Media release from the Chief Vann House State Historic Site:
Saturday, November 23rd, the Vann House Quilters will be hosting our annual Quilting Bee to continue working on their Dresden Flower quilt. Bring the family to see the antique quilt exhibit inside the house, and then join us for pressing cider apples in the Cherokee Farmstead. Activities are included in admission and will be held rain or shine.
Fall is finally settling into the rolling foothills of Murray County, and the evenings are turning cooler. More than two centuries ago, the Vann’s would have watched the fields of corn, beans, and squash begin to change color, thinning and drooping off to slumber as the final harvest began, while the apples were ripe for their own harvesting. Communities came together to press hundreds of apples for winter preservation. By November, the air is colder, crisper, and the nights grow longer. In the time before electricity, quilts and rugs were used to help trap warmth inside the house and even enclose a house’s breezeway.
Here at the Vann House, our Fall into Quilts Exhibit is on display inside the historic home where visitors can view our collection of handmade vintage and antique quilts during a guided tour. Right now, through the end of November, guests can admire the creativity and artistic skill of women who spent weeks and months cutting and sewing these gorgeous quilts together for their loved ones. We have quilts hand-made and donated from James Vann’s very descendants, quilts with patterns both familiar and complex, woven fabrics, even an antebellum quilt that was crafted by an enslaved person who once lived in Murray County.
December will also be a beautiful month to tour the Vann House Historic Site. One of the earliest Christmas celebrations in the Cherokee Nation was hosted by the Spring Place Moravian Missionaries, who would invite the Cherokee community to enjoy services with them. In the spirit of these historic events, for two nights in December we will host Candlelight Tours, wherein visitors can tour the Vann House, decorated as the Moravians once did, after nightfall by candlelight. Join us on December 13th and 14th, from 5 – 9p.m. The candles will be extinguished at 9p.m., so arrive by 8 to fully enjoy this event. If you can’t make the Candlelight Tours event, the decorations will remain in place through Christmas and can be viewed during a guided tour. See our website for more details on this event.
The Vann House will be closed Thursday, November 28th to observe Thanksgiving with our families. From December through March, the Vann House will be closed on Sundays.
Regular Admission: $5.25 – $7 plus tax, children five and under are free.
Regular hours: Thursday-Saturday 9-5, Sunday 1-5. December-March: closed on Sunday.
Last tour of the day always begins at 4 p.m.
Visit us on Facebook at ‘Friends of the Chief Vann House,’ or on Instagram at ‘Vann_House_Park,’ or online at www.gastateparks.org/chiefvannhouse
82 Hwy. 225 N. · Chatsworth, GA 30705 · 706-695-2598 · vann_house_park@dnr.ga.gov
In 1804, Cherokee Chief James Vann was the wealthiest man in the Cherokee Nation and built a three-story brick house in the center of his eight hundred-acre plantation. You can tour his Federalist era brick mansion on a guided tour, held hourly during normal days of operation.
The mission of the Department of Natural Resources is to sustain, enhance, protect and conserve Georgia’s natural, historic and cultural resources for present and future generations, while recognizing the importance of promoting the development of commerce and industry that utilize sound environmental practices.
