Mount Airy

The only Habersham town known to be founded by an individual, Mt. Airy was conceived by Co. M.C. Wilcox, a railroad man from Knoxville, Tenn. It was formally incorporated in 1874, and in 1886 Wilcox built the grand Mt. Airy Hotel to attract summer tourists. The Gresham brothers of Virginia built another hotel, the Monterey, in 1902, and Mt. Airy was established as a resort town. When Monterrey burned in 1907, it was rebuilt, only to burn again several years later. Today the town still retains a number of older homes that hint at its former resort status.