Welcome to Georgia's Lake Country
Located in the heart of the Antebellum Trail, Georgia's Lake Country offers the best of the past and the present. You're greeted at every turn in the tri-county area by friendly people, spectacular natural beauty, and richly-preserved reminders of the past. A walk down the main streets of Madison, Eatonton, or Greensboro, with their gracious old restored homes shaded by centuries-old pecans and oaks, is like stepping back to a simpler time. Active Better Hometown programs in all three communities are constantly undertaking new projects aimed at preserving our heritage for future generations.
At the heart of Georgia's Lake Country are Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair, covering over 36,000 acres. Lake Oconee has been identified in sports magazines as one of America's 20 hottest bass lakes. With 34 pounds of large mouth bass per acre, it attracts anglers from all over the country. The site of several national and local fishing tournaments, Lake Sinclair boasts over 417 miles of scenic shoreline and a surface area of 15,330 acres. With features such as Georgia Power's outstanding tailrace fishing area below the dam near Milledgeville, it's no wonder it ranks among Georgia's most popular boating and fishing locations.
NOTE: Fishing in Georgia requires a fishing license. Licenses can be purchased at some sporting goods stores, convenience stores, marinas and county courthouses. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources offers online applications for fishing and hunting licenses, boat registration, and state park reservations, as well as a wealth of other useful information.
Lake Oconee
If fishing is your passion, look no further than Lake Oconee. The lake is stocked with largemouth bass, white bass, blue gill sunfish, redear sunfish, black crappie, white catfish, and channel catfish. There are 50 five-acre fish plots where timber is topped ten feet below the lake's pool level. Some of the plots are marked by buoys; others are left for fishermen to discover. Other wildlife enhancements in the Lake Oconee development include a waterfowl management area, which provides sanctuary for rare species of birds such as the American bald eagle. It is managed by the State Department of Natural Resources in cooperation with Georgia Power.
Completed in 1979, Lake Oconee is fed from the Oconee River, the Appalachee River, and several major creeks, and covers parts of Morgan, Greene, and Putnam counties. With 18,971 acres of water surface and 374 miles of shoreline, it is second in size only to Georgia's Lake Lanier. "Oconee" is taken from an ancient Creek Indian name meaning "great waters".
The lake is impounded by Wallace Dam, located just above Lake Sinclair near Eatonton. The gravity-concrete dam, 120 feet high and 2,395 feet long, is the newest and largest hydroelectric plant in the Central Georgia Hydro Group and the Georgia Power Company. Construction of the dam began in 1971 and since its completion in 1980, the dam's 321,300-kilowatt capacity nearly doubled the total output of Georgia Power's hydro generating system.
The dam and power plant are named for the late Cyrus M. Wallace, a former executive vice president and director of the Georgia Power Company.
Lake Sinclair
Named for B.W. Sinclair, Georgia Power’s superintendent of power plant construction and operations during the completion of the project, Lake Sinclair is a 15,330-acre hydropower impoundment at Furman Shoals on the Oconee River. The Georgia Power Company began building Sinclair Dam in 1929, but construction was suspended in 1930 during the Great Depression. Work on the plant resumed in 1949, and the plant was placed into operation in 1953.
Two factors make Lake Sinclair an unusual lake, the first being the location. With Lake Oconee to its north, Wallace Dam operates as a pump-back operation between the two lakes, meaning that during times of peak electrical demand, water is released through the dam into Lake Sinclair. At times of low demand, the Wallace Dam turbines are reversed and pump water from Lake Sinclair backs up into Lake Oconee. The result is that current can flow either way depending on the operation of Wallace Dam.
The second factor is that Lake Sinclair serves double duty for Georgia Power. Not only does the water running through Sinclair Dam generate power, but the waters of the lake are used in the cooling towers of Plant Harlee Branch, a coal-fired generation plant in the Beaverdam Creek area. The water returning to the lake from the plant is 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the lake itself, making the area around the hotwater discharge a great place for wintertime fishing.
The Antebellum Trail
Georgia's Lake Country lies in the heart of the Antebellum Trail, a 100-mile route founded in 1984, when students at the University of Georgia suggested bringing together a string of seven small cities and towns to promote their common history--they are among the only communities in Georgia that were spared complete destruction by General Sherman during his burning rampage through Georgia. The Trail extends along US Highways 129 and 441 and Georgia Highway 22 from Athens to Macon, including the towns of Old Clinton, Milledgeville (the Capitol of Georgia from 1803 to 1868), Eatonton, Madison, and Watkinsville. Each community is unique, but their common charm is the immense pride the residents take in maintaining their links to the past and genuine Georgia hospitality.
The word "antebellum" means "before the war," which of course in this case means the Civil War. Due to the invention of the cotton gin, Georgia enjoyed a cotton boom between the years of 1820 and 1861, and the homes and plantations in many of these towns reflect that prosperity. Well-preserved examples of these old Southern homes still can be seen in communities all along the Trail.
