There is a large Jimmy Carter Center in Atlanta, but this collection of exhibits may offer a more…read morepersonal picture of the man. This pastoral town was an oasis; where the surrounding countryside was waterlogged, run down, and still carries marks of the confederacy, this town was upbeat and well kept. Even the auto scrapyard was neat. The main exhibit is a schoolhouse. The schoolhouse-like the former president who once went there-is a throwback. A railhouse includes campaign materials from Carter's first presidential run, which is frankly incomprehensible in the modern political lexicon. Perhaps most touching is the farm three miles outside the town, on which I saw a rambunctious chicken returned to its coop and traded stares with some goats. It's just really difficult to try to square the experience of someone who grew up in this piece of Americana but also lived in the White House. Signage points out that even walking into the one-block downtown from where little Jimmy lived would have been a big deal. Conversely, where I used to live I once stumbled upon the White House by accident on a walk of comparable length. This place is another world, and President Carter's experience with farming and the simple life, much like the founding fathers, is likely to have been foundational to his politics as well as his own life. The park offers plenty of opportunities for contemplating such subjects.

Very interesting place to stop. The train depot was awesome. The memorial garden and grave site…read morewas fitting of a former President. He was a beloved man of Plains. A must see.

What can really be said that hasn't already? Well managed, well maintained National Park that every…read morehuman being should visit at least once. The museum was my favorite part, as the video and artifact offerings are excellent. If one takes the time, they will be enlightened on the American POW experience in all its wars. Our visit took about 2.5 hours on a crowd-free Wednesday in March, with most of the time spent in the museum. We briefly walked some of the grounds afterwards. Hallowed ground for sure. Cheers! RS

This place is way out there. That was kind of the point of course, as this POW camp would have left…read moreits prisoners with few places to escape to. The site includes a museum, a cemetery, and a driving tour around the area where the camp once stood. The museum is dedicated to prisoners of war more generally, and strikes a nice balance between telling the history of this specific place (including in a harrowing movie), but also connecting the issues faced by POWs throughout history. It also clearly explains the U.S. military code with regards to how to handle being captured. It's not a huge museum, but with the film I spent the better part of an hour. A tour of the camp can be done by either walking or driving. A piece of wooden stockade has been built, which offers a striking audiovisual experience when the lively atmosphere is cut off as you enter it. The area otherwise just marks where the rest of the stockade used to me, and also includes a variety of war monuments and informational signage. The cemetery is still active, containing not just the identified remains of many former Union POWs, but also American service members who have lived and died in subsequent eras. A map of the other major POW camps spans broadly. I've been to a few of those areas, but it would be quite a project to see all of them, even just the ones that have an actual surviving site and exhibition. However, the topic is compelling, combining the mechanics of war history with a lesson in the depths of human depravity, and an issue that will unfortunately always be relevant.

I'm from here, but rarely visit the area anymore. Since it had been 20 years since I went to Radium…read moreSprings, I took my family out. It was insanely hot (100 degrees ACK) and since you can't get in the water because SWAMP, there wasn't anything to do but take pictures. Still, it's so gorgeous and I don't remember it being so clean and beautiful! There's a little island with seating you can take lovely pictures on and it's really secluded yet easy to find. While in town, I heard the city just approved a motion to get it cleaned up and ready to open up for swimming to the public again. Should be an amazing place and very necessary for the area once it's open again! There are clean bathrooms and a small courtyard area that feels like you've seen it in some movie. Really glad I went back there!

