Brick and stone storefronts line downtown streets named for trees, backed by columned Greek Revival mansions and a seven story opera house facade.
What Macon Historic District looks like
Cherry, Poplar and Plum Streets carry downtown Macon's commercial core, all three named for trees. Brick and stone storefronts line Cherry Street, several converted to loft apartments above ground floor shops. The old City Hall and St. Joseph's Catholic Church front Poplar Street, which was rebuilt as a landscaped, walkable street in the 2000s. The Al Sihah Masonic Temple stands on the same street.
The rises seven storeys of stone on Mulberry Street, the facade added in a 1905 renovation of an 1884 building. Farther down Mulberry, the is a white Greek Revival house from 1853, its columned porch set back from the sidewalk.
Columned Greek Revival and Italian Renaissance Revival mansions stand on wider residential blocks away from the commercial core. The rises four levels to a three story cupola on Georgia Avenue. Smaller houses nearby carry single storey porches, painted brick fronts and iron balconies.
The breaks from the Greek Revival pattern on Georgia Avenue, a red brick Queen Anne house with a curved porch and a conical corner tower. A yellow stucco cottage with a shaped gable sits on a nearby residential block, smaller and plainer than the columned mansions around it.
Shot in Macon Historic District
In 1973 the Allman Brothers Band and the Marshall Tucker Band played a concert at the Grand Opera House alongside Wet Willie, filmed for the television special A Saturday Night in Macon on the syndicated program Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. HBO's Lovecraft Country and the film 42 used the storefront blocks on Second and Third Street, and HBO's Watchmen filmed along the same two streets.
A Saturday Night in Macon, 1973
Grand Opera House
The Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band and Wet Willie were filmed performing here for the television special A Saturday Night in Macon, broadcast on the syndicated program Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Comedian Martin Mull also performed a stand-up set during the same taping.
Savannah's Historic District carries columned antebellum mansions and multi-storey brick commercial blocks, the same scale as downtown Macon's core. Savannah's tree lined garden squares and wrought iron balconies are more ornamental than Macon's plainer storefronts, so a camera held tight on brick facades keeps the comparison believable. Try searching columned antebellum mansions now.
The Garden District's columned Greek Revival mansions match the scale and style of Macon's Hay House and Cannonball House, both raised on a similar porch and column plan. New Orleans' live oak canopies and cast iron fences read as more lush than Macon's plainer yards, so a tighter frame on the columns and porch holds the match. Try searching columned Greek Revival mansions now.
Beale Street Historic District in Memphis, Tennessee
Beale Street's two and three storey brick commercial storefronts give Memphis a strip close to Macon's own downtown blocks, each with a deep music history behind its facades. Beale Street's neon signage and tourist crowds are heavier than Macon's quieter blocks, so an early morning frame on the brick upper floors avoids giving it away. Try searching brick commercial storefronts now.
