Hickory Hill, through careful restoration, accurate recreation, professional preservation, and thoughtful interpretation seeks to foster a fuller understanding of the life and times of Thomas E. Watson, and to inspire reflection on the Jeffersonian virtues of life in the rural South.

The Watson–Brown Foundation operates three house museums in Thomson: Hickory Hill, the Thomas E. Watson House and the Tom Watson Birthplace. The expansive wooded grounds, formal gardens and adjunct facilities are also used as an outdoor classroom for environmental education and other studies.

In 1970, Walter J. Brown established the Watson–Brown Foundation, a nonprofit Georgia corporation, primarily to provide “college opportunities for underprivileged boys and girls.” Named for Thomas E. Watson and J.J. Brown, the Foundation today awards annually more than $1 million in merit and need–based college scholarships to students from the Central Savannah River Area of Georgia and South Carolina, and supports higher education and the preservation of Southern history and culture through its grant program.