THOMAS CO., Ga. (WTXL) - It's a slice of small town Americana, and just across the Florida-Georgia border lies Thomas County. It has a population of about 45,000 and was established in 1825. Known for it's quail hunting during the Resort Era in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the main city of Thomasville is now a bustling small town with southern charm.
"Our downtown is just a destination definitely for visitors," said Karen Smith, the Executive Director of Main Street and Tourism for Thomas County. "They love to come and dine and shop. There's over 16 locations to pick from to dine at and they are all just wonderful, and then our downtown is full of great shopping. There's something for everybody down there."
But you can't drive into Thomasville without stopping to smell the roses. There are nearly 4,500 of them in several rose beds throughout the Rose City. The popularity of the beautiful buds started in 1920 with a small rose show and a $50 investment.
"This is definitely one of the hot sports for visitors to our city is they love to come to the rose garden," says Smith. "It's over 5 acres, you really don't realize how big it is, and there are over 1,500 roses here. The goal is to have 8,000 roses throughout the city over the next 5 years."
There's a lot of history and heritage in Thomas County, and it's something the Thomas County Historical Society wanted to preserve.
They opened the Thomas County Museum of History in 1972. The society and curators like Ephraim Rotter have been giving tours and sharing the area's history ever since.
"This is the 1923 Flowers-Roberts house, the original builder was Joseph Hampton Flowers, he was the founder of Flowers Baking Company," explained Rotter. "He lived here until 1941 when the house was sold to Fritz Roberts. The Roberts family owned Sunnyland Packing Company, which for many years, was the largest employer in Thomasville."
The rooms of the house now contain exhibits, as does the Davis wing, added in 1991, which expanded the museum a couple thousand extra feet. It features timeline style exhibits starting with native American and pre-European history and wraps around in decades and ends in 1970.
Built in 1896, the Thomas County Museum of History is believed to have the third oldest standing bowling alley in the U.S. And the best part? Its still in use.
According to Ephraim, "There's only two older ones, one in Rhode Island and the other at the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. Ours, built in 1896, is the third oldest one, but we still go bowling in there everyday."
Along with the museum building and the bowling alley, the property also contains a 19th century log house, courthouse and early 20th century vehicles, all from towns within Thomas County.
The 1870 log house, moved in the 1970s from just outside Coolidge, was home to a husband, wife and 13 kids. And the 1892 Metcalf Courthouse portrays the old method of voting, where people just dropped a piece of paper in one of two boxes, in front of everyone else.
While museums have seen a setback with the invention and the democratization of the web, Rotter says there's just something special about going into their smaller museum and taking a step back in time.
"One of the things is we tend to be a little more laid back about the museum rules that we are all familiar with from growing up," said Rotter. "We don't necessary encourage people to touch things, but if you walk by and see this dress and you are just dying to touch it, it's okay, no one will yell at you. You want to bowl in our bowling alley, go ahead."
It's one of many features that makes Thomas County a popular 'One Tank Trip' day getaway for visitors.
