Laura Pope Forester and Pope’s Museum

Laura Pope Forester and Pope’s Museum is a Georgia historical marker in in Ochlocknee, Grady County, dedicated 2025.

At Pope's Museum, near the corner of SR 111 and Pope’s Store Road, in Ochlocknee

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Self-taught artist Laura Pope Forester (1873-1953) used hand-mixed mediums and everyday objects to fill her property with more than 200 sculptures, dozens of murals, and architectural embellishments. Many sculptures showcased the contributions of women in history by portraying women religious, patriotic, and literary figures. Her artwork also depicted her support of the nuclear family and American military. In 1924, Pope Forester informally opened her home for public visitation, later establishing it as “Pope’s Museum.” After her family sold the property in 1975, the museum closed, and much of the artwork was destroyed. Pope Forester and her art have since gained national recognition. Restored and reopened in 2019, the property is among the oldest documented art environments in Georgia and the Southeast and is believed to rank among the oldest documented extant art environments in the US. Erected by the Georgia Historical Society, the City of Cairo, Grady County Board of Commissioners, and Georgia Humanities

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1864 · Colton's Georgia (1864) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1866 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1869 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1870 · Johnson's Florida (1870) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1874 · Intestinal diseases deaths US. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Georgia, 1869, covering the location of Laura Pope Forester and Pope’s Museum, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Georgia, 1869, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Society. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

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On the National Register nearby

Pope’s Museum300 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.