Thomasville, Georgia….Worth The Trip

Thomasville, Georgia…a small town, north of Tallahassee, Florida on the Georgia/Florida line. So, what makes coming to Thomasville so unique? To answer that question, you need to know a little of the history of Thomasville.

Thomasville was a small town nestled among the long leaf pines established in the 1820s. It had rich farm land, great for growing cotton, corn and other agricultural crops. But it was also rich in wildlife; quail, turkey, dove, bear, and other animals. Soon, plantations were popping up everywhere. Then, the Civil War hit the south. Thomasville had their struggles during the war like all towns, but became a hiding place for the Confederates to hid the Union soldiers. Thomasville wasn’t hit or burned like so many other small Georgia towns, because of a battle that happened near Tallahassee that the Confederates won. Thomasville struggled during the war, but survived.

Thomasville had to figure out how to get itself back together after the war. It quickly realized that The Northerns were the ones with the money, so Thomasville welcomed the Northerns by promising them healthy living, great hunting and great weather. And they came! Victorian Thomasville was born! A small town of 5000, grew to a town of 15,000 during the tourist season between 1870-1900.

Fast forward to the 1970’s. Like many small towns in the south, Thomasville was changing. The town wanted a new look, so the town covered many of the beautiful store facades to have that “modern” look. Also, new box stores were coming in, driving people away from the downtown and out to the shopping center and the malls in Tallahassee. Someone had a vision to bring Thomasville back to the Victorian style that we once had. In the 1990’s, the ugly aluminum facades started coming down and the stores started restoring their buildings back to the original look. Businesses started coming back and the people started to come. We first started getting family owned restaurants, and family owned stores. Thing started changing. People started wanting to come back to the way thing used to be.

Walking through Thomasville transforms you back in time. It reminds you of when you used to go downtown with your family for the day. You would go shopping, eat lunch, and people watch. You can do all of that in Thomasville today. The locals are going to greet you as if you are a long lost friend. You get greeted with a “Hey, How are you?”, maybe a honk of the horn (not because of traffic problem) and a wave, or maybe even a hug. You will experience a little slower pace of life and not the hurry of a big town. Life is a little easier in a small town and Thomasville is that town that has come back to that easy way of life and is alive and well.

In 2015, Thomasville was voted #2 “Best Historical Small Towns in the USA” voted by USA Today. Many of the businesses have been written up in “Southern Living”, “Guns and Roses”, and other travel magazines. NBC Nightly News even did a news segment on how a small town like Thomasville survived. Thomasville is the little hidden secret of the South.

I hope I have convinced you to come check out Thomasville. Come experience what southern charm is all about. Come see why Thomasville is “Worth the Trip”!