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Inspired by the ancient city of Babylon, city surveyor James Webb laid out
the downtown streets of Macon in 1832 creating a city with parks and
spacious avenues. He designated 250 acres for Central City Park and city
ordinances required citizens plant shade trees in their front yards. Today,
the city is a sea of trees on the site of the former home to Creek Indians
and their ancestors who settled here as long as 12,000 years before the
first European arrived.
From the earliest known Paleo-Indian cultures to the
best-known Historic Creek Indian culture, the fields and forests around
Macon and what is now the Ocmulgee National Monument were hunted and farmed.
Funeral and temple mounds were built. Now open to the public, the
Ocmulgee National Monument, run by the National Park Service, is a
fascinating look into the lives of the original caretakers of Macon.
In 1806, after the Creeks ceded their lands east of the Ocmulgee
River, President Thomas Jefferson had a trading post established as a
peacekeeping and trading site. Named for the Indian agent and statesman
Benjamin Hawkins, a replica stands today on a hill in East Macon. In 1822
the Georgia legislature created Bibb County, named for William Wyatt Bibb, a
U.S. Senator. Macon, named in honor of Nathaniel Macon, a North Carolina
patriot and statesman, was the county seat.
Cotton was king in Macon's early economy. The city thrived due to its
location on the Ocmulgee. Cotton boats, stage coaches, and in 1843, a
railroad all brought prosperity to Macon.
The first college in the world for women, Georgia Female College, was
chartered in Macon in 1835. Now
Wesleyan College, the campus is located on Forsyth Rd.
Mercer University relocated to Macon in 1871. (Both are locations where
some of your matches may be played.)
When the War Between the States broke out, the state capital was moved
from Milledgeville to Macon. Surprisingly, Macon was largely spared during
the war. A Union cannonball bounced off the porch column of a Greek Revival
mansion where it still sits on the landing of a house now known as the
Cannonball House.
Cannonball House, a Greek Revival
home on the National Registry of Historic Places, survived Union
shelling during the Civil War. |
The
house is on the National Registry of Historic Places, is a museum open to
the public on Mulberry St. Sherman’s infamous March to the Sea bypassed
Macon because he believed (incorrectly) that Confederate troops were
gathered to defend the city. Consequently, many beautiful buildings survived
and are still standing today.
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St. Joseph’s Cathedral,
100-year-old sanctuary. |
In the 20th
century, Macon grew into a agricultural and transportation hub in the state.
Delta Air Lines began in Macon as the Huff Daland Dusters, as an early mail
service. Nearby Warner Robins is home to
Robins AFB, the largest industrial complex in Georgia and home to
the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame in the
Museum of Aviation. where you will find also find a multitude of
aircraft, as well as special exhibits such as the Thunderbird and D-Day
Exhibits.
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In the 1950s, Macon emerged as music center as many great
musicians, mostly African American, came to Macon, including Otis
Redding, Leana Horne, James Brown, “Little Richard” Penniman,
Johnny Mercer, and later, the Allman Brothers. The
Georgia Music Hall of Fame (is located in downtown Macon on
Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. “Nashville Portrtaits: Photographs by
Jim McGuire,” preeminent photographer in Nashville, TN, for more
than 30 years, opens May 10.
Macon’s own “Lil Richard” is featured in the Georgia Music Hall of
Fame. |
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Exploring Macon
Between your tennis matches, take time to explore Macon and surrounding
area. Macon is home to 10 historic districts including Cherokee Heights,
East Macon, Macon, Macon Railroad, Pleasant Hill, Shirley Hills, Vineville,
Fort Hill, North Highlands, and Tindall Heights. Macon showcases the Hay
House, the Old Cannonball House, Sidney Lanier Cottage, Jarrell Plantation
and Terminal Station. Tourists and natives alike are welcome to enjoy the
history of Rose Hill Cemetery or the old-fashioned Douglas Theatre.
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Interior of the Georgia Sports Hall
of Fame,
located in Macon, as well as many other state museums. |
What’s more, history is not limited to monuments, architecture, and
gravestones. Macon also features the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Georgia
Sports Hall of Fame, the Museum of Arts & Sciences, the Harriet Tubman
African American Museum, and the Georgia Children's Museum.
For more information, visit
www.discovermacon.org. For tour information, the Macon Convention and
Visitors Bureau is good source for
tours of historic Macon. For happenings in the month of May, check out
Macon’s
Calendar of Events. |
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