mountainous area was the center of Cherokee Indian culture. When the then owner of some farmland found the big hump in his field was a burial mound, although unclaimed by current Indians, he preserved it and perched a gazebo atop it. Some believe the bodies of Nacoochee and his desired bride who leaped to their deaths from Mt. Yonah are buried there. In 1813 the Cherokee approved construction of the Unicoi Turnpike, allowing settlers a wagon road to the west. This is now Hwys 17 & 75. Later this became part of the Trail of Tears,when the Cherokee were forced  from their lands.

Gold was discovered on Duke's Creek in 1828. The Great Georgia Gold Rush belt was bounded by Dahlonega on the west and the Nacoochee Valley on the east. Thousands of miners worked the foothills and streams for many years. The England gold mine in Helen and Hamby Mountain were mined heavily. When gold was discovered in California, the miners rushed from here to there. The governor pleaded with them to stay, waving his arm toward the hills and saying, "Look, there's millions in them." This became the phrase we know better, "There's gold in them thar hills." Mining ceased by the end of the century.

A great sawmill was built and the railroad came to Helen. In 1913 the valley was named Helen after the daughter of the RR surveyor. By 1931 all the timber was cut and people left for better places.