Perhaps you’ve heard of this area called historical Jonesboro, Georgia. Do you know the story of Gone with the Wind that was written by Margaret Mitchell? Parts of this novel and movie were actually set in Clayton County in historical downtown Jonesboro.
In fact, the plantation in the book/movie, “Tara”, is an important part in Clayton County. One of our main north/south roads is named after Tara and is called Tara Boulevard. They actually even made two sequels to Gone with the Wind – did you know this? They were called Rhett Butler’s People and Scarlett. Both take place briefly in Clayton County.
AND, I bet you didn’t know this fact. Parts of the film Smokey and the Bandit were actually shot in and around Clayton County, specifically downtown Jonesboro.
This is a picture taken off of thebanditrunphotos.com It actually shows Burt Reynolds in his famous car in front of what is actually the historical downtown Jonesboro depot. Although there is a sign up on the building that states “Texarkana”, if you look in the lower left hand corner you will actually see a sign that states Jonesboro Days. 🙂 A little oversight by the movie company.
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Another known fact about our little town – the Jonesboro Confederate Cemetery also known as the Patrick Cleburne Confederate Cemetery. This cemetery is opened daily between dawn and dusk. Mommy highly recommends the visit. This cemetery is north of Jonesboro where the heaviest fighting took place during the second day of the Battle of Jonesboro. This battle took place August 31 – September 1, 1864.
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This cemetery is home to between 600-1,000 men who died during this battle. If you look closely at this picture, on top of the monument that states Confederate Dead, you will see on the arch 12 cannonballs. Once you enter this walk way, it takes you inside of the cemetery. It really does take your breath away when you think about all of the blood shed in such a short time.
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As you walk through the cemetery, you notice something just a little different about the layout. The headstones are patterned in the shape of a confederate flag. The walkways are shaped like a X and the graves fill in the triangles of the X.
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You can spend hours in this cemetery just looking at the different headstones reading the names. Names of people that you actually don’t know in person but can feel and reconstruct in your mind the battles they must have went through during the time. It is an emotional feeling to say the least.
There are also many homes in historical downtown Jonesboro that were used in the civil war as Confederate field hospitals. You can learn more about the homes and businesses located in the area at http://jonesboroga.com/site/VisitingJonesboro/OnlineHistoricalTour/tabid/91/Default.aspx
It’s a great read into this area. I hope you enjoyed my little taste of some of the famous things about my home town. I would love to hear about your home town 🙂 XOXO – Bacon
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