The prison was meant to house no more than 10,000 captured Union soldiers. But by August, 1864, there were 32,000 men within the 26.5-acre stockade of Andersonville Prison. On a single day in that month 97 of them died

Cannon Ball House

Can you imagine a cannonball roaring into your house? Especially one that was aimed at another house, the Johnston-Hay house, which stored money from the Confederate Treasury inside. On July 30, l864 the cannonball was fired from General Stoneman's battery on a bluff overlooking the river, now known as Ocmulgee National Monument.

The cannonball glanced off the sand wall near the historical marker, bounced, struck the second column from the left and ricocheted, entering the Holt house over a parlor window and landing in the hall. The cannonball is still there today but don't worry--it was a dud. Explosive powder was in short supply so most of the shots fired at Macon in the Civil War were duds.

To add insult to injury, Judge Holt was hanged three times by Union troops who thought he knew where the Confederate Treasury money was buried. Fortunately, Holt was cut down by his servants each time, (the third time he was unconscious), and he managed to lived through the experience. After this harrowing experience, the Holt family fled to their plantation in Jefferson County. But this escape did not save them from their rash of misfortune because Sherman marched right through on his way to the ocean. His invading soldiers slaughtered or stole all of the Holt's livestock, burned their cotton gin, warehouse, and granary containing several hundred bushels of wheat, stole all their silver, jewelry, clothing and household goods, ate all their food, and destroyed their well ropes and water buckets.

The Cannonball House is handsome with Ionic columns and wire railings. Inside, the two parlors have been decorated to represent the two oldest national collegiate sororities from Wesleyan College, Alpha Delta Pi and Phi Mu. As Old Wesleyan buildings were being destroyed in l962, the contents were taken to this house.

Imagine yourself making a trip to market with your cotton two hundred years ago. Where to stay overnight? How about the Ezekiel Harris House, one of the finest eighteenth-century houses and an inn.

Ezekiel Harris was a tobacco merchant who became wealthy and built this Federal-style home. The three-story frame house has a vaulted front hall. Although the furnishings did not belong to his family, they are representative of Southern pieces of the period.

This peaceful hillside above a pine valley was Franklin Roosevelt's favorite retreat from the cares of office, both as Governor of New York and as President. It is still tranquil and beautiful. Roosevelt originally came to Warm Springs for therapy in the warm natural baths. A l2-minute film gives visitors a glimpse into his life, with a focus on his affliction that was kept hidden from the public for many years.

In fact, Roosevelt gave a Thanksgiving dinner only for afflicted children every year. Suzanne Pike attended the dinner in l932 and today she is a guide on the grounds, riding around in a motorized cart and talking with visitors.

There's a true roadside wonder alongside highway 142 between Covington and Eatonton, just inside the Putnam County line, about sixty miles southeast of Atlanta. It is the headquarters of the Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a property devoted to the teachings of one Malaki Zodok York-el. York, who calls himself the Grandmaster, claims he's from a planet called Rizq. Despite evidence to the contrary, his followers deny their group is a cult.

Oakland

Oakland Cemetery is a repository for approximately 2,500 soldiers both known and unknown. It has been the site of Memorial Day services since 1866 and boasts two beautiful monuments to the Confederate dead. It is also the final resting place for five generals.

St. EOM's

This guy was a living legend until he shot himself a few years back. Born in Buena Vista in the early part of the century, Abused by his father, he ran away to Greenwich Village in the '30s, became a prostitute, and returned to Buena Vista after his mother died to create Pasaquan and St. EOM. Told fortunes for a living and recreated his childhood home creating statues of dubious Indian origin. He had a dancing pit where he would perform, built walls and painted them in primary Sherman Williams colors. Never paid taxes, grew marijuana. It's an aberration by New York standards, but that is nothing to the striking contrast when viewed against the backdrop of Buena Vista Georgia, a monument in itself. The town economy is basically fueled by a chicken processing plant and a clothing enterprise whose major outlet is QVC

The Governor's Masion

This was the executive residence of Georgia's governors from its completion in 1838 until 1868. Governor Joseph E. Brown and his family lived in the mansion during the Civil War. General William T. Sherman spent a night at the mansion during his March to the Sea.

The McRae Lions didn't have a lot of cash, nor did they have a lot of statue-building materials. But they did have enthusiasm. Working entirely from photographs -- and junk found lying around town -- they built a 1/12 scale version of Miss Liberty. Her head was carved -- with a chainsaw -- from a stump pulled out of a nearby swamp. Her upraised arm was made of styrofoam. The hand that holds her torch is actually an oversized electrician lineman's glove. Said Ray Bowers of the Club, "We never knew it would be so pretty." The green lady is illuminated by spotlights at night.

The Lions built their replica Liberty Bell with similar efficiency. They took the old McRae town fire bell and put a big crack in it.

(Replica Statue of Liberty: Intersection of U.S. 341, 23, 441, 319 and 280. All roads lead to Liberty.)