"Hightower Falls has history of over 100 years. By W. Nettles Ferguson. The following article reproduced from a clipping believed to have been published in the The Cedartown Standard a number of years ago.

A rustic setting in a tiny valley. That's the scene that greets persons visiting Hightower Falls, another Polk landmark that is slowly fading into the past. The falls, located near Antioch School, has provided a popular camping and picnic site for county's residents for a number of years. However, visitors to the valley who comment on the red and gold of the autumn leaves, the quaintness of the crumbling, old mill and the rush of the water over the high dam seldom realize the history that abounds in the outdoor stillness.

A small stream that winds by the falls through the southeastern section of the county and joins Euharlee Creek near Rockmart is the source of power that once turned a huge wheel for a two-in-one operation. The operation, now a crumbling, stone structure, was once the site of a grain mill and a plant where wool and cotton were carded. The grain mill was located on the first floor, the carding plant on the second and a storage room was provided on the third floor.

The building was erect by Elias Dorsey Hightower in about 1850. He built the mill following a visit to North and South Carolina, where he saw similar plants in operation, the two or three-in-one building was a thriving business. Hightower, from whence the falls were named, brought the first cement into Polk County by wagon to raise the dam as the one in use did not provide enough power to run the carding machinery and grind the grain. Stones from the Hightower estate, which covered many acres of land, were used in the building of the mill.

Mrs. E. D. Turner, who is the granddaughter of Hightower, noted that one side of the mill was cut out of solid rock. The weather and other natural incidents have had their toll on the dilapidated building,. However, the dam, which provides the setting for the falls, still appear to be in good condition. The land surrounding the falls also hold evidence of history. Mrs. Turner said in recent years she located a chimney of one of the two homes of the Welch sheep-hearders, who once lived on the mountain in the rear of the mill. The herdsmen cared for the flocks of sheep owned by Hightower.

A mystery lingered around the naming of the falls for years in the past. Legend was that the name originated from an old Cherokee Indian trail that wound over the mountain siding the valley. The trail, known as the Etowa, was sometimes pronounced by the Indians as Itowah, which sounded very much like Hightower to many area residents. In fact, the land for the mill site was a part of the tracts drawn from the Cherokees. Mrs. Turner said the lot was probably recorded in a book on the sale of the Cherokee land, believed to have been published around 1833, which was donated by another grandfather, James Young, to the state. The book was one of two such copies still in existence.

Mrs. Turner explained that the popularity of the little valley as a camping site existed some years ago as well as today. The county's Boy Scouts, which erected a cabin near the falls, often frequented the mill surrounding. Today, even the cabin has vanished.