DUBLIN, Ga. — Many know Dublin, Georgia for it's Saint Patrick's Festival. But at the Dublin Visitor Center, they're hoping more people will get to know them for other things too.
"We not only have the good people of Dublin. But we have great food, we have a rich history," Dublin Visitors Center Executive Director Miriam Lewis said.
She said the city has many historical spots to visit, like the Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument Park. There you can read Dr. King's first speech he gave at the First African Baptist Church across the street in 1944.
Day to day, she sees many visitors who don't realize there's more to the Emerald City than meets the eye.
"And we get to talk to them about the history, the food, about the people, about the industry that's here. And everyone is so fascinated —'We didn't know that was in Dublin,'" she said.
That's why her team launched a new rebranding effort in June, with a logo, tagline and website that's launching this summer.
Hoping to attract more visitors from near and far, they wrote print ads and magazine spreads in addition to launching a digital marketing campaign to bring people to Dublin.
One of the newest businesses in Dublin is Society Kaffee, a colorful and retro shop that serves drinks with coffee beans harvested in Guatemala.
The owner, Tara Heal, is new to Dublin herself and didn't realize how much there is to do for fun when she first moved here less than a year ago.
"We've got some really cool shops down here, there's a lot of historical spots downtown," she said. "I think Dublin itself — and this part of Georgia — has so much more to offer than even I realized."
She started her coffee shop in February after she wanted someplace to study for her Master's degree, but she didn't see a sit-down, local coffee shop in town.
"I'm like, 'How can there not be a coffee shop in town?' That's like a foundation to every town," Heal said.
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Her shop has various types of seating, a bookshelf, toys for kids to play with and she recently added an antique store in the back.
Heal hopes her shop will give another reason for people to stop in Dublin instead of driving through.