Thomas County Historical Society & Museum of History

The Thomas County Historical Society was formed in 1952 and opened the Thomas County Museum of History within the Flowers-Roberts House in 1972.  Since 1972, the Museum’s collections have grown to include more than 500,000 artifacts and archival materials and eight historic structures.  The Historical Society, in partnership with the state of Georgia, also operates the historic Lapham-Patterson House. Its board, staff, and growing membership invite you to join in the Society's dedication to ensuring that the appreciation of our unique history must remain an intrinsic and unbroken thread connecting the past and future through settings that advance our story.  

The Thomas County Museum of History is located in the historic 1923 Flowers-Roberts House at 725 North Dawson Street in Thomasville, Georgia.  The building contains more than thirty-five exhibits about the history of Thomas County, as well as the document, photo, and three-dimensional archives that provide the material evidence of what happened in Thomas County’s past.

A guided tour of the Museum grounds begins with a twenty minute video documentary of Thomas County’s history, with an emphasis on the Victorian-era hotels and the dozens of plantations scattered around Thomas County.  Your docent will then walk you through the 1870 Rufus Smith log house, which was moved to Museum grounds in 1974, and provides a setting to share the story of both the Smith family and yeoman farmers of the period.

From there, you will walk to the 1877 Emily Joyner house, and hear the story of both the Civil War widow who first lived there, and the Flowers’ family nanny, Matilda Calloway, who lived there during the first half of the twentieth century.  After the Joyner house, you will visit the 1896 Oliver Ewart bowling alley, built to entertain the winter resident who owned the Museum’s property from 1893-1900.

Following the bowling alley, you will go to the 1940 Roberts’ Garage, which currently houses two Model T cars and two Victorian era carriages.  After the garage, you will return to the Flowers-Roberts House for a self-guided tour of the Museum’s many exhibits, including the timeline-style exhibits in the large Davis Wing addition at the rear of the house.  We thank you for your interest in Thomas County history and hope to see you soon!