Elachee Nature Science Center

Elachee is one of the premier environmental education centers in Georgia serving 35,000 students from more than 22 school systems and an additional 30,000 visitors to the museum and Preserve each year. In 1999 Elachee Nature Science Center gained accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Currently, Elachee is the only nature center in the southeast with this prestigious status.

Located in the 1,400-acre Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve in North Georgia, Elachee is celebrating more than 30 years of building environmental literacy for Georgians through quality educational experiences, museum exhibitions, special programs, and resources for schools and the general public. Elachee’s curriculum is designed to develop a healthy ecological consciousness and includes preschool, elementary, and secondary education programs paralleling the Georgia Performance Standards. Other offerings include teacher education, summer day camp, special public programs, scout and home school programs, children’s birthday parties, and facility rentals.

In 1978 Elachee Nature Science Center was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization. In 1980 The Johnson and Johnson Corporation donated 2,500 acres of land in Gainesville to be used as a public park overseen by the Chicopee Woods Area Park Commission. Approximately 1,400 acres of this land were set aside as a nature preserve and eventually leased to Elachee, who built the museum and classroom complex in 1990 with the assistance of a local sales tax option.

Tipton Construction worked with Elachee to build both the “E-House” (which stands for Environmental), main classrooms and educational / environmental outdoor playground.