Fitzgerald

city in Ben Hill and Irwin counties in Georgia, United States

Fitzgerald is a small town in Georgia's Plantation Midlands region, and is the (get this) center of the Fitzgerald Micropolitan Area. It was founded in 1895 by former Union Army drummer boy Philander H. Fitzgerald on behalf of Union Civil War veterans, leading to the nickname The Colony City. You'll see the Civil War history in the street signs: Union generals on the east, Confederates on the west, and at the Blue & Gray Museum. More importantly, though, tropical jungle chickens.

Ben Hill County Courthouse

Get in

By car

Fitzgerald is off I-75 at the intersection of US-129 and GA-107, an hour and a half drive south of Macon—three hours from Atlanta.

By plane

If you have your own wings, you can fly into Fitzgerald Municipal Airport FAA LID: FZG.

Get around

A Red Junglefowl relation (back in India)

See

Wandering around town, keep an eye out for Red Junglefowl, a tropical pheasant from India or Burma or somewhere that looks an awful lot like a chicken, several of which were introduced for reasons well-masked by a Fitzgerald sense of humor. They have fled the boring old woods for the charming city center—look for them downtown. Today they are the city mascot, loved and unloved by a whimsically ambivalent populace.

  • 🌍 Blue & Gray Museum, 116 North Johnston St, ☏ +1 229 426-5069, . Tu-Sa 10AM-4PM, Su 1PM-5PM Tuesday-Friday closed for lunch. This museum, in a historical railroad depot, is dedicated to the founding of the town and its Civil War past, as well as to veterans of later foreign wars from the town. $5.00 Adult, $2.00 students. (updated Sep 2016)

Do

  • Wild Chicken Festival, 119 South Main St, toll-free: +1-800-386-4642. Third weekend of March: F 7PM-10PM, Sa 6AM-6PM. March is the time to see Fitzgerald strut its stuff. There are a couple 5ks and fun runs, the Miss Wild Chicken pageants, live music, and—of course—the Fitzgerald Fire Department Wing Eating Contest (FFDWEC). 

Buy

Fitzgerald City Hall

Eat

  • Cirillo's Pizza, 113 S Main St, ☏ +1 229 622-0044. Right at the center of town next to the Grand Theatre (Central and Main) is this solid pizzeria, with a nice atmosphere, and a lot of high end coffees and craft beers (bottled). 
  • Nabila's Garden Restaurant, 201 S Main St, ☏ +1 229 423-0389. M-F 10:30AM-2PM, Su 10:30AM-2:30PM. Also right in the center of town is this local favorite restaurant. It's cafeteria buffet-style with very friendly owners—Nabila learned to cook in her native Egypt, but she serves some of the best Southern cookin' you'll find in the state. $8-9, $4 ages 3–9. 

Drink

Sleep

Connect

  • The local area code is 229 and is not required for local calls.
Fitzgerald Fire Department

Go next

  • Ashburn and its Jail Museum are just a half hour drive west on GA-107.
  • The Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village (Agirama) is a half hour drive southwest in Tifton.
Routes through Fitzgerald
Macon ← Warner Robins ←  N  S  → Trenton → Chiefland
Tallahassee ← Tifton ←  SW  NE  → Wadley → END


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