My Hometown of Jonesboro, GA

Clayton County was first settled by pioneers in 1821. Jonesboro (Leaksville) was designated the County Seat and developed as a small rural community.

In 1836, the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company was organized in Macon, Georgia (where I was born and lived for 18 months). Construction of the railroad was begun from Macon to Atlanta. In 1846, the railroad was completed.

One of the civil engineers, Colonel Samuel Goode Jones applied his engineering skills to the laying out of new streets in the village.

About 1845, the local citizens expressed their gratitude by renaming the village Jonesboro, after Colonel Jones.

If this train depot looks familiar to you, it (and most of Jonesboro) was in the movie "Smokey and the Bandit" and had a sign on it designating the city as "Texarkana". See the picture below. To the side of the depot you'll see the infamous black Trans-Am of the "Bandit" (Burt Reynolds) and the tractor-trailor of Cledus Snow aka "The Snowman" (Jerry Reed) as they enter the town to pick up 400 cases of Coors beer.

And in the picture below it was featured on the cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd album "Pronounced". **A special thank you to my good friend Melanie Strickland Simner for this piece of info.

The Battle of Jonesboro leads to the Fall of Atlanta

August 31 - September 1, 1864 - The Battle of Jonesboro was the most crucial engagement of the Georgia Campaign, and therefore, one of the most important battles of the entire war, for it directly resulted in the fall of Atlanta. Primarily through a tragedy of errors on the part of the Confederate high command, the Battle of Jonesboro was lost, and as its final shots were being exchanged, Atlanta was evacuated.

The final fall of Atlanta in the Battle of Jonesboro ended up being a decisive point in the nation's history, propelling Abraham Lincoln to re-election two months later, and continuing the war until the Confederacy finally surrendered the following year.

The area within the enclosure was a burial place of Confederate soldiers who died in local hospitals during the war. Confederate casualties that had been buried on the battlefields where they fell, were removed to this hallowed ground. There are an estimated 1,000 soldiers buried here.

The headstones, which are unmarked, are laid out in the shape of the Confederate Battle Flag. On the top of the arch at the entrance are 12 cannonballs.

Jonesboro Masonic Lodge #87 is the oldest organization in Clayton County, even older than the county itself.

This building (above) now owned and occupied by the Lodge was the original Clayton County Courthouse built in the late 1850's or early 1860's.

The Masons sold half this lot to the county for the 1861 Courthouse. This structure serves today as the hall of the Jonesboro Lodge No.87, Free and Accepted Masons.

I absolutely love this building. I think it's one of the most beautiful old courthouses I've ever seen. If you love old buildings, this one is for you! It has stories of ghosts! While I was in jury duty a few weeks ago the bailiff was telling me that they would never go into the courtrooms by themselves to lock up at night. They could hear people talking when there was no one around. That's a little creepy! This building has had many interesting stories over the last 100 years.

The new courthouse opened it's doors on November 6, 2000. Though it is a beautiful building, my favorite will always be the old courthouse. This building also houses the new jail.

1869 Jail (125 King Street) Constructed of locally-kilned bricks by Mansfield & Chapman, masterbuilders. Living quarters for the jailer were on the lower floor and cells were on the upper.

In 1898, when the county functions were moved, this building was sold as a residence. Now owned by Historical Jonesboro, Inc., it is open for tours as the Clayton County Historical Museum.

On September 21, 1891 Jonesboro High School was born.

Have you heard of these people?

***(Bryan) Keith Burns
Founding member, lead vocals and lead guitar for country band Trick Pony.

Graduated Jonesboro High School 1982 (my class).

*** Tim Byrd
My childhood friend and Atlanta author who lives with his adventurous son and a treacherous cat.
*Thank you for the heads up!

Graduated Jonesboro High School 1982 (my class).

Info below from Wikipedia

***Stephen ("Steve") Lundquist
(born February 20, 1961) is a former swimmer from the United States, who was a member of the Olympic Team when the USA boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics. His rise to fame was when in 1984 he won two Olympic Gold medals: in the 100 meter breaststroke, and the 400 meter medley relay.

At 17 he broke his first world record and in his career he broke world and American records on 15 occasions.

Graduated from Jonesboro High School, Georgia 1979

***Scott Allison Woerner
(born December 18, 1958 in Baytown, Texas) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. In the 1981 Sugar Bowl, Woerner intercepted a pass by the Notre Dame quarterback in the closing minutes of the game which sealed Georgia's national championship for that year.

Graduated from Jonesboro High School, Georgia 1975

Other noteable Alums:

***Jonesboro Mayor Luther W. Maddox
graduated Jonesboro High School in 1959.

***Elaine Reyes,
television reporter for WXIA Channel 11 in Atlanta, Georgia.

***Harry Douglas,
University of Louisville wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons.

***Toney Douglas,
Florida State University Basketball - guard

***Jamal Lewis,
Georgia Institute of Technology - Football - 2008 NFL Draft prospect

***D. Roberson,
Georgia Institute of Technology - Football - 2008 NFL Draft prospect

"GO CARDINALS!"

Gone With the Wind and Jonesboro References

Gone With the Wind was written by Margaret Mitchell. One of the greatest love stories ever told was about Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. Their story was fiction, but the background story of the Civil War and the burning of Atlanta was so very real. Jonesboro, Atlanta, and the areas in the path of Sherman's "March to the Sea" (Savannah) still bear the scars 150 years later. Most of the book was centered in Jonesboro and Atlanta. The actual Tara Plantation was in Jonesboro. The road to Atlanta was called "Jonesboro Road" and it is still called that.

Though Mitchell stated that her book was a work of fiction it has been found that many of the characters are based upon real people.

Mitchell's maternal grandmother, Annie Fitzgerald Stephens, was born in 1845. She was the daughter of an Irish immigrant. Her father owned a large plantation on Tara Road in Jonesboro, south of Atlanta. He married an American woman named Ellen, and had several children, all daughters. This plantation home still stood there until recently. Vandals were breaking in so often that it had to be moved.

Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

There are 5,000 types of snakes on earth and 4,998 live in Georgia.

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Georgia plus a couple no one's seen before.

If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.

Onced and Twiced are words.

It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy.

People actually grow and eat okra.

'Fixinto' is one word.

There is no such thing as 'lunch.' There is only dinner and then there is supper.

Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar!

Backards and forwards means 'I know everything about you.'

You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH them.

You measure distance in minutes.

Sometimes you have to switch from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day.

'Fix' is a verb. Example: 'I'm fixing to go to the store.'

All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You know what a 'DAWG' is.

You carry jumper cables in your car . . . for your OWN car.

There are only own four spices: salt, pepper, Tabasco and ketchup.

The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

The first day of deer season is a state holiday.

100 degrees Fahrenheit is 'a little warm.'

We have four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, still Summer and Christmas.

Going to Wal-mart is a favorite past time known as 'goin' Wal-martin' or off to 'Wally World.'

A cool snap (below 70 degrees) is good pinto-bean weather.

A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola or pop . . . it's a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. Example: 'What kinda coke you want?'

Fried catfish is the other white meat.

We don't need no stinking driver's ed . . . if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.

EVERYONE can't be a Georgian; it takes talent. You might say it's an art form or a gift from God!