Before the Revolutionary War, Francis Paris, Senior established here the earliest trade center and industrial development in interior Georgia. A rock dam was constructed across the creek, and it was said that the four hundred horse power developed for the feed and saw mills was by far the greatest in the colony. The rock foundations of the old dam are still embedded in the creek about three hundred yards above the present bridge. On February 8th, 1796, Paris sold the land, mills, and appurtenances to Seaborn Jones of Augusta.