As an eighth-generation resident of Union County, Jake Gooch feels an obligation to preserve the history of his ancestral home, and he is accomplishing that with an ambitious business endeavor meant to educate and foster interest in local heritage.
The son of Glendon and Kris Gooch, Jake recognized from a young age that he was surrounded by history and heritage.
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“My Grandpa Gooch and my Grandpa Lance were heavily involved in history and in the community,” said Gooch, who still remembers his grandfathers imparting their knowledge to him and taking him to significant sites from Ivy Log all the way down to Suches and everywhere in-between.
Gooch admits that it took him a while to see the value in history, but by the time he was in his early 20s, he started memorizing and compiling information. During the COVID-19 pandemic especially, he began going down the research rabbit hole.
In doing so, Gooch said he realized, “OK, you’ve done this research, you’ve got it together – what can you do with it instead of just know it?”
So, he turned to art and his vision. Gooch set about getting a mural painted on the back wall of the building adjacent to current-day Blairsville City Hall. The building once served as the old Hill and Lance Drug Store – another significant place for Gooch, as his grandfather owned the business.
To coincide with a broader effort led by Gooch called “Gooch and Fifty,” Gooch reached out to the “Greetings Tour,” led by muralist Victor Ving and photographer Lisa Beggs. They and their team of artists worked on the “Greetings from Union County” mural, which is part of a set across the country. Mostly featured in big cities, the local mural is one of two in Georgia alongside Atlanta.
In Blairsville, the mural faces a downtown parking lot, living up to its purpose as a greeter. Within the letters are paintings that act as snapshots of popular locations around Union County and prominent historical icons, such as Sunrise Grocery, the Union County Panthers logo and Brasstown Bald.
Other than being in a small town, the thing that sets this mural apart from its fellows is that it’s interactive. If visitors scan the QR code in the corner, they can navigate to Gooch’s website, goochandfifty.com, to learn more about Union County and the features within the mural.
This is where his passion and historical know-how come into play. Named after his visits to all 50 states, the site serves as a blog and an online catalog of significant local people, places and even events.
To access all the features in the database portion of the website, one must purchase a subscription. There are different tiers based on how long a subscriber wants to use the service: a day pass costs $10, a week $25, a month $50, and a year $120.
There’s a lot to see, too. Included in the general information are scans of newspaper clippings, photos, videos and even interactive maps for self-guided tours.
Gooch has put together four electronic tours suited to different tastes, all themed around different aspects of Union County. The Legends Tour explores important individuals in Union County history and offers directions to places where they worked or lived.
The Landmarks Tour focuses on the places that stand out in Union County, such as Vogel State Park, Helton Creek Falls and the Track Rock petroglyphs. The Lake Nottely Summer Tour provides a guide for exploring the area around the manmade lake, including information on the Nottely Marina and the Poteete Creek Campground.
Finally, for those attracted to the grittier parts of history, the Crime and Murder Tour awaits. Learn about the “John Wayne of Union County,” Sheriff Harlan Duncan; the Crawley brothers who fled from military service; and the infamous, brutal murder of Reverend John Lance in the 1890s.
Still, for people who are unable or unwilling to pay, they can enjoy the blog portion of the site, which caters specifically to folks interested in travel. Here, Gooch creates bucket lists and itineraries based off his own wanderings.
“It’s supposed to be an online library with a mix of traveling and exploring in and beyond Union County,” Gooch said of the project, hoping that with a multitude of topics to explore, there might be something to draw more people in. The goal is to foster an interest in culture and get people to ask themselves what it means to be in Union County.
In all, the site includes compilations made up of 5,000 newspaper clippings and 61 videos, and Gooch is looking to hire help. It’s been difficult to maintain upkeep on his own, and by getting the community involved, he believes one day he will be able to offer in-person tours.
Funds collected from passes and shirt sales in the website’s merchandise store are split 50% with the Union County Historical Society. Gooch himself is no longer a member of the organization after spending three years with them from 2021-2023, but he still gives to their cause.
“My goal and purpose in serving was to do something that would help raise preservation and renovation funds,” Gooch said. “Basically, the purpose was to lay the foundation for the community to work together to build on.”
Another mural – “Legends of Union County,” painted by Audie Murrell and Bob Dasher – is being touched up now to more closely match the style of “Greetings from Union County.”
The “Legends” mural includes portraits of many of the people listed on the site and is also interactive. Gooch hopes that it will garner interest in the past as well, and in doing so, make people aware of what they have in the present and how to preserve it for the future.
“We’re constantly butting heads with move-ins or vice-versa, and you know, you can work together (to preserve history),” Gooch said. “I want the community to have something we can all kind of work together on and come together on and use to our advantage.”
Alongside touching up the Legends mural, Gooch plans to start up guided tours in the near future. Job openings have been posted, and tour guides, content creators and general operation managers are the types of positions he’s looking to fill. Interested parties can apply via the Handshake app.
