LaGrange — This progressive-minded town on Georgia's western border and along the shores of West Point Lake is drawing visitors with its appealing hodgepodge of attractions that include historical gardens, uptown shopping in small-town settings and religious antiquities.

Downtown a charmer

Kathy Witt / Special (ENLARGE)

LaGrange's Explorations in Antiquity Center is a living history museum of Biblical times.

LaGrange Art Museum (ENLARGE)

The LaGrange Art Museum is housed in an 1892 Victorian building that was originally the county jail.

LEE CATHEY / Fuller E. Callaway Foundation (ENLARGE)

The Hills & Dales Estate, arranged in an Italian design of boxwood patterns on descending terraces, is abloom each spring.

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Explore historic downtown LaGrange on foot to see the town's Southern heritage with a French twist. Antebellum, Victorian, Craftsman and art deco buildings line the streets. In their midst is Lafayette Square, named for the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American Revolutionary War. The centerpiece of the square is a dramatic fountain topped by a statue of the French nobleman, who served side by side with George Washington.

Founded in 1828, LaGrange quickly became a prosperous textile town, and its well-heeled origins show up in streets paved with brick, cultural amenities and sprawling old family homes.

Unique shops such as Lazy Daisy and the Ivy Cottage and eateries including Taste of Lemon and the Basil Leaf, some with sidewalk seating beneath market umbrellas, line the square and dip into plant-trimmed promenades. The 10-screen state-of-the-art Carmike Theatre is new to the downtown landscape.

Stroll to the LaGrange Art Museum, housed in an 1892 Victorian building that was originally the county jail. The four galleries showcase a wide variety of art that includes paintings, sculpture, ceramics, photography, prints and drawings. Five to six exhibits are mounted annually that feature artists from across the United States, with particular emphasis on those in the Southeast.

Also downtown is Bellevue Mansion, a Southern plantation, impressive with its Ionic columns across wide porticos. It was formerly the home of U.S. Sen. Benjamin Harvey Hill. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the home is considered to be one of the finest examples of Greek Revival architecture in Georgia.

Enjoy a guided tea-and-cookie tour through the tree-shaded house, which is furnished in the style of the 1850s with massive carved wood cornices on the doors and windows and black Italian marble mantels and plaster ceiling medallions accenting different rooms.

A biblical experience

The Explorations in Antiquity Center, a museum of daily life in biblical times, is a journey into history that includes reconstructions of discoveries from 2000 B.C. through the first century A.D.

Visitors are ushered into the outdoor museum by way of a "time tunnel" (a full-scale replica of ancient houses of worship, including a Canaanite temple and Byzantine church). Once there, you'll see Old and New Testament tomb replicas and bone boxes, a goat's hair Bedouin tent, a desert waterfall against limestone cliffs and pools with papyrus and bulrush water plants, a replica of an ancient vineyard with grapes growing on the ground and grape stomping vats and an aqueduct-fed water wheel that turns a granite millstone.

Visitors can participate in archaeological digs, tour the site with well-versed guides — including founder Jim Fleming, who brought the living history museum to LaGrange from Jerusalem — and experience a full biblical meal — a 15-food item feast replete with unleavened bread, olives, lentil soup, chicken kebabs, hummus, eggplant mixed with sesame and a delicious fruit puree made of figs, dates and raisins.

While you recline like the Romans did at a triclinium (three-sided table) and amid the soft glow of olive-oil-lit lamps, you'll learn about ancient manners and customs, including how the host seated dinner guests — by importance (and everyone in attendance knew where they fit in the pecking order). You'll also see how some customs still play a part in contemporary society.

In ancient times, according to Fleming, one would greet guests with a kiss, offer a drink of water, offer to wash their hands or feet and anoint their head with oil.

"In our culture," says Fleming, "it is welcoming the guests, inviting them in, offering them a seat and giving them a drink."

