Barnesville, Georgia

History

Barnesville was founded in 1826 and named for Gideon Barnes, proprietor of a local tavern. Barnesville served as a major hospital site for wounded southern troops during the Civil War. Local families took wounded soldiers into their homes and treated them, with highly successful recovery rates. Major General William B. Bate, CSA of Hardees Corps., wounded in Atlanta at Utoy Creek on August 10, 1864, was treated here. After the war, General Bate was elected governor of Tennessee and served in the United States Senate until his death in 1912. He commented on his successful recovery as a result of the kindness of the local populace in Barnesville.

Educator Helena B. Cobb founded the Helena B. Cobb Institute in Barnesville in the early 1900s. It was modeled after Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute and educated African American girls as the only school within the CME Church for women. In 1920, Barnesville was designated seat of the newly formed Lamar County.

Weather events

On the morning of April 28, 2011, at 12:38 A.M., a tornado rated EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with 140 mph winds touched down in Pike County, 4 mi south of Meansville. The tornado went on to destroy several homes in Barnesville. Two deaths occurred in Barnesville along Grove Street. The tornado also destroyed a Chevron gas station and a church in Barnesville. Three tractor trailers were blown off Interstate 75 at approximately 1:02 A.M. This tornado was part of the 2011 Super Outbreak.

Geography

Barnesville is located south of the center of Lamar County at (33.053090, -84.156217). U.S. Route 41 passes through the western, southern, and eastern outskirts of the city on a bypass; the highway leads northwest 16 mi to Griffin and east 13 mi to Forsyth. U.S. Route 341 branches off US 41 on the south side of Barnesville and leads southeast 53 mi to Perry, where it rejoins US 41. Georgia State Route 18 follows US 41 around the southern and eastern sides of Barnesville but leads west 11 mi to Zebulon. State Route 36 follows the western side of the Barnesville bypass and leads northeast 22 mi to Jackson and southwest 16 mi to Thomaston.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Barnesville has a total area of 15.9 km2, of which 15.73 km2 are land and 0.12 sqkm, or 0.78%, are water.

Barnesville sits on a low ridge at an elevation of 850 ft above sea level. Hog Mountain rises above the city to the north, with a summit elevation of 1015 ft. The north side of the city drains via Big Towaliga Creek to the Little Towaliga River, the Towaliga River, and eventually the Ocmulgee River. The east side drains via Tobesofkee Creek to the Ocmulgee south of Macon. The south end of the city drains via Tobler Creek to the Flint River, and the west side drains via Little Potato Creek, then Potato Creek, to the Flint River. Because the Ocmulgee River ultimately drains to the Atlantic Ocean and the Flint River ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico, Barnesville sits on the Eastern Continental Divide.

Demographics

1850-1870 1880 1890-1910 1920-1930 1930-1940 1940-1950 1960-1980 1990

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 6,292 people, 2,056 households, and 1,028 families residing in the city.

Education

Lamar County School District

The Lamar County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, and consists of two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. The district has 143 full-time teachers and over 2,600 students.

• Lamar County Elementary School
• Lamar County Primary School
• Lamar County Middle School
• Lamar County Comprehensive High School

Private education

• St. George's Episcopal School (K-12)
• Rock Springs Christian Academy
• Covenant Heart Academy

Higher education

• Gordon State College

Annual events and festivals

The Barnesville-Lamar County Chamber of Commerce hosts three annual festivals each year.

• The BBQ & Blues Festival is held the last weekend in April and features an FBA(Florida Barbeque Association) certified cooking competition, food vendors, arts and crafts vendors, and live entertainment throughout the weekend.
• The Summer in the Sticks Country Music Concert is held the 3rd Saturday in July and features live bands, food vendors, and arts and crafts vendors.

• The Buggy Days Festival celebrates Barnesville's heritage as the Buggy Capital of the South during the late 1800s. Buggy Days is held on the third full weekend in September.

Featured in media

Music

Barnesville was the location of an auto accident that killed 16-year-old Jeanette Clark, who was on a date with J.L. Hancock, also 16, on December 22, 1962. This accident was rumored to be the inspiration of the hit song "Last Kiss" written by Wayne Cochran, Joe Carpenter, Randall Hoyal & Bobby McGlon (1961). Hancock was driving a 1954 Chevrolet on the Saturday before Christmas with some friends. In heavy traffic on U.S. Highway 341 their car hit a tractor-trailer carrying a load of logs. Clark, Hancock and Wayne Cooper were killed. Cochran lived on Georgia's Route 19/41 when he wrote "Last Kiss", only 15 miles away from the crash site. He rerecorded "Last Kiss" for release on King Records in 1963 and dedicated it to Clark, a fact which probably explains the association of the song with the tragic crash.

Television

The 2018 HBO miniseries Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams, filmed many of its exterior scenes for the fictional town of Wind Gap, Missouri, in Barnesville and the surrounding area. A large mural reading "Welcome to Wind Gap" remains in the town painted by artist Andrew Patrick Henry.

Notable people

• Wayne Cochran, musician
• Franklin Delano Floyd, American murderer
• Victor Henry Hanson, publisher
• Louise Smith, NASCAR driver
• John T. Walker, Bishop of Washington
• Craig Ogletree, NFL Athlete
• CJ Allen, College Football All-American

References

References

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