Nora and Alva Miller moved from West Point, GA to Tallapoosa County in the early 1870s as a young couple to a farm in a hamlet called Zana.  Zana is located on Highway 22 between New Site and Daviston, on Emuckfaw Creek, which was on the other side of the Tallapoosa River.  The Millers also were said to have owned a cotton gin in Zana, as well as a general store.  Martin Vickers and his wife Sally Vickers were reported to have been employed by Nora Miller. According to a descendant of the Vickers family (Dawn Vickers Barrons), Martin Vickers ran the cotton gin; his wife Sally ran the general store and was post mistress.  

Nora and Alva Miller also funded the construction of what was known as Miller Ferry, which transported travelers between New Site and Dadeville, as at that time there was no bridge.  Martin Vickers operated the ferry for the Millers.  

The Millers moved to Dadeville in the early 1890s into their stately home located at 139 S  Broadnax Street, which is now the location of Reynolds Law Office.

Alva Miller’s younger cousin, John Henry Lovelace, joined the Millers in the operation of a local mercantile establishment in 1894.  The young Lovelace lived in one of the Miller’s upstairs bedrooms until October 1900, when he married a woman named Lula Hicks, and moved next door to a lovely Victorian home on the corner which is now the municipal parking lot. The original wrought-iron fencing between the cousins’ homes still stands today.  And, it is recorded that Nora Miller later bought and installed a small merry-go-round right between the two homes for the first child, Nora Lee (named after Nora) when she was two years old.

In 1904, Alva Miller contracted typhoid fever and died at the age of 56 at their home on Broadnax Street.