Millions of years ago during the Paleozoic period, sea
waters gently rolled to the shores here. When they receded to
the Atlantic Ocean, they left behind critical clues to Earth's ancient
beginnings. Some of the world's largest kaolin deposits remained
here and entombed early vegetation and life forms. Among the
numerous fossils preserved, a 40-million-year-old whale skeleton
was unearthed near Macon in addition to shark teeth, sand dollars,
and other sea creatures. Today, the Museum of Arts &
Sciences on Forsyth Road displays the reconstructed whale and
many other fascinating artifacts.
The Ocmulgee National Monument, part of the National Park System
since 1936, displays artifacts of the human inhabitants here 10,000 years ago.
Photography provided by The Ocmulgee National Monument.
According to evidence found by archaeologists, the first
Indian tribes camped beside the Ocmulgee River about 10,000
years ago. These nomadic Paleo-Indians, among the earliest of
human cultures, hunted the area's lush woodlands for large
mammals. Modern excavations revealed that several different
types of tribes eventually followed the Paleo-Indians over time
to the Macon area. Around A.D. 900, one particular culture seems
to have abruptly taken up residence here although little is known
about their origins. Called early Mississippians for their likeness to
the cultures of the Mississippi River Valley, they
formed the first known large town on the
Macon Plateau. They were master farmers,
growing corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers
and tobacco with wooden, bone, and
stone tools. Decorative ceramic pots and rudimentary
game-like equipment suggest they
stored enough food to enjoy leisure time for
pursuing arts and entertainment.
About 300 years later, the Macon plateau
stood deserted and remained uninhabited until
a late Mississippian town (referred to as Lamar
by archaeologists) sprouted three miles down
the Ocmulgee River. These ingenious people
built two earthen mounds here, including one
featuring a unique spiral ramp and the last
known to exist in this country.
The Ocmulgee National Monument, founded in 1936 and
operated by the National Park Service, preserves these mounds
and treasured relics of the past.
A New Town from the Old
- The Ocmulgee National Monument and its Indian mounds offer a tranquil setting in which to appreciate the area's long history.
The Muscogee, Hitchiti, and Yamasee Indians belonging to the
Creek Confederacy controlled most of the area now known as
Georgia. When DeSoto discovered these Indians on his travels in
1540, the Creeks were flourishing amid plentiful natural resources.
Hoping gold was one of those resources, DeSoto explored the
area in depth. He made both friends and enemies among the
Indians, but found only tiny quantities of precious metals.
Notably, DeSoto recorded the New World's first Christian baptisms
on the Ocmulgee riverbanks as two priests accompanying him
performed the rites for two Indians.
Following DeSoto's early expeditions, Europeans steadily
sought land on this new frontier and forever changed the Creek
way of life. Histonans estimate that the Indians lost about three-
fourths of their population to foreign diseases, while many suf-
fered from the insatiable European desire for land. President
George Washington appointed Benjamin Hawkins, a distinguished
American officer of the Revolutionary War, to negotiate with the
Creek Indians in 1785. The state of Georgia, entered fourth to the
Union in 1788, pushed for the removal of Indians westward. This
effort received unprecedented popular reinforcement when Eli
Whitney, then living in Georgia, invented the cotton gin in 1793.
Simply, the agricultural-based economy demanded more and
more land for cultivation.
Sorrowfully long lines of Confederate and Union graves in
Rose Hill Cemetery tell of the Civil War's cost to the area.
Photography by Ken Krakow.
Through the treaty signed in 1805 by the United States and the
Creek Indians, the Ocmulgee River became the southwestern
boundary of the new country. A year later, President Thomas
Jefferson authorized the construction of Fort Hawkins, named to
honor Benjamin Hawkins and his years of Indian negotiations.
The fort's mission was to protect the new American frontier, and
it served as a primary distribution point for troops fighting in the
War of 1812 with Great Britain and the Creek War of 1813. Fort
Hawkins continued its operations as a trading post or "factory"
for a few years after the Creek War before it fell into disrepair. A
replica of a portion of the fort stands at the site today on Macon's
Emery Highway.
