TimManBlog

Milledgeville’s Historic Sites: Walking Tour of Georgia’s Former Capital

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January 31, 2025

Even a small town like Milledgeville, Georgia, with a population of 17,000, can offer plenty to do in just one day. This is especially true in January. If you’ve traveled south from a colder climate, you’ll appreciate being free to step outside in just a light jacket. A hoodie will suffice as well.

The morning started with breakfast at The Local Yolkal Cafe, a popular East Hancock Street downtown spot. The menu is very Southern. In my experience, Southerners are our country’s best cooks.

I had the Beauregard Benedict—two eggs, two sausage patties, and two buttermilk biscuits smothered in country gravy. Then to try something I’d never had before, I asked the waitress for some Pork Belly Bites. They’re great when dipped in maple syrup.

When I visit a town, I like to walk its downtown streets to get a feel for my surroundings. In Milledgeville, East Hancock Street runs through the downtown center. The area is bright and lively on a sunny January morning, even though its shade trees will be winter-bare for a few more weeks. Hancock has plenty of shops and restaurants, and the old Campus Theater is the centerpiece. A modern Barnes & Noble bookstore occupies part of the old movie house.

Milledgeville is a college town. A block north on Hancock Street is the campus of Georgia College and State University (GCSU) campus. The school was founded in 1889 as the Georgia Normal and Industrial College. It has changed names and purposes several times over the decades. For example, from 1922 to 1967, it was a women’s college. Today, GCSU functions as a liberal arts college with 6,000 undergraduate students.

GCSU has a pleasing atmosphere. Apart from the Southern live oak trees, it could be mistaken for an Ivy League school.

Milledgeville is also the seat of Baldwin County, Georgia. The old county courthouse and the new 1996 courthouse are also along Hancock Street downtown. The old courthouse is now part of the GCSU campus. (It’s the building in the top left corner of the gallery above.)

The new Baldwin County Courthouse is built in a style reminiscent of Greek revival buildings. It has four stories and a red brick exterior. Four Greek columns stand in front of the two outside entrances.

Milledgeville was the state capital of Georgia until 1868 when the capital was moved to Atlanta. When that happened, the old capitol building was re-purposed as a military college known as Georgia Military College (GMC). The grounds are just a few blocks from downtown. I saw groups of cadets walking around the grounds in red sweaters and black pants. I saw others in soldier’s fatigues. I think I saw as many women cadets as men.

The old capitol building looks like a fortress:

Before the Civil War, Milledgeville’s status as Georgia state capital attracted many dignitaries. Two famous Frenchmen are remembered in particular. The first is Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette. The second is noted political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville. Both were French aristocrats who toured America extensively in the early 1800s, praising its democratic forms. Lafayette was one of George Washington’s favorite lieutenants. Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America, which is is often praised as being “both the best book on Democracy and the best book on America.”

In the fall and winter of 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman started out from Atlanta on his great “March to the Sea.” Milledgeville was directly in the path of his armies. Below, a state historical sign explains how the Georgia Secretary of State hid Georgia’s great seal in a nearby pig pen.

I walked a few blocks from the old state capitol to visit a graveyard on top of a small hill. This is the Memory Hill Cemetery, where many of the most notable former citizens of Milledgeville now rest. Among the most notable is Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964). She is the acclaimed author of A Good Man is Hard to Find and many other short stories. She also wrote two novels.

(left) Flannery O’Connor in 1947.
(This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. I copied the photo from Wikipedia and did not make changes.)

(below) the grave of Flannery O’Connor in the Memory Hill Cemetery in Milledgeville.

After noon I visited the Georgia’s Old Governor’s Mansion. This grand house is maintained as part of Georgia College and State University, and charges $10 for a guided tour. The tour is well worth the cost.

After finishing my tour of the old executive mansion, I spent an hour wandering around the residential streets near downtown. I found some grand old homes while enjoying the live oaks and sunshine. Many of these homes were built in the classical style with pillars in the front. A few were built before the Civil War, but most were added later. Let’s call this wandering “time well-wasted.”

No great day ends without a great dinner. If you’re ever in Milledgeville, do yourself a favor. Go to The Brick on East Hancock downtown. Order the “Park Slope” with penne, alfredo, jerk chicken, bacon, and peas. I added a salad on the side.

A list of all photo posts from the American County Seats series in TimManBlog can be found here. The author took all photos in this post between January 31 and February 2, 2024.

My hobby is traveling to America’s county courthouses. Each month, I post about a visit to a scenic or exciting county seat. Donations are greatly appreciated to help cover my costs.

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