It was 1878 and Harriet Dodson had just built a home in a small town nestled along the banks of the Hiawassee River. Life was simple back then. It was quiet and Harriet had everything she needed there on the Hiwassee.
For reasons unknown, she sold the home sometime around 1883 to Calvin Higdon and his family. The Higdons got word that the railroad would soon lay tracks through Reliance so they expanded the home into a boarding house. In 1890, the building opened its doors to guests and was locally known as “Higdon’s Station”. It operated as a riverside resort called The Higdon Hotel and provided the perfect place for railroad workers, travellers, and the like to rest along their trip.
In 1920, as railroad travel gave way to automobiles, less and less passenger trains came through the town. By the 1930s, the hotel closed its doors.
When business began fading, the Higdons sold the hotel and moved away. It was a private residence for some time after that, but later was abandoned and eventually fell into disrepair. There were some attempts to restore the building before the Olympics came to this area in 1996, but it never amounted to a full restoration.
