PAGE 10C, MAY 31-JUNE 1, 2006 NORTH FLORIDA FOCUS




 maslk/ A I-RIP ACKuntIN I(S ME


 Thomas County, located in south-
west Georgia and bordering Florida,
was formed in 1825 f 0r1m pa1rir- of li in
and Decatur counties, bLl\ lct-hltii t in-
troduced by Thoma- I I.'1,1r,-, n ,_,<.. i'--
er-builder of Pebble- Hill
Plantation. One
year later, on De- =
cember 22, 1826, a
location was es- i
tablished for the
new county seat,
Thomasville. The
city and county a:e
generally believed to -.
have been named toi
Major General let
Thomas, a member ol the !
State Militia during the
War of 1812.
 As the county seat,
Thomasville became the
center of educational, political, social,
economic and reli-
g i o u s
activities. Without a
railroad until ISo I
Thomas Coun-
tians became
largely .self-su- I"
ficient. Agricul-
ture was diver-
sified,, and
business
methods
were mod-


dian hunting domain into a prosper-
ous region. The area's rich land
pel mitt.d th, fo ma-
tion ofi


 cPclassic old
 South society, a plantation
 economy based on cotton. The soci-
 ety was rigid and static, peopled by
 yeomen farmers, professional men,
 planters, slaves, free Negroes and busi-
 nessmen both large and small. With
 the advent of the Civil War,
 T h o m a s v i 11 e
 -"" played
. -


ernized. The coun- .
ty developed one of the state's
best educational system-.
 Thomas County evolved from an In- goods and


'Per peirson. plus laxtparkiIni4j 3dritirial 21:d rij) tlcl,lL muz1 L-
uised irhn 6 cd.-jy'X I i -in r.If-,SfLa-xIlrart- >tLfarrnd d.- ri- tat
 littjkINuP~I jdv *enter r onI t day vim~tt


men. The war itself er. by healthy friends to enjoy hunting,
touched the county fishing and an active social
only briefly when Fed- *' life. Some of the most
eral prisoners. At"f luxuriously
sent to Thomasville '' appoint-
from Andersonville ed hotels
in late 1864 for 3 of Ameri-
short period of can's gilded
time. if:age were.lo-
 Although pre- cated in
 dominately -Thomasville,
 agricultural -the "Original
 in its early Winter Resort of
 years, Thomas CoLtnt the South."
 was never totally dependent Many of the
 upon cotton, raising a variety of "winter cottages'
 crops from pears to tobacco. built during the
These products yielded greater returns 1880s are now restored through efforts
than those enjoyed by many of the of Thomasville Landmarks, Inc. and
county's neighbors. Thomasville citizens. The Lapham-Pat-
 As the terminus for the railroad, terson House, a Victo-
Thoma-sille was accessible from the rian house museum
north and, during the late > open to the public,
1800's, became a was built in 1885 as
.winter. a winter residence
re- by Charles W.
sor t Lapham of Chica-
of na- go. Owned by
tional the state of
and in- Georgia and
terna" maintained by
 tional the Georgia
fame. In Department
the begin- of Natural Re-
ning of this sources, the house is listed on
era, North- the National Register of Historic
erners and Places.
 other visitors came Many of those, who came fo
for their health, breathing pine-scented Thomasville during the "grand hotel
air as a curative for pulmonary ail- era" bought property and built mag-
ments. They were soon joined, howev- nificent mansions and plantation
 homes. Many of these
 -plantations are still
 owned by the families
 who built them and are
 Visited year round. Ac-
 cording to local histori-
 ans, it was in Thomas
 County that Mark Han-
 na and William McKin-
 ley planned the strate-
 gy that led to McKin-
 ley's nomination for
 President. President
 Eisenhower visited
 Thomas County in 1956
 to rest after an illness
 and to decide whether
 ...._or not to run for a sec-
 ond term. The local
 with park admission Glen Arven golf course,
 one of America's oldest,
 was a favorite of Presi-
 dent Eisenhower's.
 Although the "grand
 hotel era" ended with
 S the extension of the
 railroad into southern
 7, Florida, Thomasville
 and Thomas County
 have continued the
 4 area's longstanding tra-
 dition of cultural and
 c o n o m i c
 diversity. There is a
 .. rich heritage in
 Thomasville and
 Thomas County, and
 the people work at
 guarding and preserv-
 ing that heritage while
 boldly stepping for-
 ward to the challenges
 that lie ahead.
 Thomasville / Thomas
 County Visitors Center
 (located in the
 Thomas County Cham-
 ber of Commerce Build-
 ing)
 401 South Broad
 I I I I


eve _CutisChamanSt. (P.O. Box 3319) ,
 Sa K .. y Thomasville, GA 31799;
 (229) 228-7977 Toll
 G.Free: 1-866-577-3600