GILLSVILLE — Other than the fried okra at Jeannie’s Cafe, there’s not much to speak of in this little town.

Nestled along the railroad tracks that also serve as the county line between Hall and Banks counties, Gillsville is a rural enclave with a business center that also includes a post office, hair salon, gas station and florist — and a library open three days a week.

Residents admit not much happens here, and part of that is evident from the most recent U.S. Census figures showing Gillsville has gained just 16 people from 2000 to 2008.

That would be population 195 in 2000 and an estimated population of 211 in 2008.

"There’s nothing happening in Gillsville," said John Day, 78. Although he was raised in North Carolina, his family is from the town. "There’s no new people in Gillsville. We’ve been here over 20 years and nothing ever happens."

"I’m surprised there’s that many," his wife, Pearl, 78, said of the 16 additional residents.

Part of the issue is large tracts of family owned property that moves from generation to generation, said Day and other Gillsville residents. Instead of getting subdivided into lots for houses, the land stays in the family.

And because there’s no industry in the town — a cotton gin closed years ago and a few residents raise chickens — there’s not much to attract new land buyers.

Day pointed to a tract of land across the railroad tracks from Jeannie’s Cafe on Ga. 52.

"They can’t sell it ’cuz nobody’d buy the place. It’s just vacant land," he said. "It’s a good piece of land."

Postmaster Donna Puckett said letter carriers deliver to about 1,500 customers in the three-county area served by the Gillsville post office, but that includes post office boxes as well as residences. Although on the job about a year, she said she wasn’t surprised there had been so little change.

Besides, letter carriers often see the family connection on the letters and packages they deliver. For example, just outside of town, drivers pass Emory Griffin Road and then, a few miles later, pass Cobb Griffin Road.

"I guess things don’t change because all the people here don’t change," said Sandra Hewell, 59, whose grandchildren represent the seventh generation of the Hewell family pottery business. "And the property owners don’t want to give up the land."

But that’s because of the quality of life in the rural community, she said.

"We’re family oriented, Christian oriented," she said. "That’s what holds a community together — belief in God."