After wandering among the Bavarian buildings and perhaps enjoying the revelry of Oktoberfest, many visitors naturally ask how Helen became Georgia's Alpine Village . There's a human drama behind the architecture, of course, and it's recounted here. The next question is "Who was Helen?" This took a while to figure out, but The Story of Helen also presents for the first time the life-story of its long mysterious namesake. And in seeking Miss Helen it became apparent that the full account of the founding of Helen has never been known in its entirety. Among other things, the town as we know it wouldn't exist and certainly wouldn't be named Helen if not for a revolutionary miraculous invention that was controversial at the time, and still is. Story presents for the first time a full account of the founding of Helen over a century ago. Using first-hand accounts and other original sources, it revisits the muddy streets of a wild and sometimes dangerous boom town, a place that literally mushroomed in a remote valley that had been home to only a few mountaineer families and many acres of corn. And from even earlier times, little remains to suggest that Main Street follows the route of an ancient Indian trading path or that pioneers once labored here to build a life in a mountain wilderness. It's also not generally recognized the Helen area saw as much prospecting and speculation as any other part of the Georgia gold region, or that the discovery which triggered the Gold Rush in all likelihood happened only a few miles away. This is also a GUIDEBOOK to area historic sites, shops, and natural attractions -- see the front inside cover for an AREA MAP . Helen residents have long said, "You know, this has been an interesting place ! " It has, and here the history of Helen comes alive, a town which is probably still home to the only Bavarian phone booth in the state and likely remains the only one in Georgia named for a girl from Missouri. Wow, wow, and wow! This is a work of art. Gedney has once again reached deeply into the roots of this community and crafted a compelling narrative on its evolution. This is as meaningful a story for the old guard as it is for the weekend visitor. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. --Dave Kaufman, Author of Peachtree Creek: A Natural And Unnatural History Of Atlanta's Watershed What a piece of work the Helen McCombs story is! We didn't know who Helen was. Now we know. Great stuff! --David Greear, Co-Author of Helen (Images of America) Author Matt Gedney's family has been around Helen for six generations. His ancestors came to North Georgia in pursuit of gold and, like most miners, had little success. They did find riches of a different sort in the "sublime mountain grandeur" of the ancient Appalachians and the very interesting character of local mountaineers. He is the author of previous books on the area, including Living on the Unicoi Road , a closely written account of the area's pioneer settlers and the Georgia Gold Rush, which in all likelihood began with a discovery on a nearby creek. Unicoi Road is also available on Amazon. Gedney is now working on first part of what has become a trilogy, Native American times in the Helen/Nacoochee area.