Things to do in Milledgeville, Georgia (GA): The Best Museums

Historic farm in Milledgeville, GA where Southern fiction writer Flannery O'Connor lived and worked from 1951 until her death in 1964.

Established in 1842 as the Georgia Lunatic Asylum, this facility treated patients suffering from mental illness, epilepsy and tuberculosis. Today, the fully accredited hospital occupies approximately 100 buildings on 1700 acres. Museum by appointment only.

Georgia's Old Capital Museum is located on the ground floor of the Old Statehouse in Milledgeville Georgia. Galleries cover Pre-historic Georgia through Reconstruction. A must-see for everyone!

Completed in 1839, Georgia's Old Governor's Mansion is one of the finest examples of High Greek Revival architecture in the nation. Designed by noted architect Charles Clusky, an Irish immigrant and built by Timothy Porter of Farmington, Connecticut, the Mansion looms over Milledgeville with its stately columns and imposing facade. Serving as the residence for Georgia's chief executives for over thirty years, the Mansion's history encompasses the antebellum, Civil War, and early Reconstruction phases of the state's history. Such noted state leaders as George Crawford, Howell Cobb and Joseph E. Brown resided in the building and used it as a stage for speeches and also to introduce guests of national standing. Georgia's Old Governor’s Mansion also served as a stage on which many elements of the complex social issues of the antebellum period were played out. Slavery and the complexity of society and gender roles are among the issues that shape the history of the building and are explored in tandem with the issues of politics. During the Civil War, the Mansion was claimed as a "prize" in the "March to the Sea," when General William T. Sherman headquartered in the building on November 23, 1864. Following the war, Georgia's seat of government was relocated to Atlanta, and the Mansion was abandoned. Given over to Georgia Normal & Industrial College (currently known as Georgia College) in 1889, the Mansion served as the founding building of the institution and is the campus's most treasured structure. Beginning in the late 1990s, an initiative was begun to return the Mansion to its antebellum splendor. Following five years of intensive historical, structural and material research, Georgia's Old Governor's Mansion began its long awaited historic restoration in November of 2001. Funded through the Georgia General Assembly and a generous grant from the Woodruff Foundation, over three years of painstaking work has restored the original layout, coloration, lighting and appearance of the building. Georgia's Old Governor's Mansion now serves as an historic house museum whose mission is to care for, collect, interpret and exhibit items (including artifacts, structures, and gardens) that illustrate the history of the site and its inhabitants during the years the Mansion was the official residence of Georgia’s governors (1839-1868). Tours focus on the history of the building, its occupants both free and enslaved, and the myriad complexities of Antebellum society in Georgia and its history. Georgia's Old Governor’s Mansion was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 and is an accredited museum of the American Alliance of Museums. In 2015, the Mansion was named an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Sallie Ellis Davis House was the home of a dedicated and passionate Baldwin County educator. Ms. Davis worked her entire career as a teacher and principal at the Eddy School to touch the lives of Baldwin County children. She believed that through a combination of hard work and education one could accomplish anything. Ms. Davis was an inspiration and a pillar of the African American community in segregated Milledgeville. Her legacy, preserved in her home, is one of excellence. She encouraged her students to excel in all they did and to “reach for the stars” no matter what obstacles lay before them. Since April 2012 her home is available for historic tours that celebrate the life and times of Sallie Ellis Davis. The Sallie Ellis Davis House is a meeting place for the community of Baldwin County and greater Georgia.