In 1947, local man Carlton Gilleland had the idea to start a hardware business just off the square in downtown Dawsonville. He and Andrew Bearden partnered to open the store in the building that is now J-Brooke hair salon on Raymond Parks Street, and a year later he bought out Bearden’s portion of the business, expanded the store and named it Dawsonville Hardware. Now, 75 years later, the business is still going strong and is the oldest family-owned business in the county.