Photograph courtesy of Columbus State University
ST. EOM’S PASAQUAN
Eddie Owens Martin, better known as St. EOM, grew up in rural Georgia but escaped to New York City in the ’20s, where he discovered a passion for painting and drawing. While living in New York, he received visions telling him to build Pasaquan, a word that combines Spanish and Chinese and essentially means “bringing the past together.” Martin returned to Georgia in the ’50s after his parents’ deaths and began to transform his family home near Columbus (about two hours south of Atlanta) into a surreal and whimsical wonderland.
On the seven-acre grounds you’ll find six structures, colorful totem poles, adorned walkways, and larger-than-life sculptures clad in bright patterns. Inside the home are rooms painted in psychedelic fashion—no surface was left untouched. Pasaquan, which began falling apart after Martin’s death in 1986, has been lovingly restored over the past several years and is now managed by Columbus State University. Pasaquan is considered an important site of folk art and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Finding the property requires driving into a remote part of the woods and down a dirt road, and you’re rewarded with free admission (though a donation is appreciated) and a house unlike one you’ve ever seen before.
Photograph courtesy of Visit Milledgeville
ANDALUSIA FARM
The great American novelist Flannery O’Connor grew up in Savannah, but she spent her final 13 years at Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville. The 520-acre property was once a cotton plantation, until her uncle, Bernard Cline, purchased it and used it as a meat and dairy farm. O’Connor moved on to the property in 1951 after her lupus diagnosis and lived there until her death in 1964. Her stories are beloved for their sense of place, and it’s evident where she drew inspiration from when she wrote the novels Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away, along with 32 other short stories.
The farm was gifted to Georgia College (her alma mater), which built the Andalusia Interpretive Center, located near the entrance of the farm, which houses artifacts of the property. The center also displays O’Connor’s artworks. The exhibition Hidden Treasures runs through the end of 2025 and displays previously unseen artwork, including still lifes and farm scenes. The farmhouse still stands and is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday; hourly group tours are available with a reservation. The house invites visitors to wander and imagine a typical day when O’Connor lived there and catch a glimpse of her personal life (the bed she slept in and the porch where she swayed on rocking chairs).
Photograph courtesy of Mac Stone / Open Spaces Institute
OCMULGEE MOUNDS
It’s not every day you can come into contact with a memento of ancient times, but you don’t have to go far to find it; the Ocmulgee Mounds sit about 90 minutes south of Atlanta in Macon. Visiting the mounds, a National Historic Park, is a powerful reminder of the people who came before us. Native Americans built the mounds, with artifacts dating as far back as 900 CE. In the 1930s, an extensive archeological dig uncovered such items as jewelry, tools, pottery shards, metal, and even seeds.
The park contains a museum with more than 2,000 artifacts, as well as information about the different peoples that called the area home over the years. When you visit the park, eight miles of trails lead you around the mounds, and other hiking trails wind through the woods and wetlands. You also can’t miss the Earth Lodge, a partially preserved but mostly reconstructed meeting space inside one of the mounds, with clay flooring that dates back to 1015 and earthen seating where council members of the Mississippian culture once met. There are seven mounds all together, including the Funeral Mound and the Great Temple Mound (which offers a great view from the top).
Photograph courtesy of the Big House Museum
Photograph courtesy of the Big House Museum
DETOUR
For music and Southern rock fans, it doesn’t get better than a stop at the Allman Brothers Band Museum, also known as the Big House. The historic Tudor house, in Macon, a few miles away from the Ocmulgee Mounds, was the home to some of the band’s members from 1970 to 1973. Now it’s a museum in their honor, filled with guitars and other memorabilia from the band’s 45-year career.
This article appears in our August 2025 issue.
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Joe Reisigl
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