Today, New Echota is an active State Historic Site where visitors can tour original and reconstructed historic structures and learn about the dreams and lives of the Indians who tried to pattern their government and lifestyle after the white man only to be uprooted from their land and removed westward on the Trail of Tears in 1838-39.
A remarkable development in the Cherokees' progress came in 1821 when a written form of their native language was adopted. New Echota's resourceful natives soon put this new invention to use when in 1828, their national press began printing a newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, in both Cherokee and English. Touring visitors can see a sheet of this bilingual paper printed on a Washington hand press. In addition to the film and museum exhibits, vistors can tour the reconstructed Print Shop and Supreme Courthouse and the original home of missionary Samuel A. Worcester. Vann's Tavern, a rough-hewn log building representative of the Indian taverns that once stood at New Echota, is also among the furnished buildings on the tour.
Small admission fee. Group rates available with advance notice. Bus parking available.
