Moved in 1970 to save it from demolition, this ornate Victorian cottage was built by W. W. Aimar. It is known today as the King-Tisdell Cottage for Eugene and Sara King, and Mrs. King’s second husband, Robert Tisdell. It is now home to the Museum of Black History and is an integral part of Savannah’s most historic 19th century African-American neighborhood.
This beautifully restored Victorian passenger and freight depot is the centerpiece of a nice public park and also houses a museum of local history. A similar depot survives down the line at Matthews. The Augusta, Gibson & Sandersville was the impetus for the settlement of Mitchell and the town grew rapidly as a result of the depot’s construction.
The stables for the Jekyll Island Club were designed by Charles Alling Gifford, a favored architect of the club membership. The facility has served as a museum for many years and was recently rebranded as Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum.
Jekyll Island Historic District, National Register of Historic Places + National Historic Landmark
The picturesque tourist village of Andersonville is essentially a living museum, with over 75,000 visitors annually making the short drive from the park entrance across Georgia Highway 49 to further explore the story of the area. The locals are very friendly and welcoming, with antique shops, a cafe, and one of the best Civil War museums (despite its size; middle building pictured below) to be found in Georgia. Gerald Lamby’s Drummer Boy Civil War Museum has been praised by students and scholars of the war from far and wide. The village post office (pictured above) is still open, and one of just a handful in Georgia not located in modern facilities. It’s a throwback to a time when most post offices were located in general stores or similar frame structures.
Prior to the establishment of Camp Sumter, the surrounding area was focused on agriculture. Originally known as Anderson (for John Anderson, a director of the South Western Railroad), the village name was changed to Andersonville when a post office was established in 1855.
It became a supply center and grew during the war, but at the end of hostilities reverted to farming. In 1973 longtime mayor Lewis Easterlin led the effort to create and promote the tiny town as a Civil War village. Most of the prominent structures seen today were relocated here, saving them for posterity when they would have otherwise been lost.
Perhaps the most prominent feature of the village is the Henry Wirz Monument. Controversial from inception, the simple obelisk has drawn ire, and vandalism, over the years. Even its location at Andersonville was questioned throughout the state before its placement. Captain Heinrich Hartmann “Henry” Wirz was born in Zurich Switzerland in 1822 and served as the commanding officer at Camp Sumter. In 14 months, over 13,000 Union soldiers perished at the prison camp, which was particularly despised by the Union. Wirz was tried as a war criminal and hanged in Washington, D. C., on 10 November 1865. In response to the 16 Union monuments erected in the nearby National Cemetery between 1899 and 1916, the United Daughters of the Confederacy commissioned a memorial to Wirz as a countermeasure. During this era, the UDC was at the forefront of promoting what is known today as Lost Cause mythology. Language on the monument’s base confirms this: Discharging his duty with such humanity as the harsh circumstances of the times, and the policy of the foe permitted Capt. Wirz became at last the victim of a misdirected popular clamor. He was arrested in the time of peace, while under the protection of parole, tried by a military commission of a service to which he did not belong, and condemned to ignominious death on charges of excessive cruelty to Federal prisoners. He indignantly spurned a pardon proffered on condition that he would incriminate President Davis and thus exonerate himself from charges of which both were innocent. Also present are these words of General Grant from 18 August 1864: It is hard on our men held in southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners would insure Sherman’s defeat and would compromise our safety here. The monument was dedicated by the Daughters on 12 May 1909. It has been referred to as the only U. S. monument to a war criminal.
The Atlanta Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad depot was relocated from Mauk, a settlement about 38 miles northwest of Andersonville in Taylor County.
This is one of several antique stores in the village which also sell Civil War-related memorabilia and folk art.
A town hall is painted blue and grey, keeping with the Civil War theme. I’m not sure its original use or location, but feel it was moved here like many of the other historical buildings.
There’s also a village hall, which was built in 1843 on nearby Lightwood Creek and moved to Andersonville in 1890. Wings were added at some point and it served for many years as Andersonville Baptist Church.
Beside the village hall is this gazebo, which I think was the bandstand from nearby Miona Springs.
Just beyond the Village Hall is the inspiring St. James Pennington Church, moved from the nearby hamlet of Pennington.
Built to replace the historic Nacoochee Institute, which was lost to fire in 1926, the Sautee-Nacoochee School and associated structures are known today as the Sautee-Nacooche Cultural Center. The school was abandoned in 1970 and its restoration and creative use should serve as a model for other communities. The 8-acre campus is also home to the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia.
Sautee Valley Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
A very small historic downtown remains in Demorest and the existing structures have been nicely restored and are in use. The building on the right, the Starkweather Building or “Brick Block”, is the oldest, built in 1890. The other two-story building is the Chrisler Building, constructed in 1916. It is now home to Piedmont College’s Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art. Sweet Breads restaurant is just beyond it.
Demorest Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The cornerstone indicates that the bank was “Built for W. J. Adams and Brothers by Henry T. Hogan, Architect and Builder”. It is presently home to the North Wilkes Library & Museum.
This landmark was the family home of the owners of Bluestein’s Department Store; it now houses the Burning of Darien Museum. According to the Breman Museum, which houses the Bluestein family papers: David Bluestein…was the owner of Bluestein’s Supermarket. His family had settled in Darien in the late 1800s when his grandfather, Meyer Bluestein, started a grocery business.
