Westville (Georgia) facts for kids
Historic Westville was a history museum that showed what a Georgia town was like in the 1800s. It was located in Columbus, Georgia, United States.
Westville was like a recreated old village. It had 17 buildings from before the American Civil War (1861-1865). These buildings were moved to the museum site to make it feel like a real old town. Westville helped people learn about life and culture in South Georgia during the 1800s. They did this by keeping the village looking old, collecting old items, and showing how people used to work.
Every day, "townspeople" dressed in old-fashioned clothes would show skills like woodworking, dressmaking, and blacksmithing. You could see buildings like a courthouse, churches, stores, craft shops, and homes.
Westville moved to Columbus, Georgia from Lumpkin, Georgia and opened again on June 22, 2019. Sadly, as of 2024, Westville is now permanently closed.
The Story of John Word West
The idea for Westville came from a man named Lt. Col. John Word West. He was a history professor at North Georgia College. John West was born in 1876, a time when Georgia was changing a lot. The American Civil War had just ended, and farming was becoming less important as cities like Atlanta grew.
When John West was a child, he spent many hours listening to his grandparents. They told him stories about the old ways of life that were disappearing. He learned old skills from them. Later, he used these experiences to create his own museum. He wanted to save those stories and old skills for everyone to see.
John West was a teacher in high school and college. In 1928, he started using his own money to save "Georgiana." This included old buildings, tools, furniture, and work skills from Georgia's past. He admired two other Americans who also saved history: John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Henry Ford. Rockefeller started Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia in 1927. Henry Ford started Greenfield Village in Michigan in 1928. John West even talked to both men for advice. He might have even traded old items with Henry Ford.
In 1928, John West opened "The Fair of 1850" near Jonesboro, Georgia. He saw his Fair as the South's version of Williamsburg and Greenfield Village. From 1932 to 1934, he moved the oldest buildings he owned to the Fair. One of these was his grandparents' log house, where he had spent so much time as a boy. He and others also showed visitors how to do "old-fashioned" crafts. These included woodworking, making cloth, cooking over a fire, and making shoes.
Saving history was a huge project, bigger than what a teacher's salary could cover. John West tried to get the state of Georgia to take over his project. But he was not successful before he passed away in 1961.
Westville's Time in Lumpkin
Even though John West had passed, his Fair was not forgotten. People in Stewart County, a rural area in Georgia, decided to save it. This was five years after West's death. Stewart County was changing from farming to a new kind of business: heritage tourism. The county still had many old buildings and items from before the Civil War. It also had people who knew the old crafts that John West loved. In some ways, Stewart County in 1966 still felt like 1850.
Dr. Joseph Mahan helped save John West's collection. He was a curator at the Columbus Museum. Dr. Mahan knew John West and probably visited his Fair when he was young. He made it his personal goal to save West's work. Dr. Mahan had an idea for a village where old houses could be moved and saved. People could also show historic crafts and trades, and local people could get jobs.
With Dr. Mahan's help, the museum received 59 acres of land in Lumpkin. This led to the creation of Westville Historic Handicrafts in June 1966.
By 1969, the new museum had bought the West Collection. It opened to the public in Spring 1970. The six oldest buildings from the Jonesboro site were moved to Westville. Many of John West's old items also came with them. Most of the other items in the collection were given as gifts by different people. In 2001, Westville Historic Handicrafts became Historic Westville. The goal was to show more than just crafts. They wanted to show living history and tell the story of West Georgia's past.
Later, the chairman of Westville's board, Tripp Blankenship, thought about moving the museum to Columbus, Georgia. Some people protested this plan in October 2014. By July 2016, the Lumpkin site was closed.
The New Location
Historic Westville reopened on June 22, 2019, in Columbus, Georgia. It was open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday. It also offered special programs and field trips for schools. There were plans to show even more history and move other buildings from the old Lumpkin site. This would happen as more money became available.
Today, people appreciate John West's work even more. Except for a few years in the 1960s, his project has shown "Georgiana" to the public since 1928. Historic Westville was one of the oldest living-history projects in America. It remains a lasting reminder of John West's vision.
As of October 2019, Historic Westville had live demonstrations and craftspeople every day. They wore clothes from the 1840s to 1860s. These "living historians" talked to visitors about what life was like in South Georgia in the 1800s. They focused on the different stories of the people who lived there.
Historic Westville had five interpreters who were skilled in old trades. Leatherworking and boot making were shown in the Singer Boot Shop. South Georgia quilting was shown in the Singer House. Traditional carpentry was done in the West Wood Shop. Blacksmithing was shown in the Woodruff Blacksmith Shop. Westville also had a dressmaker who hand-stitched all the clothes worn by the interpreters. Cooking over an open fire was planned for early winter 2019. The craftspeople used old methods and tools from the time period.
Westville is now permanently closed.
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