Chief Vann House State Historic Site

Called the "Showplace of the Cherokee Nation," this two-story classic mansion is one of the best-preserved Cherokee plantation homes. Built by James Vann in 1804, it was the first brick home within the Cherokee Nation. The mansion is decorated with beautiful hand carvings and features a remarkable floating staircase along with many fine antiques.

Feared by many and loved by few, Vann was both a hero and a rogue, and he was responsible for bringing the Moravian missionaries into the Cherokee Nation to build schools. Yet, he killed his brother-in-law in a duel, fired a pistol at dinner guests through the floor of an upstairs bedroom, and once even shot at his own mother. Vann himself was shot and killed at a local tavern in 1809. His son, Joseph, inherited the home and went on to become a Cherokee statesman. The Georgia Militia evicted Rich Joe Vann in 1835 for having unknowingly violated a new law making it illegal for Indians to hire whites.