The Georgia Legislature created Rabun County from Cherokee lands on December 21, 1819, and named for William Rabun who was governor of Georgia from 1817 until his death in 1819. Located in the lower Blue Ridge Mountains of the Southern Appalachian Chain, the name Blue Ridge was given to these mountains because of the blue haze that covers them in all seasons. They have rightly been described as the most inviting, the most friendly and the most hospitable mountains in all the world.