Macon was founded in 1823 on the banks of the Ocmulgee River, growing out of the 1806 frontier Fort Hawkins. The fort was named for an Indian Scout sent to the area to set up trading, and the city was named for a beloved North Carolinian statesman.

Legend has it that the elders of the Creek Nation curse the banks of the Ocmulgee River. Way back in 1830, the US Government relocated the Creek Nation to the “Indian Territory,” and it was around that time that the rumor started to spread about the curse.

Macon was once the temporary capital of Georgia. By 1864 things were not going well for the Confederacy’s attempt to secede from the Union. After the fall of the then state capital in Milledgeville, the state government fled to Macon, Ga, and in February of 1865 where a special assembly of the state government was held at Macon City Hall.

In February of 1973, the Piedmont region of Georgia was hit by one of the biggest snowstorms of all time. Macon was buried in 16.5” of snow, and with little or no ability to move that amount of snow, the city was paralyzed. The storm was blamed for 31 deaths, and the blizzard of ‘73 has since become folklore to those citizens who lived through it.

Macon has 14 historic districts containing over 5,500 historic buildings.