Toccoa Falls College was founded by Dr. Richard A. Forrest in Golden, North Carolina as the Golden Valley Institute. On January 11, 1911 Dr.
Forrest bought the Haddock Inn and 100 acres (400,000 m²) of land and in October relocated the school to Toccoa, Georgia in order to be closer to the railroad. He renamed it the
Toccoa Falls Institute and added secondary school courses to the theological classes. In 1928 the secondary courses were
reorganized and the state of Georgia accredited it as
Toccoa Falls High School which remained open until 1976. In 1939 the state of Georgia chartered the four year program and allowed
it to grant the degree Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Education. In 1913 the Haddock Inn,which was the only building, was destroyed
by fire. On November 6, 1977 a earthen dam above the campus collapsed and the 40 acre (162,000 m²) lake it impounded drained
through the campus. The resulting flood killed 39 people and injured 60 more as well as
destroying most of the campus' married student housing and severely damaging part of the men's dormitory.The school recovered over years and built many fine buildings. The campus is beautiful today. Dr. Wayne Gardner is the school
president.