Macon Establishes Itself
By 1821, white settlers claimed much of the lands around Fort
Hawkins and wagons continually arrived with newcomers, especially
from North Carolina. The citizens renamed Fort Hawkins
"Newtown" and quickly formed a bustling community complete
with its own ferry across the Ocmulgee. When the Indian lands
between the Ocmulgee and Flint Rivers became available after
the 1821 treaty, state legislators created Bibb County in 1822. They
named the new county for Virginia-born Dr. William Wyatt Bibb,
who later became governor of the Alabama territory. The legislature
also decreed that the county seat would be the city of Macon,
in honor of modest North Carolina patriot and statesman
Nathaniel Macon.
A replica of a portion of Fort Hawkins stands on Macon's Emery Highway
at the site where the original Fort served as a distribution point in The War of 1812
and The Creek War of 1813. Photography by Ken Krakow.
Five appointed commissioners began the task of laying out
the town in a relatively undisturbed bend on the western bank
of the Ocmulgee River. Local legend says that they were inspired
by the ancient city of Babylon and envisioned a "City in a Park"
-as Macon came to be called. When designer James Webb completed
his survey, he planned for unusually wide streets named
"for the trees of the forest through which they were laid." Cross
streets were numbered from First through Seventh. Only Cotton
Avenue, already in place as the Old Federal Road, angled through
town and provided cotton wagons a direct route to the river.
In 1823, Macon's 20 half-acre lots were eagerly purchased,
bringing fast-paced growth and lasting change. Newtown now
fell within Macon's boundaries and residents hurried to build a
bridge across the Ocmulgee to connect the town's two riverbanks.
Georgia's first railroad survey in 1825 paved the way for Macon to
become the state's central city. Macon's citizens debated whether
to spend money on building canals and deepening the riverways
or to spend resources on the uncertain possibility that railroads
would become a key transportation method in the South. The rail
advocates won out, and soon Macon led all other Georgia cities in
efforts to maximize the potential of train traffic. Even in the city's
infancy, foresight and determination characterized the citizens settling
here.
Healthy and Wealthy Before the War
- Downtown is full of architectural details as seen in this recently renovated historic building. Photography by Dorothy Hibbert Krakow.
The romantic notions of Southern antebellum life exaggerate
the actual conditions here, although Macon certainly prospered
from cotton trade. Its centralized location, easy river access, and
blossoming rail services drew business from all around the region.
Merchants set up shop, warehouses expanded, manufacturing
began, and trade boomed; Macon lost its image as a fronteir
town. Toasted as the "Queen Inland City of the South," Macon
saw its wealthy residents build gracious mansions and in-town
cottages as retreats from the surrounding plantations. Many
of these antebellum homes are preserved and listed on the
national registry.
In all of the South, Macon's Hay
House stands out as a remarkable
example of pre-Civil War mansions.
Instead of the white-columned
Greek Revival style fashionable then
William Butler Johnston and his wife
Anne opted for a 24-room Italian
Renaissance Villa of 18,000 square
feet. The innovative infrastructure
included indoor plumbing with hot
and cold running water, a central
heating system, an elaborate
ventilation system, speaking tube intercom
system, and a coal lift. These innovativations
combined with the marvelous
interior decoration made the house a
modern masterpiece in the mid-nineteenth
century. Not surprisingly, this
"Palace of the South" listed at over
$100,000 when other mansions in
Macon cost about $6,000 to $12,000.
Johnston bequeathed the home to his
daughter and her husband, Judge
William H. Felton. Later, Parks Lee
Hay purchased the stunning mansion
and renovated much of it. Following
Mrs. Hay's death, the Hay family
donated the home with some of its
finest belongings intact to the Georgia
Trust For Historic Preservation in
1977.
The Hay House captures the
mythical glamour of the King Cotton era.
However, most local residents did not live
in such splendor. They were farmers who
grew cotton on fields of 100 to 500 acres
worked by 30 slaves or less. In town,
slaves accounted for about 40 percent
of Macon's population and despite their
bondage, they demonstrated the same
resourcefulness and determination common
to all Maconites. Of Macon's 20-some free
colored people, Solomon Humphries won
the respect of both white and black alike as
a profitable town merchant and cotton dealer.
Major John Humphries freed Solomon and
encouraged him to find his own fortune.
"Free Sol" built one of Macon's
first stores in 1824 and employed whites,
even though he was required to have a guardian
(Charles J. McDonald) and held no legal rights.
Free Sol later purchased his father and wife
and the state legislature emancipated
the two in 1834.
