COLUMBUS, Ga. - A village of buildings from the mid-1800s sits on South Lumpkin Road, less than a mile from the National Infantry Museum and Oxbow Meadows. Historic Westville Village spent about 50 years in Lumpkin before moving 40 miles north to Columbus, then closed and came back under new leadership. Here is a look at the living history museum by the numbers, from its founding collection to what visitors can see today.

The museum describes itself as an open-air history museum that shows life in the Deep South in the mid-19th century. Interpreters in period dress demonstrate traditional crafts and trades. The site has drawn tens of thousands of visitors a year at its busiest.

1928: A Teacher's Collection

The village began with one man's collection. John Word West, a high school and college teacher born in 1876, set out to preserve Georgia's early buildings, tools and crafts, according to the Columbus State University Archives. In 1928 he opened "The Fair of 1850" in Jonesboro, about 20 miles south of Atlanta, and from 1932 to 1934 he moved his oldest buildings there, including his grandparents' log house.

West tried and failed to get the state to take over the project, and he died in 1961. Joseph Mahan, curator of what was then the Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts, led an effort to save the collection. That work led to a new home for the collection near Lumpkin.

1970: Opening in Lumpkin

The organization, first called Westville Historic Handicrafts, was established in June 1966 when it received 59 acres south of Lumpkin. By 1969 it had bought the West collection, and it opened to the public in spring 1970 with the six oldest buildings moved from Jonesboro. It was renamed Historic Westville in 2001.

The Lumpkin village grew to more than 30 restored, furnished buildings. They included a courthouse, church, school, stores, craft shops, homes and cotton plantation buildings. Attendance peaked at about 50,000 visitors a year around 1989, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

Why Westville Moved

The crowds did not last. Attendance fell to about 13,000 a year before the move, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. Then-executive director Leo Goodsell told WTVM in 2015 that the village faced a "sharp decline in attendance over the past 20 years," along with falling donations and other revenue.

The board began studying options for the museum's future in 2009, and in 2014 it decided to move to Columbus. The city, led by then-Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, offered land on South Lumpkin Road. The Lumpkin village closed in December 2015 and buildings were relocated one by one.

2019: Opening in Columbus

The new Westville opened on Saturday, June 22, 2019. "This is a culmination of almost a decade of work," executive director Allen Sistrunk told WTVM that day, adding that 17 of 35 planned structures had been set up. Visitor Roger Buterbaugh said he no longer had to "make the long drive to Lumpkin."

The move was expensive. The Ledger-Enquirer reported the relocation cost $9.5 million, more than $2 million over the estimate. About 17,000 people visited in the first months before COVID-19 forced the site to close.

Closing and Coming Back

Westville reopened in October 2020 with pandemic rules, but ticket sales fell. It closed in March 2023 because of financial problems, and the closure became permanent in February 2024, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. Board chairman Thornton Jordan called the village "the queen of historic preservation" and said it was "ready to be reborn."

Supporters raised about $750,000 to restart operations, and an anonymous donor pledged to match donations up to $5 million for an endowment at the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley. In March 2025 the board hired April Kirk, former director of Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, as executive director. The name was changed to Historic Westville Village, and the museum planned a phased reopening starting with its visitor center, gallery and gift shop.

The city gave the village a fresh start in December 2025. Columbus Council approved a one-year lease that the city can renew if Westville reaches financial stability, WRBL reported. Kirk told the station that interpreters now work in the third person, demonstrating crafts such as blacksmithing, woodworking and quilting while talking with visitors as people of the present.

How to Visit

Historic Westville Village is at 3557 South Lumpkin Road in Columbus, and the phone number is 706-940-0057. The village is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to its website, though another listing on the same page shows Wednesday through Saturday hours, so visitors may want to call ahead. Eight structures are open, with more buildings set to open in 2026.

Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for active-duty military and veterans and $8 for youth 17 and under, according to its website. Picnic lunches are encouraged, and leashed dogs are welcome. The museum says its buildings are accessible to the fullest extent possible.