THOMASVILLE, Ga. — This city just 35 miles north of Tallahassee is famous for its roses and shows them off in an annual festival, scheduled this year from April 24 to 29.

But Thomasville is worth a visit for many other reasons.

A century ago, before the railroad reached down the Florida peninsula to Miami, well-to-do invalids and pleasure seekers from up North would flock here to breathe the pine-scented air, gathering on wide verandas that graced the finest of resort hotels.

They reveled in such amenities as electric bells and private baths, hunted quail in the huge forests and, at a 300-foot elevation, felt the climate of southwest Georgia to be curative.

What was good enough for the Firestones, the Vanderbilts and the Goodriches is “Worth the Trip” today, as local boosters proclaim. True, the gracious hotels of the 1880s are gone, but still to be seen are imposing “cottages” that belonged to wealthy families who came regularly enough to build second homes.

Even more intriguing are vast working plantations nearby that were taken over by other affluent newcomers and turned into showplace residences. In many cases their descendants are present occupants.

Seventy-one plantations still lie in the rolling, live-oak-and-pine-wooded terrain surrounding Thomasville. One of the grandest, Pebble Hill, is open to the public for touring as set forth in the will of its last family member, who died in 1978. Another, Susina Plantation, has been turned into a gracious inn, and the grounds and exteriors of a few others can be viewed on daily tours from the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center.

During this month’s festival, some of the plantations will be on the list of special home tours available. One of them, Labrah Plantation, will be turned into a decorators’ showcase during the festival, with nine rooms “done over” by nine decorators.

The annual rose parade at 10:30 a.m. on April 28 is “the third largest in the South, after the Orange Bowl and Mardi Gras parades,” according to Ruth Willet at the Thomasville Chamber of Commerce. It will feature floats, marching bands and seas of roses.

There are said to be many more rose bushes gracing public and private gardens than the town’s estimated population of 20,000 people. From mid-April to mid-November, 2,000 plants of 300 varieties bloom in the official Rose Test Garden, which is open to the public without charge.

But we need to know more about the past to absorb the present. So head for the Thomas County Historical Society Museum and Archives, where curator C. Tom Hill and his guides await with an absorbing history lesson. No dullsville here.

You’ll be led past excellent exhibits of Indian times into the period when cotton was king and on through the Civil War, which fortunately reached no closer than Macon. The Atlantic & Gulf Railroad arrived in 1861, providing access from northern reaches, and during a 30-year period (1870 to 1900) served what has come to be known as the resort era. At its height there were 15 hotels, 25 boarding houses and 50 private homes.

Most famous was the Piney Woods, which catered to 300 guests at about $3 or $4 for a room, $11 for a suite with private bath. The hotel overlooked Paradise Park, which remains today as a quiet retreat in the heart of town. The Piney Woods closed in 1905 and a fire brought its end in 1906. Today, the Neel House Restaurant and Inn proudly boasts of a balcony overlooking Paradise Park.

Even before the Civil War, a number of planters had brought their slaves to the fertile area known as the Tallahassee Red Circle and built fine homes on plantations that have remained almost intact ever since. The Florida capital was 35 miles away by train, a distance now traversed by U.S. Highway 319.

Many of the original plantation homes burned, only to be replaced by even finer ones.

Name-dropping inevitably punctuates guides’ spiels, be it in the museum, on a tour bus or at one of the historic sites. William McKinley, for instance, announced his candidacy for president while a guest of Marcus (Mark) Hanna. Dwight Eisenhower often played golf at the private Glen Arven Golf Course and is said to have decided to run for re-election after climbing the hill on No. 18. Glen Arven is the oldest golf course in the South and one of the 10 oldest in the country.

More recent notables have included the Jimmy Carters, Jackie Onassis, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Joanne Woodward is a Thomasville native, and she and husband Paul Newman are no strangers.

While the Thomasville Museum occupies an attractive house dating only from 1923, the grounds contain several older structures, among them an authentically furnished log house more than 130 years old and an 1877 frame house that exemplifies a middle-class city home.

A long, narrow “mystery” building holds the greatest surprise — an elaborate indoor bowling alley and gym used in the 1890s. “It took a lot to impress the neighbor,” as the curator points out.

The museum is on broad, tree-shaded North Dawson, one of several historic districts, and has as a neighbor the fanciful, gold-colored 1885 Lapham- Patterson House, which is designated as a National Historic Landmark and whose odd-shaped rooms are open for touring ($1 fee). Once the winter residence of a Chicago family, it is now owned by the State of Georgia.

Down the street, the oldest one-story house in town, the 1835 Seixas House, can be purchased for sadly needed renovation. Also on Dawson are the 1883 Hanna-McKinley House, the 1856 Hardaway House and numerous others of varied architectural styles.

Other historic districts include Tockwotton-Love Street, Gordon Avenue, Fletcherville, Paradise Park and the Downtown Commercial District. Broad Street, the appropriately named heart of downtown, is attractively updated with storefronts renovated through the Main Street Facade Improvement Program. Thomasville is a “Main Street U.S.A.” town.

The oldest house in town is the 1833 Hardy Bryan House, a sparkling white two-story with dark-green trim just beyond the courthouse on Broad Street, but the oldest landmark is the Big Oak, circa 1686, with a limb spread of 162 feet. It is owned jointly by the City of Thomasville and Thomasville Garden Clubs Inc. (made up of 10 garden clubs).

While none of the plantation homes on the tour can be entered, tourists can admire the exteriors while being driven through the grounds. Each has a fascinating history, related by the guide.

IF YOU’RE GOING

— Where to stay. Susina Plantation Inn, Route 3, Box 1010, Thomasville, Ga., 31799; 1-912-377-9644. Located 12 miles south of Thomasville on Meridian Road, off U.S. Highway 319. Has eight bedrooms and private baths. Basic rate of $100 single, $150 double, includes breakfast and several-course supper with wine.

Other accommodations include the family-owned Neel House Restaurant & Inn, 1-912-228-6000; Holiday Inn, 1-800-465-4329; Shoney’s Inn 1-800-222-2222; Days Inn, 1-800-325-2525, and more.

— For more information. Stop by or write Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center, 401 S. Broad, Thomasville, Ga., 31799; 1-912-226-9600. Accommodation information is available. Two-hour plantation and city tours depart from the Chamber daily except Sunday; $5 per person. Pick up map for driving tour of 36 notable sites among other available literature.