Locate It: Washington

With more antebellum homes per capita than any other city, Washington is truly one-of-a-kind. Follow the Walking Tour Map and visit more than 73 historic sites. Stop by the Washington-Wilkes Visitor Center at 26 W. Square to pick up a copy of the Walking Tour Map.

The Battle of Kettle Creek, which took place less than 15 miles west of Washington, is one of the most important battles of the American Revolutionary War to be fought in Georgia. On February 14, 1779, a force of 400 Patriots overwhelmingly defeated a group of Loyalists with twice their number. During the following year, in part because of that victory, the City of Washington became the Capital of Georgia. Visitors today will find white crosses scattered through the Park marking where soldiers are buried. For 241 years, many of these makeshift graves were unmarked. Recently a team of cadaver dogs was used to find and honor those who fought and fell in this famous battle.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Kettle Creek Battlefield Park is a wooded 257-acre tract encircling a 500-foot-high hill. The Park is basically a living outdoor classroom with more than 5 miles of hiking trails with signs marking the stages of the battle.

The Georgia Botanical Society recently identified more than 332 species of plants including 50 tree species. Markers along the trails help hikers identify them. A few remarkable finds are the Trout Lily (or Adder’s Tongue) with its delicate yellow flowers, the Atamasco Lily, which produces showy buds that transition from white to pink, and the Pawpaw trees that grow along the creek, reaching more than 30 feet high, with the largest edible fruit of any native American plant.