Vogel State Park

1927

A leather-tanning family gave the land to Georgia in 1927

August H. Vogel and Fred Vogel, Jr. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, heirs to the Pfister and Vogel Leather Company, donated the land to the state in 1927. The family had harvested bark from oak and hemlock trees on thousands of acres in North Georgia to tan leather. After a synthetic method of tanning was developed during World War I, they no longer needed it.

1931

One of the first two parks in Georgia's state park system

Vogel became one of the first two parks in Georgia when the state founded its park system in 1931. At 2,500 feet it is one of the highest state parks in Georgia, and it sits at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest.

2,500feet in elevation, among Georgia's highest state parks

The Corps

Civilian Conservation Corps crews built the lake and the first cabins

Much of the park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The workers, based at a camp at Goose Creek just north of the park, dammed Wolf Creek to make Lake Trahlyta. They also built the first cabins, picnic areas and camping grounds.

1930s

Deer were gone by 1895, until a ranger brought them back

The white-tailed deer of the area were extirpated by 1895. Their numbers have rebounded since the park ranger Arthur Woody reintroduced deer during the 1930s. Today more than 100 species of birds live in or migrate through the area.

The museum

A small museum keeps the Corps' story

The park's Vogel Museum holds exhibits, documents, photographs and memorabilia about the Civilian Conservation Corps in Vogel State Park and in other parks in Georgia. A CCC Reunion is among the park's annual events.