Maj. Gen. William Tecumshe Sherman reviews the troops in Savannah after the city surrendered to the Union Army in December of 1864. The events of the Civil War in Savannah are the subject of a walking tour of the city by Savannah Walks expert tour guides.

On this walking tour visitors get an overview of the strategies of the Union and Confederate armies as they waged the Savannah Campaign, which included Maj. Gen. William Tecumshe Sherman’s march from Atlanta to the sea that started on November 15, 1864, and ended on December 21.

Tours are conducted by Savannah Walks, which bills itself as providing “tours for the educated traveler.” The company specializes in providing walking tours of Savannah’s National Landmark Historic District to a wide range of customers. Since its founding in 1996, Savannah Walks has provided tours to an estimated 200,000 visitors, many of them referred by local businesses.

Other Savannah Walks walking tours include:

• Savannah Stroll
• Savannah Ghosts
• Historic Homes
• Gates and Gardens
• A Walk Through Midnight, being a walking tour based on John Berent’s best selling book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Savannah Walks provides group tours, school tours and customized tours.

Uncle Ruban (pictured at right) is the refurbished and air conditioned early-20th century trolley that conveys guests on tours of Marietta and the surrounding area. See this Google map for a view of Marietta Town Square. ++ and click on “Satellite” view for a look at the buildings around the square.

All aboard Marietta’s only trolley tour!

Join Historic Marietta Trolley Tours for a one-hour, fully narrated exploration of the historic city. Experience Marietta’s rich heritage, from the vibrant downtown square, past grand antebellum homes, to the battlefields at Kennesaw Mountain. Tours run rain or shine, while the ride is heated or cooled for passenger comfort. (more…)

Storyteller and tour guide J. Mark Powell re-creates the history of the Civil War in Georgia on his Civil War Getaway tours.

Civil War Getaway provides guided tours of historical landmarks in and around Marietta, Georgia. The two-plus-hour tours specialize in bringing the events of 1864 to life through compelling storytelling, the actual words of people of the period, photographs and original relics. This is no boring recital of names, dates and facts. You walk in the footsteps of history and get the feel of what the Civil War was really like.

The tour guide is J. Mark Powell, a veteran journalist for CNN, published author, accomplished storyteller, and a lifelong student of the Civil War.

Downdown Madison, one of the communities on the Antebellum Trail

Georgia’s Antebellum Trail is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2009 with the first annual Antebellum Trail Pilgrimage. Comprised of seven communities, this Pilgrimage will transport visitors back in time as they visit historic homes, experience authentic battle sites, view impressive architecture and tour magnificent museums.

Georgia’s Antebellum Trail Pilgrimage will take place on three consecutive weekends this spring. The dates are April 16-18, April 23-25 and April 30-May 2, 2009 from 10am – 4pm. It will feature events and tours along the Trail as well as entrance into private, historic homes not open to the general public. Tickets are $25 and will include access to seven attractions and/or events. The tickets can be purchased at any of the Welcome Centers along the trail. To enhance the visitor’s experience, complementing tours and free events and activities will be featured throughout the Pilgrimage weekends. Please call 800-709-7406 for more information.

Quiet country roads, earthy farm smells, abandoned peanut mills and rusting old-fashioned hay balers are all part of this leisurely drive that offers a scenic history of Georgia agriculture. Roadside signs mark the entire Andersonville Trail, which runs 75 miles from Byron to Cordele, primarily on GA 49. It can be accessed in several locations, but to drive the entire length from north to south, access from I-75’s Exit 46 (GA 49) at Byron, in Peach County, where a giant peach looms on the east side of the highway.

Byron, in Peach County, was originally a whistle stop known as Number One and One Half Station. To reach the old railroad depot, turn right off of GA 49 onto GA 42 and go 0.25 mile to the railroad tracks. Built in 1870, the Byron Depot is located in the exact center of town. According to local reports, more peaches were shipped from here each day in the 1920s and 30s than from anywhere else in the world. Along with a caboose parked to the side, the restored depot serves as a museum with pictures and displays that chronicle the town’s past.

From Byron, GA 49 begins winding through countless pecan and peach orchards as it makes its way south. Roadside stands selling in-season fruits and vegetables reflect the county’s agricultural base—617,000 peach trees, 73,000 pecan trees and annual harvests of over 1 million pounds of peanuts. The Andersonville Trail intersects with the Peach Blossom Trail in Fort Valley. On the left, heading south (more…)