Revitalization Plan: Milstead Village in Rockdale County

A Georgia Conservancy-led Revitalization Plan for Milstead Village.

A core belief of the Georgia Conservancy is that our most sustainable communities are those already built. Rather than using resources to expand ever outward, focusing on redeveloping historic neighborhoods can help us grow while preserving our natural environment. 

The Georgia Conservancy has brought this philosophy to Rockdale County, focusing on Milstead, a former mill village. A short distance north of Conyers, Milstead Village developed around a cotton mill established on the south bank of the beautiful Yellow River. 

Though founded independently, the mill was later purchased and operated by Callaway Mills throughout the early 20th century. As the mill grew, so did the village, which eventually featured nearly 200 houses and many more families, a general store, a recreation center, a pharmacy, and a regionally-famous baseball team. 

Many of Milstead’s original houses still stand today, and the Georgia Conservancy has performed a housing inventory and assessment of each one as part of a report for the community.

Our Sustainable Growth Program spoke on a few occasions with Milstead’s residents, many of whom are descendants of families who worked at the mill. They are very proud of their community’s history, and they seek tools to revitalize Milstead in a way that honors this history while helping the village prosper—keeping their roots while bringing modern conveniences to this riverside gem. 

The revitalization plan for Milstead Village seeks to identify ways in which the village can preserve its current character and history while allowing for modest growth and future prosperity.

This plan will propose a series of recommendations across five categories: housing, community leadership, community character, green space, and transportation. These combine to help preserve Milstead’s history, share its story, and bolster the community’s social and economic health.

The Georgia Conservancy’s work for this revitalization plan extended from May 2019 to April 2020, and our tasks were divided into three major categories, outlined below:

DATA GENERATION, ANALYSIS, & INTERPRETATION

We relied on a variety of data to understand Milstead Village’s demographics, history, built form, housing stock, and challenges related to transportation, safety, economic well-being, and quality of life. Some of this information was gathered through historical research and spatial analysis using historical and current spatial data.

For other information that was incomplete or out of date, especially in regards to Milstead’s housing, we generated the data ourselves. Over the course of four site visits, the Georgia Conservancy assessed each individual house in the neighborhood while also documenting the conditions of the streets and sidewalks. These assessments have been assembled into a spatial database for future use.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

We provided technical and staffing assistance to four engagement sessions with Milstead residents. The planning team was able to reach over 100 people across all four events. Agendas, attendance details, and documents from these community engagement sessions can be found in the appendix to this plan.

RECOMMENDATIONS & COORDINATION WITH PARTNERS

Lastly, we took the information gathered through this process and, working with partners and experts in various fields, created recommendations for how Milstead residents and Rockdale County can work together to achieve their vision for the neighborhood. This forthcoming report will identify and provide justification for those recommendations.

Questions? Reach out to Georgia Conservancy Senior Planner Nick Johnson at njohnson@gaconservnacy.org