| Welcome to Macon, Georgia! The gateway to Georgia’s picturesque southwest and lying just 84 miles southeast of Atlanta, this beautiful city of Southern charm and cultural riches awaits your visit. Originally designed in 1823 as a "city in a park,” Macon’s Southern heritage has been well preserved. Wide avenues are lined with grand, stately mansions, many built before the Civil War during the cotton boom. Macon offers a wealth of historic sites, delightful places to stay, and the hospitality for which the South is so well known.
Having been spared the ravages of General Sherman's murderous march to the sea, Macon is filled with delightful white-columned antebellum buildings which stand as a testimony to the city’s rich historical past. Through a $36-million revitalization project launched in 1999, much of the original charm of Macon has been restored.
Known as the cherry tree capital of Georgia, Macon has over 275,000 Yoshino cherry trees which bloom in late March and attract visitors from all over during the city’s famous Cherry Blossom Festival. Home of rock legend Little Richard and birthplace of Southern poet Sidney Lanier, Macon is filled with a variety of interesting cultural offerings, educational institutions, sports arenas and entertainment venues. Come visit us and see how much there is to discover in Macon, Georgia.
For a free Visitors Guide to Macon, Georgia, click here.
Macon, Georgia, the city known as the “The Song and Soul of the South,” holds a treasure trove of potential story ideas. The Macon-Bibb County Convention and Visitors Bureau is eager to assist writers by gathering information, providing photos and coordinating interviews, as requested. Below are general topics of interest with brief descriptions; please call or e-mail the MBCCVB Communications Director at any time to discuss your ideas or needs.
Architecture
One of the great cities of the American South, Macon has been called “a textbook of historic architecture,” with 5,500 individual structures in 11 historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places - more acreage on the prestigious register than any other city in Georgia. The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Macon one of America’s “Dozen Distinctive Destinations.” Great books for research include Macon’s Treasures Remembered: The Antebellum Years, Living Macon Style and Macon Sketchbook; www.historicmacon.org also provides valuable information.
History
Ocmulgee National Monument
Part of the National Park Service, Ocmulgee National Monument preserves evidence of 12,000 years of human habitation. Earthen mounds, a ceremonial earthlodge, artifacts and dioramas help tell the story of Native American life. The monument hosts the Ocmulgee Indian Celebration every September.
Rose Hill Cemetery
Established in 1840 along the Ocmulgee River, Rose Hill remains one of the oldest surviving public cemetery parks in the U.S. Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, founding members of the Allman Brothers Band, are buried here side-by-side. Also laid to rest are 600 Confederate soldiers, three Georgia governors, architect Neel Reid, author Harry Stillwell Edwards, an accused ax-murderer and Lt. Bobby, whose inscription reads “Just a Brown Dog….”
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