It's really unique here! It was drizzling and we were coming from Providence Canyon and decided to…read morestop by. It's awesome! Not a lot to do or see but someone did just recently get proposed to certainly a Georgia fan ponder for sure to visit

If you're familiar with the history of the Civil War, you know that as the Confederacy in Richmond…read morefell, the President of the CSA escaped with the intention of reuniting with the Confederate Army and continuing the fight. Jefferson Davis and his party were on the run from Richmond, continuing through North Carolina and Georgia. Union forces caught up with him here in Fitzgerald on May 9, 1865 and he was arrested. There is a monument marking the exact spot on this 13 acre historic site which includes a short walking trail, a gift shop and a museum. It is an interesting site and worth an hour though it is a bit of a journey off the Interstate. I've been to a number of Confederate sites, seen endless memorials across the South (and the North), battlefields including Gettysburg, Antietam and Chickamauga, and even the Davis home in Biloxi. This is interesting if you are interested in the War Between the States. [Review 1051 of 2024 - 719 in Georgia - 22079 overall]

I sought this out as I drove north enroute to Nashville, Tennessee on I-75. One of the things I…read morelike about road trips is seeking out these little places, either historic, a natural wonder, or something simply unique. It is a twenty minute drive off the highway and offers a small museum and a nature walk. Just walking the grounds is peaceful, with the sounds of nature surrounding me and the sun lazily falling upon me. If you have the time in your travels, seek these spots out. You will be better for the experience.

Though erected in the Jim Crow era its still a part of this countries and counties history. By…read moretaking it down or moving it is to deny one's history. If we remove parts of our past were doomed to relive it .

Located in front of the Pulaski County Courthouse, you just about can't find a courthouse in the…read moreSouth that doesn't have one of these. The marker is in excellent condition with no deterioration. The cornerstone reads, "Erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy. Mrs. G.W. Jordan, President. Mrs. P.H. Lovejoy, Secretary and Treasurer." The obelisk is about 30 feet tall and features THREE statues on it. I assume the two lower ones are Jefferson Davis (President of the CSA) and Robert E. Lee (General of the Confederate Army) with the one atop a model confederate soldier leaning on his rifle. There front between Davis and Lee has a Confederate "Stars & Bars" with the words "Comrades." and "To our Confederate Soldiers." Normally, I would rate this two stars because the Civil War is over and the South lost. But this marker is actually very nice (for what it is) and is A-OK. [Review 14051 overall, 1373 of 2020, number 342 in Georgia.]

Last review of my 2022 February Black History Series & I honestly don't know how to rate it. This…read moreis by far the most difficult piece of history to digest and the most uncomfortable to write & read. It is so difficult in fact, that I don't think I'm capable of presenting it without myself becoming upset. Here are the words from the historic marker that was removed and place in the National Center for Civil & Human Rights because was constantly being defaced and pierced with high caliber BULLETS. It reads: [ historic marker ] MARY TURNER AND THE LYNCHING RAMPAGE OF 1918 Near this site on May 19, 1918, twenty-one year-old Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was burned, mutilated, and shot to death by a local mob after publicly denouncing her husband's lynching the previous day. In the days immediately following the murder of a white planter by a Black employee on May 16, 1918, at least eleven local African Americans including the Turners died at the hands of a lynch mob in one of the deadliest waves of vigilantism in Georgia's history. No charges were ever brought against known or suspected participants in these crimes. From 1880-1930, as many as 550 people were killed in Georgia in these illegal acts of mob violence. Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the People's Temple, Valdosta State University - Woman and Gender Studies Program, and The Mary Turner Project. *** [ missing details of the sign ] What the sign does not describe is the circumstances of the death of the white planter by his black "employee". While the emancipation proclamation freed enslaved blacks in the United States, the 13th amendment allowed for one loophole. Penal labor in the United States is explicitly allowed: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." That amendment gave rise to CONVICT LEASING, a system of forced penal labor that provided prisoner labor to private parties, such as plantation owners and corporations (e.g. Tennessee Coal and Iron Company, Chattahoochee Brick Company). The lessee was responsible for feeding, clothing, and housing the prisoners AND could punish or discipline them as they saw fit. Considering slavery had barely been outlawed, the treatment of these mostly black inmates was often bitterly WORSE that of their previous slave status. These convicts were actually profitable for state revenue. In 1898, 73% of Alabama's entire annual state revenue came from convict leasing. Corruption, lack of accountability, and racial violence resulted in "one of the harshest and most exploitative labor systems known in American history." TheConversation.com writes this in a February 2017 article: "They lived in squalid conditions, chained, starved, beaten, flogged and sexually violated. They died by the thousands from injury, disease and torture. For both the state and private corporations, the opportunities for profit were enormous. For the state, convict lease generated revenue and provided a powerful tool to subjugate African-Americans and intimidate them into behaving in accordance with the new social order. It also greatly reduced state expenses in housing and caring for convicts. For the corporations, convict lease provided droves of cheap, disposable laborers who could be worked to the extremes of human cruelty." link: https://theconversation.com/exploiting-black-labor-after-the-abolition-of-slavery-72482 *** These were the conditions of the "employee" that killed the white "planter". This killing set off a manhunt that swept southern Georgia killing more than a dozen innocent black men. When Mary went to the courthouse to complain and demand justice for her husband who was wrongfully slain, the crowd turned their anger on Mary, and, well... she and her unborn baby lost their lives in a horrifically brutal act that you can learn about here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St1maRFmP8o [ side note ] I should mention the correlation between the end of slavery and the rise of the incarcerated population are practically successive. Many of these men were being sent to prison for the smallest of infractions... most commonly for being unemployed (vagrancy). [ FINAL THOUGHTS ] Mary Turner went to the courthouse to seek justice for the murder of her innocent husband, and the same irrational violence that took him took her at the sheer complaint of unfairness. There is so much to unpack in this American History tragedy, including how even a modern day sign erected in 2010 is treated as violently as Mary. Many have left flowers at the base of the metal cross now standing at the site. Rest in Power Turner family, my heart weeps for you all. May God repay you 100 fold for every act of violence against you. Thank you for following my month of Black History reviews! 2022 / 60

