Museum
The goal of the Pioneer Historical Society is to conserve and to preserve
the history of Telfair County and share this history with the public. To
help celebrate the county’s bicentennial in 2007, a Telfair Museum of
History was established It was housed in the historic freight railway
depot in Helena. Due to structural damage to the depot, the museum was moved in 2022 to the Telfair Center for the Arts. The Museum’s
collection had display sections dealing with our historic agriculture,
naval stores, and timber occupations as well as the modes of transportation utilized to sustain those endeavors. Other displays introduced the county’s communities, recreational activities including the world record
largemouth bass caught by George Perry in Telfair County’s
Montgomery Lake , Native Americans that lived in the area, and the
vanished schools, homes, and citizens of Telfair’s past. When visitors
entered the museum, they were welcomed by a special display honoring the county’s veterans, including our Medal of Honor recipient.
The new location offers the opportunity to reorganize, improve our
collection of artifacts, and increase community exposure to the history
of our area. New displays have been created and designed to be easily
changed to celebrate special county, state, or national events.
Examples of special events would be Veterans Day or the Founding of
TelfairCounty.
Films are available in the museum’s DVD area, including a DVD
about Medal of Honor recipients, a commercial DVD about the quest
for the big bass, and a National Geographic special about the latest
attempts to break the largemouth bass record. The Ocmulgee River had
a major role in the development of early Telfair County river communities. Visitors may view a DVD of the Last R.A.F.T., depicting the recreation
of log rafting on the Ocmulgee River. DVDs containing the locations of
Telfair and Wheeler Counties’ grave yards, cemeteries, and family plots
as well as the names of thecitizens buried there may be purchased at the museum
