I came through Rome because for many years my daughter-in-law had talked about how beautiful Rome was with all its big beautiful older homes. Well, I think I waited too long. The trip Rose took through Rome was 30 years ago, and I think most of the homes she most admired must have been torn down in the meantime, because I did not find them. There were a few other interesting things, though.:
This entire area was a battlefield during the Civil War. Much of the history in the local museum was about this. It was only in the 1830’s that this area began to see pioneers moving in – during the Civil War this was still very much the frontier. Those first settlers named it Rome because it is surrounded by 7 hills. The settlers failed to hold the city against Sherman’s troops, and it was from Rome that Sherman began his famous “March To The Sea”.
Their other claim to fame is the Capitoline Wolf which stands in front of City Hall, which was built in 1916. The Capitoline Wolf was a gift from Italy in 1929 when an Italian silk mill relocated here. It represents the story of the birth of Italy when Romulus and Remus were cast out by the gods and raised by a she-wolf. The statue actually caused a great deal of consternation in its early days because it depicts the two naked twins nursing from the she-wolf! In the early days when there was an important event at the city hall the twins would be diapered and the wolf draped. In 1933 one of the twins was stolen and never recovered. Through the efforts of the Rotary Club another twin was sent from Italy.
But for me, the best part of Rome was learning about Berry College, which deserves its own blog.
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City Hall
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The Capitoline Wolf.
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Court House.
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Not, as I expected, a War Memorial, but a Memorial to their Firefighters.
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This gentleman was the founder of Naval Aviation.
