Milledgeville, GA

1 May 2018

Milledgeville is a historic town known for its antebellum homes and museums.  It was also the second capital of Georgia including the Civil War.  The governor’s mansion and the second Georgia Capitol building are still standing.  The capital was under repair during our visit.

On the way into town we stopped at the Lockerly Arboretum for a stroll of the grounds and toured the Greek Revival plantation home “Rose Hill” which was built in 1852.  The tour is self-guided with information sheets in every room.

In town, we enjoyed viewing some of the Antebellum homes while walking to the Governor’s Mansion.  Most are in excellent condition.  We noticed that some of these homes are being used for student housing.

The Governor’s residence has a guided tour with history of the period.  The furniture and other niceties were furnished by the Governor at his expense.  In Nov 1864, General Sherman arrived in the town on his march to the sea.  The Governor and family left town before Sherman’s arrival taking as much of their possessions as possible with them. Compared to other stops on his march to the sea, Sherman did relatively little damage.  It was a very informative tour by local college students.  More of the town history can be seen here.

Our last stop in town was the Memory Hill Cemetery. It started as one of the four public squares in the town plan of 1803 and later named Cemetery Square.  Here rest many people of the town and Georgia from Governors, educators, slaves, soldiers and all other walks of life.