Georgia Small Towns: Milledgeville

The old Georgia State Capital in Milledgeville was built in 1807.

 Only two cities in the United States were established for the express purpose of being capitols. One, of course, was Washington, D.C. The other was Milledgeville, founded in 1804 to be the capitol of Georgia.

After the capitol was moved to Atlanta in 1868, Milledgeville went through many years of struggle. The establishment of Georgia Military College in 1879 and Georgia College and State University in 1889 helped the city to survive and perhaps become less provincial than most other small towns in Georgia. The current population is about 17,000.

In the 1980s and '90s, Milledgeville began to revitalize its downtown and historic district. On my visits there I greatly enjoyed browsing through downtown Milledgeville, with its many shops and restaurants and gracious, old-south lifestyle. Milledgeville has a surprisingly cosmopolitan air for a smallish, off-the-beaten-track town, perhaps because of the two colleges located here. I wanted to stay and relax with the crowds at the sidewalk tables in front of many of the restaurants.

The 1822 Orme-Sallee House is one of many historic homes in Milledgeville.

 

The 1807 O'Quinn's Mill on Town Creek is the same age as the old capitol building.

 

 Andalusia Farm, the home of writer Flannery O'Conner during her most productive years.

About the photos: The old State Capitol and the Orme-Sallee House were photographed with an Olympus E-M5 fitted with the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm lens. For O'Quinn's Mill and the Andalusia Farm house, I used a Fuji X-H1 camera and the Fujicron XC 16-50mm lens.

This post was adapted from my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia. 

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.50 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail me a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

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Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography   travel     Georgia     Milledgeville     Flannery O'Conner     Olympus E-M5 camera     Panasonic     Lumix G Vario 12-32 lens     Fuji X-H1 camera     Fujicron XC 16-50mm lens     Andalusia Farm