THE MACON GUIDE and OCMULGEE NATIONAL MONUMENT
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THE MACON GUIDE and OCMULGEE NATIONAL MONUMENT Compiled by Workers of The Writers' Program of The Work Proiects Administration in The State of Georgia Sponsored by Macon Junior Chamber of Commerce 1 9 3 9 MACON, GEORGIA THE J. W. BURKE COMPANY FEDERAL \VORKS ADMINISTRATION John Carmody, Administrator WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION F. C. Harrington, Commissioner Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner Gay B. Shepperson, State Administrator PREFACE The Macon Guide has been prepared by the Macon and Atlanta offices of the Federal Wtjters' Project, which is operated under the Work Projects Administration for the purpose of providing useful employment for unemployed wri.ters. This project, which has been set up in all the United States since November, 1935, has compiled numerous guide books and special studies for many sections of the country. Although the various units operate under Federal funds, the sponsorship of a local civic body is necessary for publica tion. The Macon Guide is sponsored by the Macon Junior Chamber of Commerce, which has also given valuable as sistance as consultant to the Writers' Project. We extend our sincere thanks to this body and to other organizations and individuals who have given their services. These are too numerous to be listed in full~ but a list of our principal con sultants for this volume is given after the bibliography. Samuel Tupper, Jr., State Supervisor co~~TENTS Page GENERAL INFORMATION 13 CONTEMPORARY SCENE 15 AGRICULTURE . 19 INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 23 EDUCATION . 29 WRITERS 36 NE\VSPAPERS AND JOURNALISTS . '4'4- HISTORY 49 CHRONOLOGY 61 Oci1uLGEE NATIONAL MONUMENT . 64 TOUR I 78 TOUR 2 91 TOURJ . 104 OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST - . 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 119 INDEX . 121 (7) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page CHERRY STREET 16 PEACH HARVESTING . 20 PEACH PACKING SHED 20 INTERIOR TEXTILE MILL . 24 CAMPUS WESLEYAN COLLEGE 30 NURSERY SCHOOL 31 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING, MERCER UNIVERSITY . 33 SIDNEY LANIER HOME . 37 FORT HAWKINS .Jco MARSHALL JOHNSTON HOUSE 51 OCl\1ULGEE NATIONAL MONUMENT MAP 65 COUNCIL CHAMBER, OCMULGEE NATIONAL PARK . 66 ENTRANCE COUNCIL CHAMBER, OCl\1ULGEE NATIONAL PARK . 67 MUNICIPAL AUDITORIUI\1 . So WESLEYAN CONSERVATORY 82 ST. JOSEPH'S CATHEDRAL . 88 CITY HALL 89 MULBERRY STREET METHODIST CHURCH 94 P. L. HAY HousE . 95 CO\VLES-BOND-O'NEAL HOUSE 97 COWLES-\VALKER HOUSE . 105 BACONSFIELD PARK . 109 BAC0NSflELD PARK PLAYGROUND . 109 HERBERT SMART AIRPORT . I I l GEORGIA ACADEMY FOR THE BLIND . 113 Lo\VTHER HALL . 117 ToeR MAP . Facing Page 78 (9) THE MACON GUIDE GENERAL INFORMATION TRANSPORTATION: Railroad Station: Terminal Station, Fifth and Cherry Streets, for Georgia R.R., Central of Georgia Ry., South ern Ry., Georgia-Southern R.R., and Macon, Dublin & Savannah R.R. Bus Station: Greyhound Terminal, 320 Broadway, for Southeastern Greyhound Lines, Southern Stages, In·c., Bass Bus Lines, Georgia Central Coaches, and Union Bus Lines. Airport: Herbert Smart Municipal Airport, 6.5 m. E. of city on State 87, for Eastern Air Line service between Mi ami and Chicago; connections with planes from Canada and South America. Taxi fare to airport, $1.00 by one line, 75c a passenger by the other. Charter service and flying lessons. Taxis: Y ello,v Cab Co., 10c first mile and a half, 10c each addition·al half mile. Safety Cab Co., 10c a passenger from business district to any point within city limits and vice versa; 20c a passenger across town; 15c a mile outside city limits. Local Busses: Single fare Sc, transfers le additional. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS: Right and left turns permitted at all intersections ; right turns may be made on red lights; no U tum·s on Cherry Street at traffic lights. Stop and slow signs, one-way streets, and parking limitations plainly marked. ACCOMMODATIONS: Thirteen hotels including two for Negroes ; numerous boarding houses, tourist homes, and camps; no seasonal rates, moderate prices. (13) 14 THE MACON GUIDE SHOPPING: Cherry Street is the center of Macon's shopping district. Out-of-town newspapers for sale at newsstands. INFORMATION SERVICE: Chamber of Commerce, h1unicipal Auditorium, First and Cherry Streets. All hotels and ne\vspapers. RECREATION: Golf: Cherokee Golf Club (municipal), 6 m. W. on US 80, 9 holes, sand greens~ green·s fee 50c. Idle Hour Country Club, 5.5. m. N. on US 341, 18 holes, $1; visitors may pur chase tickets at club house. Tennis: Baconsfield Park, North .Ave. and Nottingham Drive. Swimming: Recreation Park, 2 m. E. on US 80; Lakeside Park, 4 m. E. on· US 80; Y. W. C. A., open to women in daytime, to general public at night: Y. M. C. A. for men and boys. Riding: Rivoli Riding Club, 7 m. N. on US 341, $1 an hour. Stadium: Municipal Stadium, Mor~n Ave. Supervised Playgrounds: Tattn·an Square Park, Washing ton Park, and 9 others for white children; 5 for