Tate House

Situated on an enormous vein of marble is the historic Tate House. Built as a personal home by Colonel Sam Tate, land/baron, philanthropist and business tycoon. Passing the north of the mansion is the “Old Federal Road” where the Cherokee Indians lived until ordered off by the “Treaty of New Echota.” In 1834, this led to the forced removal known as “The Trail of Tears.” As a result, the Tate House is now the fifth site on The Chieftain Trail, dedicated by the governor of Georgia, August 1, 1988.  The Tate House is listed as the Pink Palace in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1834, Samuel Tate purchased the land the Tate House stands on and moved his family from Lumpkin County, Georgia. His son, Stephen Tate, began the mining of marble, which eventually placed Tate, Georgia on the map. It was Stephen Tate’s son, the eldest of his 19 children known as “Colonel Sam Tate,” who consolidated the marble interests and gained control by 1917. Legends were told of a rare, bright pink marble, referred to as “Etowah” marble. 1920-21, Colonel Sam began watching the rare Etowah Pink Marble that came from the quarry just behind the house. Setting the matching pieces aside, he began construction of the Pink Marble Mansion. By 1926, Colonel Sam, his brother Luke (family attorney) and sister Florentine resided at the mansion. Colonel Sam died in 1938 at the age of 78, only 12 years after moving into his house. Neither he, his brother Luke nor his sister Miss Flora ever married. The last of the immediate family left the house in 1955. The house remained unoccupied and neglected until 1974, when Ms. Ann Laird of Arizona discovered it. She purchased the house and began a 10-year restoration project.