The school was founded in 1886 by Artemas Lester, a circuit-riding Methodist minister who wanted to provide the residents of the Appalachian Mountains with an education.

[citation needed] Originally known as McTyeire Institute for the small village where the school was located, the college struggled for the first year until an Athens judge, Young L.G.

The Young Harris Academy was founded in the late 19th century and provided a primary education for thousands of students until it closed after World War II.

[7] Margaret Adger Pitts, who died in 1998, left an estate valued at $192 million, mostly in Coca-Cola stock acquired by her father in the 1920s.

YHC was one of four Georgia entities named to receive the yearly dividends and trust proceeds, approximately $3 million to each of the beneficiaries.

The college is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Conference Carolinas since the 2023–24 academic year.

[16] Note: Dates of construction given when known[17] The college offers various opportunities for students to engage, socialize and participate in organizations relating to academic topics, intramural and club sports, media and publications, service, special interest, spiritual and religious, student government and Greek life.

[citation needed] Between 1995 and the mid-2000s, Young Harris College's auditorium was home to Georgia's official historic drama, The Reach of Song.

Representatives Jack Brinkley and Buddy Carter; entertainers Oliver Hardy, Wayland Flowers and Amanda Bearse; country music singers Ronnie Milsap and Trisha Yearwood; Major League Baseball players Nick Markakis, Charlie Blackmon, Billy Buckner and Cory Gearrin; Waffle House founder Tom Forkner; state Supreme Court Chief Justices William Henry Duckworth and Charles S. Reid;[31] state Senator J. Ebb Duncan and state Representatives Hank Huckaby[32] and David Ralston.

[33] Poet and novelist Byron Herbert Reece was a student and teacher at YHC; theologian and philosopher John B. Cobb taught at the college.

James T. McIntyre served as director of the Office of Management and Budget and Fred S. Clinton was a frontier doctor in Oklahoma at the turn of the century.