Historic Preservation Class at MGA uncovers historical significance of Payne City

"I didn't know what it was, and I think that there are a lot of people that live here that don't," senior Christina Spradlin said.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Payne City was the topic at the Arts Complex at Middle Georgia State University on Monday.

According to Susan Asbury, Assistant Professor of History, her Spring Historic Preservation Class teamed up with the Historic Macon Foundation for the semester for a research project uncovering the historical significance of Payne City, which was founded as a mill village in the late 1800s by William Sims Payne before being dissolved in 2015 following resistance to its consolidation with Bibb County.

The research was aimed at assessing the potential for Payne City to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which students nominated it for as they each researched the history of two different properties in the city.

We spoke with Christina Spradlin, a senior in the public history program, and asked her thoughts about working on the project.

“I didn’t know what it was, and I think that there are a lot of people that live here that don’t,” Spradlin said. “You know, that they see a neighborhood that has started to go downhill and don’t understand that it’s actually part of American History.”

Spradlin added the research was interesting and said a lot went into uncovering the history of Payne City.