|
|
|
|
Macon
The
Heart of Georgia
Macon has a rich history and a diverse culture. It was inhabited first by a
primitive people in 12,000 B.C., by 900 AD the area was the largest inhabited
site in the region. In 1540 priests traveling with the Spanish explorer
Hernando DeSoto, baptized Indian converts in the Ocmulgee River near the
future site of Macon. A trading post was established in the area that would
come to be known as the Old Ocmulgee Fields. Visitors to the site included
General James Oglethorpe (Founder of the Georgia Colony) and William Bartram
(English naturalist). In 1806 U. S. Fort Hawkins was built on a hill
overlooking the Ocmulgee Fields , in 1812 General Andrew Jackson visited the
fort and used it as a staging area for the Battle of 1812. Fort Hawkins
played an important role as the gateway to the west in our Nation's rapidly
expanding frontier and rapidly developed into a settlement known as Newtown.
One of the only cities in Georgia to grow out of a real frontier fort, Macon
was incorporated in 1823. The birthplace of varied and diverse groups and
people Macon is the home of the first college in the world chartered to
confer degrees to women. Poet Sidney Lanier was born here, as was Richard
Wayne Penniman, better known as "Little Richard". Otis Redding was
discovered here in the Saturday talent shows at Macon's historic Douglass
Theatre. James Brown cut his very first single at the WIBB radio studios and
"Southern Rock" was born at Capricorn Records in Macon - The Allman
Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, and Lynyrd Skynyrd all
recorded there. The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was opened in Macon in 1996.
The city hasn't missed out in the sports field either, it is home of the
exciting, interactive Georgia Sports Hall of Fame the largest state sports
Hall of Fame in the United States. Luther Williams Field, located in Central
City Park is the third oldest municipal baseball park in the nation. Macon
has more cherry blossoms than any other city in the world, including
Washington, D.C. and cities in Japan. Macon holds the title of Cherry Blossom
Capital of the World and has an international event to celebrate the blooming
of the 300,000 Yoshino cherry trees. One of the Top 20 Events in the South,
Top 50 Events in the U.S. and Top 100 Events in North America, it has grown
from a three-day festival with 30 events, to a 10-day celebration featuring
hundreds of events planned to entertain all ages and backgrounds the Cherry
Blossom Festival draws crowds from all over the world to see and taste and
feel the culture, tradition and rich history of the city of Macon truly the
Heart of Georgia.
|
|
