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In 2017, Georgia’s Old Capital Museum relocated to Renaissance Park, the campus of former Central State Hospital, in Milledgeville. The heritage center offices and meeting rooms are in the renovated “Just Imagine Cottage” at 95 Depot Circle Drive. In 2019, the name of the organization was changed to Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at The Depot, Inc. (GOCHC), to reflect the organization’s expanded mission to renovate the adjacent train depot for a regional Heritage Center. This is a $5.5 M project and once completed, will include a Lobby/Native American Gallery, Theater/ Community Space, Book/Gift Shop, Exhibits, and Offices. The Just Imagine Cottage will then become a STEAM Education Center. This is an opportunity for GOCHC to save a third historically significant building in Milledgeville, as The Depot was built in 1891 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2017, Georgia’s Old Capital Museum was presented an opportunity to relocate from the Old Capitol Building in downtown Milledgeville to Renaissance Park, the former Central State Hospital (CSH) campus. Museum Trustees envisioned expanding the former museum into a regional heritage center in the CSH train depot. A charming Victorian cottage adjacent to The Depot offered office space from which to operate initially. As plans proceeded, the cottage became known as The Just Imagine Cottage, for within these walls, visions of a heritage center with emphasis on history, education, culture, and art emerged.
In addition to housing the Native American and Frontier Georgia pocket exhibits, today, the Just Imagine Cottage is a thriving operations center for meetings, tours, and ongoing planning for The Depot renovations and events. The Depot has a completely restored exterior including a loading dock stage and houses the Central State Hospital Museum. Plans are for a Lobby/Native American Gallery, Stage and Community Event Space, Bookstore, Offices, open-air event space, and additional galleries chronicling regional history. Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center provides tours, programs, and events of an educational and historical nature at the Brown-Stetson-Sanford House and Central State Hospital Museum and in the Just Imagine Cottage.
The mission of Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at The Depot, Inc., is to identify, interpret, preserve, and communicate the history and the cultural and artistic heritage of Milledgeville, Baldwin County, and the Oconee River basin through its educational programs. Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at The Depot, Inc., is an independent 501(C)(3) and progress depends on memberships, fundraisers, donations, and grants. As always, we seek to network with other museums and educational institutions with similar goals designed to serve the public good.
Amy is a fifth-generation native of Milledgeville. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgia College, a Masters of Arts degree in Art History from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History from Florida State University. At Georgia State University, Amy taught art history to graduate and undergraduate students and in 2003 was voted “Most Valuable Teacher.” In 2007, Amy joined the Board of Trustees of Georgia’s Old Capital Museum and in 2009 accepted the position of Executive Director. As Executive Director, she has created and developed “Chipmunk Tours”, “War Comes to the Capital” tours, iPod tours, curated 7 exhibits, developed community and state partnerships, organized and managed the fundraising and the relocation of the museum from the Old Capitol Building, and developed the vision and location for the relocated museum. Amy is active in a number of civic and community organizations.
What better way to do something memorable than to help preserve Milledgeville’s history with your support of Georgia’s Old Capital Heritage Center at The Depot, Inc. The Heritage Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that owns and operates three historic properties: the 1825 Brown-Stetson-Sanford House in Milledgeville’s Downtown Historic District, The Just Imagine Cottage with offices, meeting rooms, and two pocket exhibits adjacent to The Depot in Renaissance Park, and The Depot, current home of the Central State Hospital Museum and future home of the Heritage Center exhibits on the history of this area, bookstore, theater, and open-air community stage.
GOCHC is supported entirely by memberships, donations, fundraisers, and grants. Your donation enables us to “Tell the Stories” and keep Milledgeville history alive for generations to come.
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