Okay--what I want to know is why there are only four reviews, including this one? Come on,…read moreYelpers--you've reviewed gas stations, car rentals and dry cleaners in Macon. What's up? A gas pump more interesting than this gem of a museum? Get with it, folks!!! Ah, that felt good! Our senior's group from Kerrville, TX was on its way home and the Cannonball House was our only stop of the day. The majority of us were appreciative of all things Southern, so this was a special treat. The house's name is derived from a Union cannonball that crashed into the house during the Battle of Dunlap Hill on July 30, 1864. The Cannonball House was owned by Judge Asa Holt during the Civil War and is now owned by the Sidney Lanier Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy who saved if from demolition by the City of Macon. Thanks to these ladies, you're able to visit a Greek Revival mansion and not a parking lot! The House also hosts Father/Daughter Dances and Mother/Daughter Teas. And then there's--thank the Powers That Be--Miss Elizabeth's Academy for Young Ladies which "will instruct the girls in what it means to be a proper lady. Subjects covered: Introductions, sit like a lady, how to set a proper table and table etiquette, walking with confidence and Art of the Fan." And, lest you think the boys will escape, there's a co-ed course, too. My stogy old Southern heart sings with joy; civility and gentility are not dead!!! But I digress. The House is less a museum in the formal sense and more of a time capsule of Ante- and Post-Bellum Georgia. Architecture and period furniture buffs will be right at home here. The House consists of seven rooms. The Main Foyer with its period wall paper and imposing grandfather clock. The Family Room contains period furniture and portraits of the Holt Family. The Formal Dining Room houses a heavy wood table and silver serving sets including a large sterling punch bowl and ladle which survived the invasion of the Union Army only because it was buried. The Ladies' Bedroom contains period clothing, a hand-cranked sewing machine and a bed complete with a hand-tatted spread among other objects. Depending on when you visit, a collection of antique dolls may be displayed. Two Parlors display the furnishings of the founders of the Adelphean and Philomathean Societies which were organized at Wesleyan College, in 1851 and1852 respectively. These are the two oldest female societies in the world and continue to this day. Last, but certainly not least, is Judge Asa Holt's bedroom with its grand four-poster bed, marble-top table and chairs and a large bureau and chest of drawers. In my opinion, the Cannonball House should be on every tourist's itinerary. Seldom does one get such a personal glimpse into the lives of one of Macon's influential families. And if you're traveling with children, this is the perfect opportunity to make history come alive. For only $8.00 (as of this writing) you gain not only admission to the House but a guided tour as well. It's a bargain!