White or black, all who lived here
in the nineteenth century enjoyed
Macon's relatively healthy living
conditions. Unlike other Southern
cities plagued by yellow fever or
cholera, Macon recorded no cases
originating here. The city also maintained
many parks to help ensure a
healthy spirit. One of the town's early
leaders, Simri Rose, passionately
learned horticulture in addition to his
duties as a newspaperman and government
representative. His love for
flowers still lives in the many parks
cascading through Macon's downtown
and in the tranquil "garden of graves"
overlooking the Ocmulgee River, now
known as Rose Hill Cemetery.
Academic, philosophical, and cultural
pursuits thrived during the
prewar days, as they would again after
Reconstruction. Schools and colleges
granted degrees to both men and
women. Spectacular churches graced
the streets. Artists and performers
frequented the town as the railroad
and waterways kept Macon
at the center of attention. Progress
pulsed through the community. But
the rumblings of abolitionists and
states' rights supporters soon exploded
into a war that would test the temerity
of Maconites and all Southerners.
Macon Escapes the War's Ravages
- The inner hallway to the distinctive Hay House, a national historic landmark, shows the clever trompe l'oeil finishes on the walls. Photography by Ken Krakow.
With the onslaught of the Civil War, Maconites stood ready.
They rallied behind the Confederacy, and Bibb County sent more
troops into battle in proportion to its population than any other
county, according to nineteenth-century historian John Campbell
Butler. Thomas Hardeman led The Floyd Rifles, one of Macon's
troops, and hoisted the first Confederate flag in the state. The
city's foundries and factories quickly switched to producing
armament and uniforms, and Macon became the center for
Confederate armament operations and its depository since most
of the state's rail lines met here. The central location, insulated
from the major fighting, prompted the state capitol to temporarily
move to Macon from Milledgeville in late 1864.
The Cannonball House and Confederare Museum. This 1854 home
sustained minor damage when a Union cannonball sailed into the front
parlor during the attack on Macon in 1864. Photography by Ken Krakow.
Macon survived "The War Between the States" virtually
unscathed. Despite many threats, there were only a few skirmishes
near the war's end and the city didn't fall to Federal
occupation until 1865 after Robert E. Lee had surrendered.
When Major General W.T. Sherman brought his "March to
the Sea" to Middle Georgia, he chose to bypass Macon. He
instructed Major General George Stoneman to attack the city
instead and liberate the Union prisoners at Camp Oglethorpe.
The glory-seeking Stoneman left but one mark on Macon with
a cannonball lofted from the eastern bank of the Ocmulgee,
probably intended for the Hay House (Unionists believed the
Confederates had hidden the depository there). The ball landed
unexploded in the parlor of Judge Asa Holt's home and it is on
display today at the original site, now called The Cannonball
House and Confederate Museum. Stoneman failed his mission
and ironically found himself imprisoned at the same camp he
sought to free.
Reminders of the devastating war remain visible in the city
today. Several beautiful monuments stand as sentinels of the
past throughout downtown. Eastward on the Dunlap Trail at
the Ocrnulgee National Monument, the earthen works still
mark where the outnumbered Macon soldiers forced a Union
surrender at the "Battle of Walnut Creek." The sorrowfully long
lines of Confederate and Union graves in Rose Hill Cemetery
also tell of the war's cost to the area.
- The entrance to the historic Rose Hill Cemetery. Photography by Dorothy Hibbert Krakow.
An uncertain future loomed ahead of Maconites when the
war ended. The prosperous days seemed a distant memory,
but the citizens gathered what remained of their pride and
rebounded with remarkable passion and speed. They helped
to refurbish some of the 1,400 miles of tracks and rail equipment
wasted in Sherman's conquest, rebuilt their farms, and restarted
their industries. The freed blacks participated in this recovery as
well, and while segregation would continue for almost a century,
many outstanding black citizens would help pave the way for
Macon's success. In all, post-war Macon embraced progress
like a long lost friend, bringing the Central City of Georgia
to prominence in the South again.
CHAPTER TWO: The Business Climate
MACON, GA - Table of Contents
COMMUNITY
COMMUNICATIONS
Montgomery, Alabama
Visit with us at http://www.merrill.org/cc/
Copyright © 1996-2002 Merrill.org
Created: 8 April 1996
When much of the "civilized" world questioned the propriety of 
