[5] Nearby Yonah Mountain is the site of a folktale where a beautiful Cherokee maiden named Nacoochee fell in love with the Chickasaw warrior Sautee.

Although he did not invent the legend, George Williams, the son of one of the original white settlers, popularized it in his 1871 Sketches of Travel in the Old and New World.

The district includes the location of pre-historic villages and more recent buildings and structures from after American settlers came to the area.

The center point of the Sautee Valley Historic District is the intersection of Georgia State Route 255 and Lynch Mountain Road.

In September 2006, the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia opened on the grounds of the Sautee Nacoochee Center.