Great gardens to stroll

Not quite as ancient but still historic are the themed gardens of Hills & Dales, which began in 1832 as a small plot and grew to encompass gardens arranged in a formal Italian design of boxwood patterns on descending terraces.

When the gardens were renovated in 1911, fountains and statuary were added to enhance the Italianate character. Today it is considered among the best preserved 19th-century gardens in the Southeast.

The centerpiece of Hills & Dales is the classically designed Georgian Italian villa, its white columns and stucco and terra-cotta roof tiles in sharp contrast to the lush green gardens and surrounding countryside it overlooks.

Containing more than 30 rooms, the house is furnished with family heirlooms and antiques, including a mid-18th-century Chinese export porcelain punch bowl and a circa 1800 sarcophagus-shaped tea caddy made of yew wood and with inlaid boxwood lines.

After exploring Hills & Dales, continue the garden theme with a visit to the nearby town of Pine Mountain, where garden shops bloom along the town's recently spruced up streetscape.

Country Gardens specializes in antiques and accessories for the garden. In the Garden, tucked inside Country Gardens, offers nature-based products for hair, skin and body. Garden Delights is a hotbed of native, rare and unusual plants, including the largest selection of native azaleas in the United States. And the Rocky Branch Garden Center features fine arts and crafts, in addition to hard-to-find plants, including matted antique prints and hand-carved wooden bears, from local artists and those from around the world.

Gardening isn't the only theme in town. Pop in to the Purple Cow for a sampling of Georgia wines (the purple) and a dish of Blue Bell ice cream (the cow). Visit one-of-a-kind boutiques and an antiques mall, used book store and gourmet kitchen shop, vintage clothing shops and art galleries and an emporium that has a little bit of everything.

Afterward, enjoy a full English-style tea — from savory tea sandwiches and salads to scones and tartlets served with lemon curd — at the antique-trimmed Rose Cottage, a charming eatery where everything is for sale — right down to your soup bowl, the spoon you dip into it and the chair you sit on while eating it.

IF YOU GO

Getting there

LaGrange is about 65 miles south of Atlanta (plan one hour-plus to drive).

Where to stay

• The newly renovated Best Western/Lafayette Garden Inn, 1-866-523-2938, www.lafayettegardeninn.com, $69 and up, is the only full-service hotel in LaGrange.

• Thyme Away Bed & Breakfast, 706-885-9625, cityoflagrange.com/businesses/thymeaway.html , $75-$85, is just four blocks from the square in a renovated 1840 Greek Revival-style house.

• Callaway Gardens, about 25 miles away, 1-800-225-5292, www.callawaygardens.com , $126-$860, has a variety of accommodations, from woodland villas and cottages to deluxe lodge rooms and suites. Check Callaway's Web site for specials.

Where to eat

• Taste of Lemon, 200-204 Morgan St., is a local favorite for Southern food.

• Basil Leaf, 109 Main St., also has a local following. It features upscale international cuisine just steps off the square.

• Hoofers Restaurant and Gospel Barn, 3472 Hogansville Road, is the place for steaks and catfish, bluegrass and gospel music.

• Tulla's Bayou Bar & Grill goes Cajun with New Orleans-style gumbo, jambalaya and étouffée.

• Rose Cottage in nearby Pine Mountain is a traditional English tea room and cafe, serving a full English tea by reservation in addition to a lunch menu of soups, salads and sandwiches.

What to do

• Bellevue Mansion, 204 Ben Hill St. www.geocities.com/heartland/valley/5780/bellevue.html

• Explorations in Antiquity Center, 130 Gordon Commercial Drive. 706-885-0363; www.explorationsinantiquity.com

• Hills and Dales Estate, 1916 Hills & Dales Drive. 706-882-3242; www.hillsanddalesestate.org

• LaGrange Art Museum, 112 Lafayette Parkway. 706-882-3267; lagrangeartmuseum.org

• Shops of Pine Mountain, 101 East Broad St.

Information

• LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce, 111 Bull St., LaGrange, GA 30241, 706-884-8671, www.lagrangechamber.com