The Villa Rica bus station, formerly located on this site, was on the route of the 1961 Freedom Ride that departed Washington, D. C. on May 4, 1961 with New Orleans, Louisiana, as its final destination.

Freedom riders were civil rights activists who rode public buses on interstates routes through the southeast to test rulings outlawing racial segregation.

While the resolve of the freedom riders was challenged by violence elsewhere, they passed through Villa Rica without serious incident on May 14, 1861.

Villa Rica Historic Preservation Commission
Celebrating the hallmarks of the South