Historic Macon Foundation

05/29/2026

In celebration of the upcoming screening of the new Gregg Allman documentary (The Music of My Soul) at the The Piedmont Grand Opera House, we are bringing back one of our most popular Rose Hill Cemetery tours!

Resident tour guides Kathleen O'Neal and Liz Riley of Raising The Dead in Georgia will lead us on a tour of the sacred sites made famous by The Allman Brothers Band on Friday, June 12.

Come connect with the spirits, the stories, and the songs that started it all. 🍄

🗓️ Date/Time: Friday, June 12 @ 10 AM
📍 Meeting Point: Rose Hill Cemetery (Main Gate)
🎟️ Tickets: $20 | Get yours here: https://bit.ly/4v4oE4q

05/28/2026

🕵️‍♂️ CALLING ALL FUTURE ARCHITECTS! 🕵️‍♂️

Looking for a summer camp experience that is part mystery, part history, and a whole lot of hands-on fun? We are thrilled to partner with our friends at the Hay House for their upcoming Architecture Detective Camp!

Camp-goers will spend the week uncovering the secrets of Macon's incredible historic structures. Here is a sneak peek at what we have planned for our day on the beat:

🔨 Tool Library Workshop
They won't just be looking at old buildings—they’ll be learning how to save them! Kids will get check out the actual, real-world tools used by preservationists to restore historic homes in our Tool Library. Then, we'll work together to build a piece that will be enjoyed for years to come.

🚒 Fire Hall Tour
We’re pulling back the curtain on Macon's history with a special tour of our historic fire hall building. It’s the perfect mix of neighborhood history, architecture, and preservation.

👉 Call the Hay House at 478-742-8155 or follow this link to register: https://www.georgiatrust.org/ticket/hay-house-architecture-detective-camp.

05/27/2026

We love these old photos of Fire Hall No. 4, now our office at 950 Third St. Finished in 1870, it's the oldest brick fire station in the state, we believe.

05/26/2026

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation just highlighted this mid-century modern home designed in 1962 by architect Jackson Holliday. Among its owners over the years was the late Phil Walden, president of Capricorn Records, who entertained rock stars and international celebrities there.

Today's home in Macon was designed in 1962 by architect Jackson R Holliday. This is a "if walls could talk" home! It was built with the latest features of the era. In the 1970s the house was acquired by the late Phil Walden, President of Capricorn Records and a great friend of The Georgia Trust. Here he entertained rock stars and international celebrities such as Andy Warhol and Cher! This is a private residence. Photo from the archives.We visited this incredible home on a Ramble to Macon way back in 2011!

05/21/2026

We thanked our major donors with a reception Wednesday evening at one of Macon’s most well-known homes: the Raines-Carmichael House, built in 1848, and now a National Historic Landmark.

Lee and Becky Oliver and Kacy Discher were gracious, engaging hosts, and our guests got to look around the beautiful rooms as they talked and walk up the spiral staircase to see the upstairs. Wow!

They gnoshed on delicious hors d'oeuvres from Saralyn Collins at Grow fresh local food, and violinist Caitlyn Dillard’s playing was magnificent.

We have more Preservation Month activities still on tap, including a “Chitlin’ Circuit” Salon on May 21 and a historic window restoration workshop on May 30. Check our website (historicmacon.org) for details and to register.

And it’s a great time to join our preservation family! We have 11 different levels, so pick one that’s right for you or your family. You can do so here: https://bit.ly/46Kq2xI

05/20/2026

The heavy-duty parts of our Korner Kupboard restoration have drawn the most attention in recent weeks, but we wanted to share a small thing of beauty that's part of the mix.

Reed Purvis, our construction project manager, is nearly done with restoring this old stained-glass transom window, which once sat above the front doorway to the Calhoun Street building that we’re converting to two apartments.

Reed took out all of the glass panes, cleaned them — not easy! — and restored the frame before setting each one back in. He'll put the window back in soon, perhaps next week. Outstanding!

05/18/2026

It takes strong, steady hands to get old brick ready for new mortar, and Roscoe Ross shows how it's done.

05/18/2026

He has moved on to the next project, but we couldn’t help but notice the final beauty of a time-worn Rose Hill Cemetery burial site that master brick mason Roscoe Ross improved recently.

He cut out old mortar where needed, then used a special historic mortar for repointing work after adding a bonding agent. He let it set, then scraped it and used old burlap to wipe it smooth.

Earlier, it took some heavy equipment to lift parts of the site off and then back on once his work was finished. He made sure it was all done correctly.

Ross is a second-generation brick mason who has repaired and rebuilt gates, walls, piers, walkways, stairs, patios, chimneys and more throughout Macon for decades. One of his most visible projects was repairing an arched entrance at Rose Hill after a motor vehicle damaged it in 2023.

We saluted him in 2024 with our Jenny Thurston Award for lifetime achievement in preservation.

05/15/2026

About 50 of our members turned out for our Preservation Picnic fundraiser Thursday evening to see our progress on the old Korner Kupboard building in the Beall's Hill Neighborhood. In time, it will be two new apartments.

It was a beautiful evening! They got to catch up with old friends and savor a delicious barbecue plate from Fall Line Brewing Co. We appreciate their support.

It was another one of our Preservation Month activities, and we have several others coming up before the end of the month. Check for details at historicmacon.org. It's a great time to join our preservation family. You can do so here: bit.ly/46Kq2xI.

05/14/2026

Want to get a peek at our latest restoration project?

Join us later today at the old Korner Kupboard building, at 1170 Calhoun St., where we're having a Preservation Picnic fundraiser starting at 6 p.m. You’ll get to look around inside the building, which will be two new apartments later this year.

We'll have barbecue plates from Fall Line Brewing Co. Tickets are $20 for members, $30 for not-yet members. (If you're a member, reach out to us at [email protected] for a discount code!) Get your tickets here:
https://bit.ly/4wq1TJX

To join, visit bit.ly/46Kq2xI.

05/13/2026

Historic Macon joins The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation in our disappointment with Gov. Brian Kemp’s veto of House Bill 376, which would have strengthened the state’s historic tax credit program.

“This is deeply disappointing for Macon and our preservation partners around the state,” Emily Hopkins, Historic Macon’s executive director, said in a message to our trustees. “We all know firsthand how instrumental these credits have been in downtown Macon's award-winning revitalization and how we have made a business out of tax-credit consulting to encourage use of the historic tax credits around the state.”

Historic Macon and other organizations will continue to advocate for the measure, she said. Hopkins also thanked members of Macon-Bibb County’s legislative delegation, who supported the measure and pushed for its passage, which came in March.

For Macon, the veto means that at least six commercial projects that depended on the tax credits are in jeopardy.