West Darien Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
After being diagnosed with lupus in 1951, famed American author Flannery O’Connor came to Andalusia to be cared for by her widowed mother, Regina Cline O’Connor. [While a student at Georgia College, I lived on the top floor of Ennis Hall for a year. It was located around the corner from the then derelict Cline-O’Connor mansion where Regina lived out her last days. One of my most vivid memories was seeing Mrs. O’Connor through a window in silhouette. She was a very private person.] Most of Flannery’s best-known work was written here. The property that became Andalusia was first occupied as a cotton plantation in 1814. The main house, seen above, was built in the 1850s. It was purchased by Flannery’s uncle, Dr. Bernard Cline, in 1931. During the Cline and O’Connor residencies, the 500+ acre property served as a working dairy and beef cattle farm. After Flannery’s death in 1964, the farm remained with the family until 2003, when it was donated to a private group for preservation. It was gifted to Georgia College in 2017, which now operates it as an historic house museum focused on interpreting the time Ms. O’Connor spent at the property.
Dr. Cline added the screened-in front porch during the 1930s.
The interior remains largely the same as it was during Flannery O’Connor’s residency here. Georgia College is doing an excellent job not only of preserving but interpreting these items in proper context.
The dining room doubled as a parlor and is the most visually interesting space in the house.
The stairwell is the most impressive feature of the foyer, though the upstairs rooms are not accessible to the public. They were used only for guests of the O’Connor family and storage.
Portraits of Dr. Bernard Cline (l) and Edward F. O’Connor
Portrait of Flannery O’Connor
Flannery’s bedroom is a large space at the western front of the house. Braces, which she needed to get around as her lupus became more debilitating, are a stark reminder of the pain Flannery often endured.
Flannery spent many hours convalescing in this small bed.
The well house was built over a hand-dug brick-lined well. The farm was electrified in the 1940s and Regina had the water tower built in 1956. It’s 32 feet high and holds 22,000 gallons.
Dependencies of Andalusia
Away from the main house are numerous outbuildings which contributed to the productivity of the farm. They’re presently in various states of preservation, with eventual restoration the goal of Georgia College.
The most prominent structure, now located just northwest of the main house, is thought to be the original house of the plantation which became Andalusia. It was located nearer the main house but was moved to its present location in the late 1940s or 1950s. Several smaller tenant houses are located south of the main house but are in ruins or terrible condition. I did not photograph them.
Robert Jack & Louise Hill, who were tenant farmers during most of Flannery O’Connor’s time at Andalusia, lived here. [Photo Courtesy Andalusia].
A dairy was established at Andalusia in 1947 by Regina and brother Louis Cline. The barn figures centrally in Flannery O’Connor’s beloved 1955 story, “Good Country People”.
Andalusia’s milk was processed offsite in Eatonton. This shed, likely built in the late 1940s, kept it cool until transport and was also used to sterilize the cans.
The calf barn was used to segregate male calves from their mothers so they could be fed powdered milk.
Regina and Louis began modernizing the farm by the early 1950s and this equipment shed allowed easy accessibility for tractors, bush hogs, and all manner of tools.
This barn sheltered the farm’s riding and working horses. On Mother’s Day 1962, Flannery gave Regina a Mexican burro named Ernest. A female Sicilian donkey, a jenny named Marquita, was later added to the farm. In September 1963, Ernest and Marquita had a foal Regina named Equinox. In the early 1970s, Marquita mated with a pony and gave birth to a hinny named Flossie. A hinny is the offspring of a horse and a jenny. Equinox and Flossie were companions until Equinox died in 1998. Flossie lived out her days at Andalusia until her death in 2010, becoming a bit of a celebrity herself with visitors and journalists who covered the property.
Though it looks old, the pump house is among the newest structures at Andalusia.
Just to the rear of the main house was a three-bay parking garage known as the Nail House. It became home to most of Flannery’s birds, including ducks, turkeys, geese, pheasants, and her beloved peafowl. Her first pair came from a breeder in Florida in 1952, and she would eventually have more than 40.
An aviary is presently sited to the east of the main house.
Of course, peafowl are kept on the property today. This pair was quite shy, though.
Grounds of Andalusia
Situated north of the Fall Line, Andalusia is characterized by rolling hills and beautiful hardwoods.
A tree-lined driveway leads to the main house.
A large hay pasture is located just to your left as you’re driving in. It’s a beautiful space which I remember admiring from US Highway 441 in my college days.
The view in front of the main house follows a gently sloping pasture to a secluded pond.
National Register of Historic Places
Billy Carter (1937-1988) bought this station from Mill Jennings in 1971 and owned it until 1981. During Jimmy Carter’s campaign for President in 1976, it became famous as the headquarters for the national media while they were in Plains. He reminisced of those days: There were 20,000 tourists a day pouring into Plains right after Jimmy’s election. Cars would be bumper-to-bumper for about 10 miles, from Americus to Plains. Highway 280 looked like a Los Angeles freeway. At the height of the station’s popularity 2,000 cases of beer and between 40,000 to 50,000 gallons of gas were sold every month.
Billy was a character and often got as much press coverage as his brother. He was perhaps best known, though, for his infamous Billy Beer. His endorsement didn’t go far to save the brew, which many said was the worst they’d ever tasted. Cans of Billy Beer can be seen in the service station, which is now a free museum. A pair of Hee-Haw overalls Billy wore are also in the collection, as well as numerous magazine covers and press clippings.
Plains Historic District, National Register of Historic Places