The Antebellum Trail Shows the Glory of Georgia

The Antebellum Trail begins in Athens, Georgia and generally follows Rte 441 South to Macon. In all of the towns along this historic highway are homes built before 1860. Most are in the Federal or Greek Revival style. Some are B & Bs today. Many are still private residences, well restored to their former opulence.

Just a few miles South of Athens is historic Watkinsville. The Eagle Tavern, erected in 1801, houses a small museum and welcome center. The two-story structure was an inn, where the guests slept on the upper floor. Down Rte 15 about six miles is Elder Mill Covered Bridge, built in the 1860s. It is one of the few covered bridges in Georgia, which allows traffic to cross. In order to stop speeders or oversized vehicles from crossing or ruining the bridge, there are metal entrance arches (ten feet tall by ten feet wide) thirty feet from either side of the bridge.

Continued our trip down the Antebellum Trail. We detoured East a few miles to Sparta. Approaching from the North on Rte 15, we descended a hill into the town. Directly ahead was the County Court House. Built in the 1881-1883, the courthouse still functions as the governmental offices of Hancock County (named after John of the Declaration of Independence fame). Notable is the two-story courtroom on the second floor. Sparta is not on the tourist trail, but the courthouse is worth making the detour.

Our next stop is Milledgeville, the Georgia state capital from 1807 to 1868. The articles of secession in 1861 took place in the chambers of the Capital building, presently housing the offices for the Georgia Military College a preparatory and junior college. In a display case are the articles of secession from 1861. On the walls are four large portraits: Washington, Jefferson, Oglethorpe, and Lafayette.

The visitor's welcome center is in the old post office, directly across the street from the Georgia College and State University quadrangle. The College has a room dedicated to manuscripts and memorabilia of the author, Flannery O'Connor.

Also in the city is the Governor's Mansion, where General William Sherman stayed during his "March to the Sea". This build is currently undergoing reconstruction, but is still open for tours. Throughout the city are many antebellum and Victorian homes.

North of Milledgeville twenty miles lies Eatonton, the home of Joel Chandler Harris, author of Uncle Remus and Alice Walker, author of "The Color Purple". In town is the Uncle Remus Museum housed in a log cabin made from two slaves' quarters. According to the curator of the museum Harris heard the stories as a young boy on the plantation. As an adult he lived in New Orleans and other cities before settling in Atlanta, where he penned the Uncle Remus Tales. It is possible that besides the stories he heard as a child, he also was familiar the book "Compair Lapin", the stories of Br'er Rabbit, which were also told at the Laura Plantation.

Putnam County was once a major cotton producer. After the boll weevil epidemic, most of the farmers changed to dairy farming. As you drive through the country, you see herds of dairy cows in the pastures.

North of town, about nine miles is the Rock Eagle Effigy, approximately 5,000 years old. It is one of two stone effigies in Putnam County. The eagle measures 102 feet from wingtip to wingtip and rises ten feet in height. It is constructed entirely of quartz rocks from pebble size to larger than one man can carry. Archeologists believe this to be a religious ceremonial site. A three-story observation tower stands at the head of the eagle for viewing the mound from above..