• Job: Attractions supervisor, Stone Mountain Park

KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

Cindy Horton models a costume that matches the surroundings in Stone Mountain Park's Thornton House, which was built in 1784.

• What I do: Cindy Horton likes to party like it's 1799.

She oversees all the historic attractions at Stone Mountain Park, including Memorial Hall and the antebellum plantation. Most days, she dresses like a 21st-century American woman, but for school groups and special occasions, she dons a costume right out of the late 18th century as she leads tours through the historic Thornton House or the plantation's farmyard.

The Thornton House, originally built in 1784 in Greene County, is the oldest restored house in the state. Like the park's other historic structures, it was disassembled and moved to the plantation.

On the tour, Horton, 48, points out the antiques that would have been owned by wealthy Georgia families. But most schoolchildren's reaction on entering the house is "My house is bigger than this," she said.

Horton reminds visitors that houses in the Piedmont region were "not all that fancy" and that only a tiny fraction of the population lived in the large plantation mansions associated with the antebellum period.

"About 98 [percent] or 99 percent of rural Georgians lived in cabins," she said.

Slaves generally had even simpler housing. When it comes to the topic of slavery, Horton said, "We believe all history [should be] hit head-on as realistically as possible."

Most of Horton's activities involve education, she said. Besides overseeing the day-to-day operation of the historical attractions, supervising a staff of 25 and coordinating the historic initiatives at the park, she also writes and presents the educational programs.

Sometimes that involves dressing like a woman of the 1700s, and sometimes it means working in the farmyard, shearing the Colonial-era breeds of sheep kept there.

Her other costumed staff include women in the hoop skirts and Scarlett O'Hara fashions of the mid-1800s; farmers in simple cotton, wool or linen shirts and trousers; and Civil War soldiers in uniform.

Horton also looks over the park's substantial collection of 19th-century antiques in the plantation buildings and Memorial Hall.

• What got me interested in this: Horton said she combines her college degree in theater and her minor in biology at the plantation and farmyard.

But it was the acting side that led her into education, she said, taking plays outside traditional settings.

She found herself going "beyond being an actor. I was really interested in that."

• Best part of my job: "The people and animals I work with," Horton said.

And it's not just the herds of sheep and goats. She and her staff rescue wildlife in danger throughout the park.

"I'm interested in history and work with people who are passionate about sharing history and heritage," she said.

Among her staff are a former astronomer, zookeepers, a paralegal and retirees.

"People bring a lot of experience from a lot of walks of life," she said. "They're all here because they want to be."

• Most challenging part: "Keeping up with it all," she said. "You never know what's going to happen next."

For example, she said, one of her days may involve designing a Web site, teaching in costume, finding performers for an upcoming festival and rescuing an injured snake in the park. "The park itself has so much variety, your day can turn on a dime."

• What people don't know about my job: "It's not an easy job to quantify," Horton said, "managing a museum, an animal program and entertainment and then writing educational programs."

• What keeps me going: "This park is big and beautiful."

• Preparation needed for this job: "You can't be rigid; you have to be ready to move in a lot of different directions," she said. "And you have to like people and animals."

You also have to know the educational process and Georgia history.

"I've had a crash course since I've been here," Horton said. "We are all about education and entertainment."

Horton had no experience as a curator before coming to the job, but she said her predecessor did. However, working for 13 years at Zoo Atlanta gave her "a good, basic understanding of what it takes to curate an exhibition."

Horton is a graduate of the University of Georgia and worked as an actor at Academy Theatre. At Zoo Atlanta, she wrote scripts and directed animal shows and cultural programs.

Horton came to Stone Mountain when the zoo and park worked together to start the farmyard in 1999. She stayed on and in 2002 became a park employee. Management of the plantation and Memorial Hall were added to her duties later.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.