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Westville is the living history village near Lumpkin, Georgia. Actual historic buildings from the area have been moved to the site to save them from destruction. They replicate a working village of year 1850, complete with appropriate gardens, furnishings, and dirt streets. The mission of Westville Historic Handicrafts, Inc. is to conserve and demonstrate the handicrafts, artifacts, landscape, built environment, and other cultural elements of a pre-industrial West Georgia Village used as a living history museum for the educational benefit of the general public. Westville was founded June 16, 1966 by some of the same people who saved the historic Bedingfield Inn in Lumpkin. The founders of Westville were: (From Columbus): Edward s. Shorter, Joseph N. Mahan, Jr., Don R. Farr,. Dexter Jordan; and (From Lumpkin): William P. Carter, S.S. Singer, L.M. Moye, William B. Singer, G.W. Maddox. The original Board of Trustees included those already listed, Plus: (From Columbus): D. Abbott Turner, Clyde L. Armour, Jr., J.W. Woodruff, Jr., Clason Kyle, Edge Reid, and Samuel H. Wellborn, Jr.; and, (From Stewart County): Mrs. William P. Carter, J.C.Frith, Billy Greene, Ed Holloway, Virginia Barfield, Morton Fort, Jr., Mrs. Charles Lynch, Mrs. L.M. Moye, and George Lee; and (From Ware County): L.B. Harrell. The next four years were spent preparing the site for the Village, mostly with volunteer help. The Julian Singer Family of Lumpkin donated the southeast corner of Lumpkin for the Village. The pasture and forest included an old mill dam and pond. The Village was laid out in the county seat grid pattern of such area towns as Blakely, Hamilton, Buena Vista, Cuthbert, Lumpkin, Americus, and Talbotton. In January, 1968, the Grimes-Feagin House became the first historical structure in the Village. A collection of buildings and artifacts called, "The Harvest Festival" was acquired from the John W. West Foundation at Jonesboro, Georgia. The first of six West Collection buildings, the Yellow Creek Camp Meeting Tabernacle, was moved to Westville also in January, 1968. By August, 1968, Westville has attracted considerable attention as a grassroots approach to resolving the social and economic problems of rural West Georgia. Westville seemed to be a center where all sides could meet to celebrate the value of heritage. A large crowd of supporters celebrated the ‘Founding of Westville" on August 31. Then Governor Lester Maddox, who had just returned from Chicago in his failed attempt to become the Democratic nominee for President, was the featured speaker. The original draft of his emotional and topical speech remains in Westville's archives. By June, 1969, Westville had partnered with the Muscogee County School District and the Columbus Museum for "Experiences in Living History." This three-year project provided teacher training in cultural history to nine area counties. It also established Westville's crafts program by hiring a staff of people who practiced traditional workskills. Westville opened its "Gates to the Past" permanently on April 2, 1970. By 1976, a collection of 27 building and about 5,000 artifacts had been placed in the Village. Almost everything, except for the original West Collection, was donated . Westville suffered financial problems from 1977 to 1979. However, visitation in the Village soared because of international interest in nearby Plains,Georgia, home of then President Jimmy Carter. The increase in visitation probably saved Westville from closing. Since 1981, Westville has concentrated on its educational programs. Westville now serves over 25,000 children in school groups from about 625 schools in several states. Westville's reputation is also established, as shown in its listing in The Machines, a book of the best living history museums of North America. The Village was also honored by a feature in the August, 1999 edition of Architectural Digest . The Supreme Court of Georgia held a session in Westville's Chattahoochee County Courthouse in April, 1997. Westville's visual quality has been attested to many times over the years by the films that have been made in the Village. The largest were The Long Riders (starring four sets of brothers---Keach, Carradine, Guest and Quaid ), Walt Disney's Million Dollar Dixie Deliverance, ABC's A Time for Miracles. Westville's ability to make the past have meaning for the present was recently the subject of a Westville publication. Mike Haskey, award -winning photograher for The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, prepared over a hundred photographs for The Magic and Mystery of Westville. The text was written by Billy Winn, editor for the same newspaper. Over a million people have enjoyed the Village during its first thrity years. The next thirty years are even more promising.