Dillard is a small town in Rabun County, in the far northeastern corner of Georgia, set in the Blue Ridge Mountains near the North Carolina state line. The town lies along the U.S. Route 441 corridor through the mountains, just south of the Sky Valley resort community. Dillard traces its origins to 1846, when a settlement developed around the area's early families. The town was named for John and James Dillard, veterans of the Revolutionary War. In 1906 Dillard was incorporated, and the same year the Tallulah Falls Railroad was extended to the town, connecting it to the broader region and fueling a lumbering era in which rail cars carried logs and lumber from the Dillard station. The town's best-known institution is the Dillard House, a family-style Southern restaurant whose origins reach back to the 1910s, when A. J. Dillard and his wife Carrie opened their stone house to boarders. As transportation improved after World War II, the Dillard House grew into a major tourist attraction, drawing visitors to its generous, home-style meals and mountain setting. The restaurant remains a defining landmark for the town. Today Dillard functions as a small mountain community oriented toward tourism and outdoor recreation. Its high-country location places Lake Rabun, Tallulah Gorge, Black Rock Mountain, and the attractions of nearby Clayton and Highlands within a short drive. The town's population of about 340 is served by the Rabun County School District, and its economy centers on hospitality, antiques, and the surrounding outdoor economy. Visitors drawn to the mountains, the Dillard House, and the cooler elevations of northeast Georgia give the town a seasonal liveliness that belies its small year-round population.