Negroes; open in winter 3-6, in summer 4 until dark. Theaters: Seven motion picture theaters in downtown area, including two for Negroes. Municipal Auditorium, Cherry and First Streets, for occasional concerts. Macon Little Theater, Ocmulgee Street for local productions. RADIO STATION: WMAZ (1180 kc.), affiliated with Columbia Broadcasting System. ANNUAL EVENTS: Spring, Bibb Flower Show, Bibb County Camellia Show; October, Georgia State Exposition. CONTEMPORARY SCENE MACON (334 alt., 53,829 pop., 44 per cent Negro) is known not only as Georgia's central city, but as a farmers' market, a college town, and the site of thriving factories. The industrial plants are lo ca ted principally within the mill area east of Fifth Street and south of the Ocmulgee River. Along this muddy stream and along the railroad tracks brick kilns, furniture factories, ironworks, and textile mills thrust their chimneys into the sky. Macon is best remembered, however, for its houses, its gardens, and its broad, park-centered streets with their im pressive lines of trees. The sweep of the pine-covered hills has been broken by small grassplots and flower gardens. Despite the class:c dig nity of a few public buildings and many residences, stately with columns and porticoes, Macon's beauty is comfortable rather than commanding. \,rhile the city has its panoramic vistas, such as the superb one from Coleman Hill, it has many more views of simple comeliness and charm. Although the skyline is low, the principal downtown streets, especially Cherry, have a rather modern appearance with their neon signs, vitrolite facades, and pavements strip ped of trees. But the cross streets are shaded by an over arching canopy of oaks, elms, magnolias, hickories, and beeches, and there are grassy center parks planted in pal mettos, pink-blossomed crape myrtles, and fragrant roses. While downtown Ma~on is compact and geometrically planned, the residential areas are designed with an agreeable irregularity. In Vineville, the oldest of these districts, are several of Macon's handsome churches and its older houses 15 16 THE MACON GUIDE with columns, iron banisters, and picket fences about their boxwood-bordered gardens. Modem landscaping, however, has been used extensively, and lawns are kept trimly shaven. Although Vineville has its modern residences, there are more of these in the newer suburbs of Stanislaus, Ingleside, and Shirley Hills. A gay and informal social life prevails, little concerned with large public gatherings but lived from home to home. The social texture is deeply marked by the churches, pre dominantly Protestant, of which I 1 denominations are or ganized into 89 congregations. The two most numerous de nominations are represented in the colleges, which also con stitute a powerful influence. Wesleyan, a woman's college en dowed by the Methodist Church, has become a tradition through more than a century, constantly raising its scholastic standing. Mercer, a Baptist university, has students and fac ulty members who have become an important part of Macon life. The Macon Telegraph and Evening 1V ews also wield CHERRY STREET OCMULGEE NATIONAL MONUMENT 17 power, not only through their policies but through the com munity standing of their personnel. Still another factor of importance are the travelers who constantly come and go. Though not a center for regular tourists, the city is popular for conventions because of its central location and excellent transportation facilities. Macon is actively interested in the arts. Wesleyan Col lege maintains a permanent collection of contemporary paint ings as well as copies of old masters. A collection of por traits, landscapes, and seascapes, presented to the city by the Macon Art Assoc:ation, is exhibited at the city hall. This association brings from four to six annual exhibits each year and spon3ors lectures by contemporary artists. Macon has a number of capable musicians, but its most conspicuous musi cal accomolishment is its work in promoting Christmas carol singin~. Considerable interest is focused upon the preserva tion of spirituals, which are presented to the general public by several Negro church choirs. None of the arts, however, has created a more alert and widespread interest than drama, for there is a very active theater group that owns its playhouse and presents several performances yearly. Macon's large Negro population, though socially sepa rate1 lives in close physical proximity to the white citizenry. The more prosperous element lives in Unionville and Pleas ant H:11, suburbs that show many well-kept homes. The poorer settlements are scattered in back alleys throughout the city, and sometimes rickety shacks stand even at the base of pu':Jlic cuildings. In the Negro business streets, lead ing abruptly from white districts, the bu~ldings are older but substantial enough, and there are hotels, offices, shops, motion picture houses, and a hospital. Gay, full-throated laughter is heard wherever sidewalk groups gather. Negroes in Macon range from iliiterate laborers to the college-bred professional class, which has produced such well-known educators as Professor W.