Andalusia (Milledgeville, Georgia) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Andalusia
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 Location in Georgia (U.S. state)
Location in the United States
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| Nearest city | Milledgeville, Georgia |
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| Area | 544 acres (2.20 km2) |
| Built | 1850s (Main House) |
| Architectural style | Plantation Plain |
| NRHP reference No. | 80000968 |
| Added to NRHP | 1980 |
Andalusia is a special old house that used to belong to a famous American writer named Flannery O'Connor. It's in the countryside of Georgia, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Milledgeville. The property is quite large, about 544 acres (2.2 km²). This includes the main house where Flannery O'Connor wrote many of her most famous stories.
Contents
The History of Andalusia Farm
Early Days as a Plantation
In the mid-1800s, Andalusia was a big farm called a plantation. It was owned by Joseph and Mary "Polly" Stovall and was about 1,500 to 1,700 acres. Sadly, many enslaved people, at least 39 of them, were forced to work on this farm.
After Mary Stovall passed away, Nathan Hawkins, who was once the mayor of Milledgeville, bought the property. He also used about 100 enslaved people to work the land. Many of these people were later sold at an auction in Milledgeville. In 1870, the farm was sold again to Col. Thomas Johnson.
Flannery O'Connor's Home
In 1951, Flannery O'Connor returned to Georgia, where she had grown up. She had been diagnosed with a serious illness called lupus. At first, she lived with her mother, Regina, in Milledgeville. There, she finished her first novel, Wise Blood.
As her health got a little better, she and her mother moved to Andalusia. It was still a working farm at the time. Flannery had visited the farm every summer when she was a child. Her mother had inherited the 544-acre property with her brother.
Flannery O'Connor thought her stay at Andalusia would be temporary, just until she felt better. She wrote to her editor, Robert Giroux, saying she hoped to return to Connecticut soon. She had many visitors at the farm, including a close friend and spiritual guide, Father James McCown, and another writer, Katherine Anne Porter.
Even though she was surrounded by nature, Flannery sometimes felt lonely. She missed the exciting world of writers she hoped to join. She once joked, "This season we have had three peachickens hatch and have killed one rattlesnake. Otherwise nothing goes on around here."
However, her time at Andalusia greatly influenced her writing. Most of her important works were written there. Several of her short stories are set in the area, like "The Displaced Person". This story is thought to be very similar to the farm itself. Flannery O'Connor passed away in a hospital in Milledgeville in August 1964.
Andalusia Today
Becoming a Museum and Landmark
The famous novelist John Kennedy Toole is believed to have tried to visit the house in 1969, shortly before he died. However, the home was not open to the public back then.
Andalusia was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It officially opened as a museum in 2003, allowing people to visit and learn about Flannery O'Connor's life. The Andalusia Foundation, Inc. helped take care of the property for many years.
In August 2017, the Georgia College & State University received Andalusia as a gift. The university plans to restore and preserve the farm, making sure it stays a special place for future generations.
Andalusia Farm was recognized as a National Historic Landmark on February 24, 2022. This means it is a place of great national importance.
More to Explore
- List of residences of American writers
- Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home
