Once a year on the first Saturday in April, Lakeland,Georgia (formerly known as Milltown c. 1925) holds the Milltown Murals
Motorcade. Here, vintage vehicles line up on Main Street for a dazzling two-hour
parade through the streets of town. Drivers and spectators alike enjoy the old
cars, refreshments, music, and games for the children.
After the crowd disperses and the last of the antique cars chug
out of town, the dust settles and visitors are free to browse more than thirty
murals painted on the walls of its historic downtown buildings. These images,
with their life-size characters, depict the activities and actual people who
lived in rural Georgia during the 1920s.
Artwork, like the gathering of folks in front of the Post
Office, and the steam locomotive, cover the entire broadside of a building.
Smaller ones, like the sepia-toned women, are only several feet square.
Outside of the doctor's office a man comforts a young fellow
with a skinned knee.
Is that George Burns standing in front of the white chapel?
Children's facial expressions are well represented in the
paintings; frowns, boredom, happy smiles.
Ralph Waldrop and Billy Love of Columbia, South Carolina
began painting the murals in 1998. Each one is accompanied by a plaque
describing the scene and the characters. Look for the display with a QR code so
you can scan it with a QR reader to take the audio tour.
Stop by the Visitors Center
located at 8 South Valdosta Road, for a map to learn more about the location of
the individual paintings. Lakeland is the county seat of Lanier County in Southeast
Georgia. Set your GPS and c'mon down. This community loves company, and the
outdoor show never closes.
