ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Flint RiverQuarium in Albany, Georgia
ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Flint RiverQuarium in Albany, Georgia
Flint RiverQuarium
The Flint RiverQuarium offers a unique journey into
the depths of a Georgia river. Located in Albany, the
aquarium features views into a blue hole spring.
Flint RiverQuarium in Albany
A unique aquarium that
focuses on a river, the Flint
Riverquarium is overlooks the
riverfront in Albany, Georgia.
Blue Hole Spring
A tour of the RiverQuarium
takes visitors from surface
level into the depths of a blue
hole spring.
Discovery Caverns
Southwest Georgia rests on a
karst topography riddled with
caves and caverns. One
exhibit explains how they form.
Flint RiverQuarium - Albany, Georgia
Into the Depths of the Flint River
Copyright 2011 by Dale Cox
All rights reserved.
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Flint RiverQuarium
The unique aquarium offers
visitors a unique journey into
the ecology and natural
history of the Flint River.
Georgia's Flint River
The RIverQuarium overlooks
the Flint River, which flows
from the Georgia mountains
south to the Florida line.
A magnificent anchor to Albany's riverfront
development effort, the Flint RiverQuarium
offers visitors the chance to journey into the
natural history of one of Georgia's most
beautiful rivers.

Opened in 2004 on the banks of the Flint
River, the RiverQuarium is unique among
such community aquarium projects in that it
focuses almost exclusively on the river that
gave Albany life.

From its source near Atlanta, the Flint River
winds its way south through Georgia for 344
miles until it meets the Chattahoochee River
at the Florida border. The two rivers then join
to form Florida's Apalachicola River, but the
Flint begins and ends as an exclusively
Georgia stream.

Albany has always had a close relationship
with the river. Long before the city was
founded, Creek Indian villages dotted the
surrounding landscape. These early
inhabitants relied on the river for shellfish
and water and in places piled rocks into the
shallow stream to form "V" shaped fishtraps.
They paddled its waters in dugout canoes
and traded with other towns up and down the
waterway.

Later residents of the current city shipped
commerce downstream on rafts and in pole
boats, although paddlewheel steamboats
came this far up during times of high water,
braving rocks and the twisting river channel
to bring people and cargo to Albany.

In 1994, Tropical Storm Alberto settled over
the upper Flint River valley and the normally
peaceful stream surged over its banks at
Albany. Homes, businesses and lives were
destroyed in a disaster that ravaged the city,
but also brought its people together. Not long
after the flood waters went down, Albany
began to dream of developing its riverfront
into a showplace for residents and visitors
alike.

The city has taken great steps in that effort
and the Flint RiverQuarium has added a
dimension to life in Albany that defies
conventional wisdom about what can be
accomplished in a city of its size.

The RiverQuarium's most noteworthy exhibit
is its beautiful 175,000 gallon, 22-foot deep
Blue Hole Spring. The Flint River is fed by
such springs (see nearby Radium Springs
as an example), and the Blue Hole Spring
gives visitors the chance to experience one of
these beautiful natural wonders from top to
bottom. More than 120 species of fish, turtles
and alligators swim in the spring's waters.

As visitors begin their journey, the see the
spring from the surface, but as they make
their way deeper into the aquarium, they are
treated to underwater views of the spring's
different levels.

From the spring, visitors enter the Flint River
Gallery, which traces the journey of the river
from its source in Fulton County all the way
down to its junction with the Chattahoochee.
Small and large tanks provide the opportunity
to see the fish and reptiles of the river up
close and personal, while exhibits detail the
natural history of the beautiful river.
Other permanent exhibits include Discovery
Caverns, which interpret caves of the Flint
River basin; Cypress Pond Aviary, where
visitors can walk among the wild birds of the
area, and Spring Run Creek, where an all
glass aquarium provides unique views into
the lives of the RiverQuarium's alligators.

Dive shows are held in the main Blue Hole
Spring every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
These unique demonstrations give visitors
the chance to watch through the glass walls
as divers interact with the fish and other
creatures that live in the spring.

The Flint RiverQuarium Imagination Theater
is located just across a plaza from the main
aquarium and features movies and 3D
presentations on a screen that is four stories
wide and three stories high. Shows are
offered seven days per week.  Please click
here for current features and show times.

Current RiverQuarium hours are 9 a.m. to 5
p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on
Sundays.

Admission prices are $9 for adults, $8 for
Seniors (62+) and $6.50 for youth (4-12).
Children 3 and under are admitted free. The
Imagination Theater tickets are $6 for adults
and seniors and $4.50 for youth, although
combo tickets to see both the RiverQuarium
and Theater are available at a discounted
rate. Combo tickets are $14 for adults,
$12.50 for Seniors and $10 for youth.

The Flint RiverQuarium is located at 101 Pine
Avenue in downtown Albany, Georgia. Please
click here for more information.