GA-005-2 The Milledgeville Hotel and Oliver Hardy

Marker text: The Milledgeville Hotel and Oliver Hardy

On this corner stood the Milledgeville Hotel built in 1858 while Milledgeville served as Georgia's capital. In 1903 Emily Norvell Hardy took over management of the hotel. She moved into the hotel with her two youngest children, including eleven-year-old Norvell who would later become known to the world as comedian Oliver Hardy. After his mother left Milledgeville in 1910, Oliver Hardy remained to take a job as a projectionist at the city's first movie theater, the Palace, located across the street from the Milledgeville Hotel. It was at the Palace that Oliver Hardy resolved to become an actor in motion pictures.

Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the Newcomers Club of Milledgeville and Baldwin County, and the City of Milledgeville, 2004.11