We enjoy civil war history and ole time ways of life. Our tour guide took us thru each room of the…read morehouse explaining the history of the house and the happenings of the time when the house was hit by a "cannon ball." It was really more of a large bullet like mortar. The house is in mourning-- all of the mirrors are covered by black cloth. There's even a casket in one of the parlor rooms. The tour guide says they do something different each month to highlight different traditions that were kept back in the day. The highlight of the tour for us was entering the servant's house and kitchen. Just as we walked in the room, we heard a squeaky toy sound. When I asked what that noise was - thinking it was a dog playing with a squeaky toy, she kinda hestitated and said we call him Matt. I thought, maybe that it was her grandson that she was watching during the summer. No. It's the little child that they hear playing sometimes. The ghost child they hear playing sometimes! Wow! Thanks for a terriffic tour!! We'll be back to investigate more of Macon history

We visited as a family of 4 to this park. An interesting park to learn about the mounds. Friendly…read morestaff at the visitor center. The visitor center has a museum, a theater and some artifacts from historical finds from this place and some recreation from early times. It has a restroom and gift shop. After you have done visiting the visitor center don't miss exploring the recreation of the earth mound. The path to it is narrow but it's worth the passage. Don't miss exploring all the other mounds. You have options to go on a hike from visitor center or u can drive by to different places with parking lot nearby.

I can't believe this park is free. There's a very informative museum with lots of displays and…read moreinformation. There are even some interactive displays. They also offer a 17 minute movie. There is a gift store inside the museum as well. Then there are miles of trails that you can walk to get to the mounds or you can drive to designated parking areas if you prefer to walk less. Some of the trails are concrete/paved, others are dirt, some are just mowed grass, but ALL of them are beautiful. It's easy to see why the Native Americans chose that spot. In additional to the epic mounds, the land was just gorgeous and We even saw a deer while we were walking. You could spend an entire day here, easily. We were at the park for about 2 hours. During that time, we went through the museum very quickly (we had a 7&8 year old with us), then walked about 2.5 miles of trails and still only saw/walked about half of what was there. If we lived in the area, we would probably be there several times a week just to enjoy the trails.

Located right off the highway but you'll get a better view by taking the nearby exit and driving…read morethe half mile down the side road. The Ashburn peanut stands there proudly, oversized and a little absurd in the absolute best way. Is it the world's largest? It truly doesn't matter. It's quirky and it's exactly the sort of Americana roadside oddity that makes a detour worth it. [Review 1313 of 2026 - 962 in Georgia - 26491 overall]

Nice campground, great store nearby (Carrol's Sausage). We travel from Florida to camp there just…read moreto shop the store!

Wow! A must visit and spend time just chilling at this ever so nifty park / plaza dedicated to Ray…read moreCharles. The man on bronze at a piano with his music spilling into the air. . Swings and musical mosaics and piano key art. A river walk and little landing down by the river. Lots of green space. Just across the street from great restaurants and shops.

A very cool tribute to Albany's famous son. Ray Charles was born in Albany to a poor, single mother…read moreand it was from this humble beginning that this man, who began losing his sight at five and was blind at seven years of age, rose to become am iconic and influential figure in music. Ray Charles Plaza plays the music of this gifted musician through speakers by the statue, a testament to the genius of Ray Charles. In addition to the statue, the walkway is fashioned to resemble piano keys and beyond the music, the sound of the Flint River keeps time to the soundtrack played through the speakers. If you find yourself in Albany, stop by and visit this soulful tribute to this talented man, a man who humbly preferred to be called Brother Ray amongst his musician friends, for a brother is not above, but beside.