Macon is just 40 miles south of Milledgeville, so we took off to visit the southern end of the Georgia Antebellum Train. Macon is the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World, in spite of what some little known Yankee city near Maryland may say.....An internationally known festival is held each Spring to celebrate the delicate blossoms.Having missed the festival, we got directions to the three top historical sites in the city: the Hay House, The Cannonball House, and Ocmulgee National Monument.
Our first stop was the Hay House, where our tour guide introduced us to the proper pronunciation of the name of this beautiful state. We had always pronounced the name as "Jahor-juh"....two syllables. But today we learned that the name is actually three syllables: "Jah-orr-juh". Lovely southern drawl, ya know.
The Hay House was completed in 1859 and is a National Landmark. It contains luxuries far ahead of its time, including indoor plumbing (before the White House), an elevator, a then state-of-the-art ventilation system. It was built by William Butler Johnston in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.
Just outside the entry doors, above curved marble steps, the ornate ceiling gives the visitor a hint of what's to come.
The ornate plaster work continues around the house.
Each entry door weighs over 500 lbs, but can be moved with a finger. The doors, amazingly enough, are supported with three hinges having only four screws on each hinge leaf!
The magnificent entry, complete with gold leaf. Restoration and maintenance is an ongoing project, but this area has been meticulously maintained.
Almost every door and window has a curved top, or is decorated to appear as such. This set of pocket doors is over eight feet wide!
Mr. Johnston, the original owner, was at the time the fourth wealthiest man in Macon. his choice of land on Coleman Hill overlooking Georgia Avenue and Mulberry Street, along with the ornate plasterwork, speak to his showmanship and extravagance.
Again with the pocket doors in the study.
The house has over 18,000 square feet and 24 rooms. Every room is a testament to Antebellum extravagance. The pocket door hardware would be impossible to reproduce today.
Donna is in absolute awe at the extraordinary house! This set of pocket doors leading into the private art gallery is more than twelve feet wide!
The Art Gallery was completely filled with European paintings, statuary, and porcelain. Today a statue decorates the place of honor, with curved carved wood doors behind.
As expected, the stairway handrail is ornately carved. Take note of the lower newell post and how the rail wraps around it.
Clerestory windows provide much natural light in the art gallery, with it's crystal chandeliers and plaster decorations.
The ceiling in the dining room is curved to provide better acoustics for the diners.
The double-hung window at the end of the dining room is called The Harvest, as it follows the grapevine from spring at the top, through the year until leaves fall at the bottom. Not only can each panel be opened for ventilation, but curved shutters can be brought in from the sides to cover the window.
Oh, my! Enough beautiful woodwork to make an old carpenter smile!
Much of what appears to be carved wood is really painted plaster.
Above one set of stairs, part of the ventilation system is open.
The house is not air-conditioned, and small paper fans were distributed at the beginning of the tour. I was asked if I wanted one, but being a true machismo, I refused. Not the smartest decision of the day! It's hot in Macon today! At the time of our tour, the temp was 99, with a "feels like" temp of 104!
The restoration work continues on the third floor (there are seven floors).
The upstairs children bathroom was a complete marvel in its day! Running hot and cold water!
And, one of the kids bedrooms.
While William Johnston obtained his wealth through investments in banking, railroads and public utilities rather than from the agrarian cotton economy, and he was not afraid to spend it, building one of the most magnificent houses in Macon and decorating it with priceless art works, he and his wife Anne Clark Tracy, suffered tragedy throughout their lives. Only two of the Johnstons' six children survived to adulthood. After Mrs. Johnston died in 1896, her daughter and son-in-law, Mary and William Felton moved into the house. After their deaths, the house was sold to Parks Lee Hay, who updated it to fit the new twentieth-century decor, and made it a spectacular showpiece in central Georgia.
Just down the street is the Cannonball House. It was constructed in 1853 and was owned by Asa Holt during the war. Judge Holt was on the fourteenth richest man in Macon at the time, so his house is much simpler. Additionally, it was built as a retirement home, not a showplace like the Hays House. We walked down to it and signed up for a tour.
Union General Stoneman set up an artillery battery across the Ocmulgee River to the east of Macon in 1894. The goal was to take Macon and it's manufacturing laboratories. Prevented from invading the town directly by local militia, Stoneman contented himself with sending thousands of shells into the area. Most were from Hotchkiss guns, which used a shell that was designed to explode on impact, sending shrapnel into the air. The original shell has been lost, but this is an identical Hotchkiss shell to the one that struck this house. Next to it is a traditional cannon ball.
The shell bounced on the sand sidewalk in front of the house, then went through a column at this location, totally destroying it.
Then the shell bounced up and took a small piece of the upstairs balcony support off (next to the siding).
Then, after blowing through the front entry wall, the shell came to rest on the Southern Pine floor. Unexploded. Quick thinking by servants picked up the shell and threw it outside, so the only damage to the home was from the passage of the shell through the entry area! A survey taken ofter Stoneman retreated showed that this home was the only residence damaged during the attack!
The ceiling rosettes are typical of the period, and very beautiful.
Looking down the stairwell:
In the style of the day, husbands and wives did not share a bedroom. This was the ladies bedroom.
Antebellum homes up and down Mulberry Street caught our eye. Most are privately owned and not open to the public. Many need a bucket-full of tender, loving, care.
On the return trip to Milledgeville, we visited Ocmulgee National Monument, a site of thousand-year-old funeral and temple mounds. Built between 900 and 1100 by the Early Mississippian culture. Some archaeological excavation has been done, and the railroad cut through the mounds in the 1870's, exposing bones and artifacts, so much is know about this culture.
This is the so-called Cornfield Mound, since evidence of extensive crop cultivation was found in this area.
The Lesser Temple Mound is named due to evidence of large structures on top. The flat trail between the two mounds is the result of the railroad cutting through the area.
The Great Temple Mound:
And the Lessor Temple Mound from a different side. It's amazing to contemplate the amount of dirt that had to be moved by a culture whose tools came from sharpened rock!
We took a long way home, through the hamlet of Grey, Georgia. The town is listed as a stop on the Antebellum Trail, but the only evidence we saw of that was this nicely kept home on a street corner.
Back in Milledgeville, we ordered up a quiet dinner at the Old Clinton BBQ restaurant. No offense to Georgia, but we've had better BBQ elsewhere. Of course, this restaurant is something of a fast-food/sit down restaurant, and we didn't see a smoker on the property. Hmmm....where does that pulled pork come from....?