Madison and Morgan County
Voted Best Small Town in America by Travel Holiday Magazine, Madison boasts one of Georgia's largest National Historic Register historic districts. While the town is a treasure trove of antebellum and Victorian buildings, the preservation of this historic legacy was no small feat. In fact, it was the direct result of some fast Southern talking and a lucky friendship with a certain general's brother.
As the story goes, Senator Joshua Hill, then one of Madison's leading citizens, managed to reach a "gentleman's agreement" with General Sherman to spare his town during Sherman's infamous March to the Sea in 1864, thus earning Madison the nic name of "the town Sherman refused to burn."
As a result of his diplomatic talents, Hill's former home, a mansion on Academy Street, still stands today, as do close to 45 of Madison's antebellum houses. Most are still private homes, but some are open to the public, including The Rose Cottage (c. 1890, restored in 1997), on 179 East Jefferson Street. Mrs. Rose, born into slavery, purchased the land and built her home prior to this century.
Adjacent to the Rose Cottage is the Rogers House (c. 1810) a recently-restored house and museum located in the Horace Moore House (c. 1895). The Morgan County African-American Museum & Moore House at 156 Academy Street promotes awareness and preservation of the contributions of African-Americans in the culture of the South.
Heritage Hall (c. 1833) at 227 South Main Street, is a Greek Revival antebellum house and museum furnished in the period and available for tours and special events. It is open daily (706-342-9627).
Several Victorian homes also have been preserved, the most celebrated of which is the Hunter House. An 1883 Queen Anne-style home with elaborate spindle-work, it is probably the most photographed home in Madison.
Eatonton and Putnam County
On April 15, 1808, the site of Eatonton was laid off in 29 squares of six and a half acre lots surrounding the public square. These squares were then sold at public auction and the town named Eatonton after General William Eaton of Connecticut, an officer and diplomat involved in the First Barbay War. The Putnam County Courthouse, which has recently undergone a major restoration/renovation project, is still surrounded by its original public square.
Among the more recent of Eatonton's distinguished citizens are Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Color Purple, and Joel Chandler Harris, creator of the Uncle Remus Tales. The Alice Walker Trail is a driving tour that offers viewers insights into her family's history and the early development of her talents.
The Uncle Remus Museum, located in Turner Park, is part of the original home of Joseph Sidney Turner, the "Little Boy" in the Tales of Uncle Remus. The museum was created from two original Putnam County slave cabins and features a large protrait of Uncle Remus and the little boy presented to the museum by Walt Disney. Among the displays are shadow boxes of delicate wood carvings of "de Critters," first editions of many of Mr. Harris's works, and numerous articles of interest.
The Adele Theater (c. 1914) located at 107 N. Madison Avenue, now home of Blackwell's Furniture Co., was a silent movie theater that closed in 1923. The only significant alteration to the original theater was the leveling of the downstairs floors.
Located north of Eatonton on Highway 441 is the Rock Eagle Effigy. This stone mound, in the shape of a great prone bird with its head turned to the east and its wings outstretched, measures 102 ft from wingtip to wingtip and rises ten feet above the ground. It is composed entirely of milky quartz rocks ranging in size from baseballs to boulders and is best viewed from the large granite observation tower built by the federal government in 1937.
The effigy was first described in 1877 by C.C. Jones, a Georgia historian, who made accurate measurements and drawings. According to him, the most likely builders of the mound are Woodland Indians, who inhabited the area from 1,000 BC to 1,000 AD. While it is possible that the people who built Rock Eagle were part of the Hopewell or the Adena Culture, it is more likely that these Woodland Indians were a distinct cultural development.
During the 1930's, Dr. A. R. Kelly, a noted archeologist from the University of Georgia, excavated the breast area of Rock Eagle, finding a single set of human remains and a projectile point that may or may not be associated with the effigy. In 1954, Kelly reported that both Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk showed indications of having been enclosed by a wall of material similar to the rocks used to construct the effigies. This, perhaps, associates them with the builders of similar walls at Stone Mountain (destroyed, 1923) and Fort Mountain (still standing).
Greensboro and Green County
Greene County was the 11th county formed in Georgia. The five municipalies of the county--Greensboro, Union Point, White Plains, Woodville, and Siloam--boast numerous sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A good place to start discovering them is at the Greene County Historical Society Museum. Displays include collections of artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts that offer a unique glimpse into the people and events that shaped the county's origins.
One the most unique of Green county's attractions is the "Gaol" Jail, one of the oldest penal structures in the state of Georgia. Built in 1807, the rock jail was patterned after the Bastille with castellated battlements. It is open to the public by appointment.
Hawthorne Heights Historic Home (c. 1848) in Union Point was originally a raised cottage enlarged along Greek Revival lines. It is available for drive-by tours only. Another historic home, Jefferson Hall (c. 1830) is highlighted by its beautiful elliptical door lights framed by a two-story portico supported by ionic columns.
Scull Scoals, the remains of the Oconee National Forest Frontier Fort located off Hwy. 15 in Greene county, has been described as either a prosperous mill village or a ghost town, depending on who you ask. Information is available from the Greene County Chamber of Commerce (706-453-7592). Another mill, The Union Point Chipman Union, is a 103-year old hosiery mill still in use. Tours are available by appointment only.