| The Macon County Historical
Museum collects, preserves, and
interprets the history of Macon
County, Georgia. The collection
represents the settlement of the
communities along the banks of the
flint, from the first Native
Americans to the present day.
Exhibits emphasize the period from
the founding of the County in 1837,
through the end of the 20th century.
Visitors---and
those whose families’ lives are
intertwined with the stories of the
towns that formed on the banks of
the Flint River---can learn about
places that exist only in memories
and faded photographs. A spinning
wheel, potbellied stove, butter
churn, washboard and stove-heated
irons tell a tale of times when it
took working dawn to dusk to feed
and clothe a family home from a day
in the fields. A special exhibit
features the Flint River Farms
School, one of 13 resettlement
projects established during the New
Deal era to foster African American
land ownership in the United States.
Adding machines, typewriters and
photos of switchboard operators
remind us that rural electrification
was not that long ago. Charts and
maps show the 50-million-year-old
Tallahatta Formation, a marine
ecosystem which left fossilized
seashells behind on the river bluff.
The
z scale model railroad diorama links
history to the present. Local
heritage is as tied to the railroad
as it is to the Flint River and
peach farming. Macon County remains
a crossroad for commerce just as it
was in the days of the trading post,
stagecoach and steamboat. A viewing
station allows visitors to see live
CSX railroad traffic activity.
Montezuma's 1890 depot was
constructed on the site of an
earlier depot. In 1924, a concrete
platform was added and in 1932 a
brick firewall was built near the
center of the building. Norfolk
Southern Railroad gave the Montezuma
depot to the Macon County Historical
Society in 1980. The Nationally
Registered structure was
rehabilitated in 2002 and now serves
as the Macon County Historical
Museum.
Docent services and facility
management are provided through the
Montezuma Downtown Development
Authority and the City of Montezuma
in order to attract visitors. Call
(478) 472-4777 to arrange school
field trips and other special
showings of the museum.
Download the
Museum Brochure in PDF format. |