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45 miles from Tallahassee, is Georgia's City of Roses, Thomasville. The Thomasville Rose Garden, a park featuring 500 blooming rosebushes, is a central attraction in this city whose Spring rose festival celebrates its heritage and character. A 300+ year old, 68 foot tall, 24 foot circumference Quercus Virginiana oak tree called the Big Oak, is a natural wonder and source of pride of this southwest georgia town characterized by grand homes spared the destruction that followed the Civil War.
The pumpkin-colored Victorian Lapham-Patterson House with Oriental-style porch decorations and fish-scale shingles, has no right angles. Each room is a different shape. It also features a double-flue chimney with a walk-through stairway, a cantilevered balcony, longleaf pine floors, and period furnishings.
Formerly the last stop on a southbound railroad, Thomasville has long been a resort town for Northerners looking to escape the cold. The Thomas County Museum of History tells the story of Thomasville's Winter Resort Era and how antebellum cotton plantations were transformed into quail-hunting retreats. All Saints Episcopal Church is Thomasville's oldest standing church. Jacqueline Kennedy attended Mass there after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Thomasville is the home of Flowers Foods, a bakery company whose products include Wonder Bread, and Sunbeam. The company also owns the brand, Sara Lee. Visitors to Thomasville can shop for homemade jams, jellies, pickles, relishes and cookbooks at the State Farmer's Market.
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