Historic Clayton County

HISTORIC CLAYTON COUNTY 

The Sesquicentennial History 

by Kathryn Kemp, PhD 

A PUBLICATION OF 

HISTORICAL JONESBORO/CLAYTON COUNTY, INC.

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HISTORIC CLAYTON COUNTY 

The Sesquicentennial History 

by Kathryn Kemp, PhD 

Commissioned by Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County, Inc. 

Historical Publishing Network 

A division of Lammert Incorporated 

San Antonio, Texas

CONTENTS 

3 INTRODUCTION 

5 CHAPTER I 

19 CHAPTER II 

31 CHAPTER III 

47 CHAPTER IV 

59 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

61 SHARING THE HERITAGE 

102 SPONSORS 

❖ 

The state of Georgia used a lottery system to distribute lands acquired from Native Americans on several 

occasions. Qualified purchasers drew a number to discover what land they had purchased. Illustration by 

George I. Parrish, Jr. (1930-1992). 

103 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

COURTESY OF CINDY PARRISH. 

First Edition 

Copyright © 2009 Historical Publishing Network 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing 

from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Historical Publishing Network, 11535 Galm Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (800) 749-9790. 

ISBN: 9781935377054 

Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 2009930116 

Historic Clayton County: The Sesquicentennial History 

author: Kathryn W. Kemp 

contributing writer for “Sharing the Heritage”: Brenda Thompson 

design: Vanessa Lively 

Historical Publishing Network 

president: Ron Lammert 

project manager: Violet Caren 

administration: Donna M. Mata, Melissa G. Quinn, Evelyn Hart 

book sales: Dee Steidle 

production: Colin Hart, Glenda Tarazon Krouse, Charles A. Newton, III, 

Joshua Johnston, Craig Mitchell 

PRINTED IN CANADA. 

2 ✦ HISTORIC CLAYTON COUNTY

INTRODUCTION 

In many ways, the story of Clayton County is a story of transportation. In a place near the 

headwaters of the Flint River, long before Europeans came to America, two trails made by the native 

people crossed; later, after the arrival of the whites, those trails developed into roads, and a settlement 

appeared at the crossing. Railroads gave the town a new name and a new importance as it became a 

stop on the way to another product of railroad development, the city of Atlanta. A few years later the 

importance of that rail line made Clayton County the scene of one of the important conflicts of the Civil 

War, a fight that was pivotal in deciding the fate of Atlanta and, in turn, the conclusion of the war itself. 

Within decades, the invention of the internal combustion engine meant more change. Steady 

improvement of streets and highways accommodated these new forms or transportation—trucks, 

busses, and automobiles. When the United States created its first national system of highways, U.S. 

19 passed through the county on its way from Pennsylvania to Florida. Trucking became increasingly 

important to national commerce; many large trucking firms located facilities in the northeast portion 

of the county, conveniently close to the system of interstate highways built in the latter half of the 

twentieth century. 

In the earlier years of the century, local enthusiasm for automobiles led to the construction of a 

racetrack near the northern reaches of the county. The racetrack failed, but the racing surface 

remained, a perfect landing place for the earliest aircraft in the region. When the city of Atlanta won 

its position in the new Air Mail service network, it built the first municipal airport, Candler Field, in 

the location of the old, impromptu landing field. As air travel grew, the airport continued to expand, 

and now Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, dominates 

the northernmost portion of Clayton County. The county is still a crossroads, but the travelers now 

come and go to and from destinations all over the globe. 

The story of the people who came to live around this ever-evolving crossroads is the theme of this 

book—it is about the people of Clayton County. 

❖ 

Stately Oaks, an antebellum house 

located in Jonesboro, the County Seat 

of Clayton County, is open to the 

public. Historical Jonesboro/Clayton 

County, Inc., operates it along with 

several other historic sites in the city. 

PHOTO BY JIM KEMP. 

Introduction ✦ 3

❖ 

Right: The busiest airport in the world 

is in northern Clayton County. 

COURTESY OF THE ATLANTA HARTSFIELD- 

JACKSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. 

Below: The “Leans” baseball team 

played for Jonesboro about 1905; note 

the broken window. 

COURTESY OF THE GEORGIA ARCHIVES, VIRTUAL 

GEORGIA COLLECTION, VRG128. 


CHAPTER I 

The first people to live on the shores of the Flint River carefully placed rocks in its bed, forming a v- 

shaped channel that would lead fish into traps placed at its narrowest point. These rocks are still in 

place after 2500 years, mute evidence of the presence of the first dwellers in the land that would one 

day form Clayton County, Georgia. Archaeology reveals something of the life of these people, the 

predecessors of those who came to be called Creeks in historic times. 

Those “Creeks” were the survivors of several earlier populations of Native Americans, wiped out by 

exposure to a number of diseases unknown in the hemisphere before the arrival of the Europeans. These 

diseases spread even more rapidly than the European colonization did, killing so many native peoples 

that their long-established cultures collapsed. The survivors reestablished communities and carried on 

with their lives. A loose confederation of these groups spread over a large area of Georgia and Alabama. 

The English colonists who settled in Georgia called them “Creeks” because of their habit of living near 

streams; they called themselves the Muskogee. 

They lived in towns that centered on an open plaza, which was the location of ceremonial life. Each 

new year they celebrated the Green Corn Dance and buried the trunk of a large tree. After resting in the 

earth for three years the tree would be exhumed and the Creeks would burn out the center and fashion 

it into a canoe. One of their more important towns, Coweta, was situated on the Chattahoochee River 

about 100 miles southwest of today’s Clayton County; trails between their many towns crisscrossed 

their territory. 

The early Georgia colonists and the Indians lived near each other in an uneasy peace at first. Traders 

traveled among the Indians, at times living with them and even creating families. Because the Creeks 

reckoned their kinship through the female line only, they considered the children of the white traders 

and Indian women to be Indians. As a result of this custom some prominent Indian leaders had white 

fathers and family connections in both groups. 

❖ 

About 500 B.C., Neolithic people 

placed stones in the Flint River to 

form a curved dam with a narrow 

central gap that could be opened and 

closed. The force of the water rushing 

through the gap swept the fish into 

their waiting traps. 

COURTESY OF CLAYTON COUNTY. 

Chapter I ✦ 5

❖ 

Reproductions of typical Creek 

structures, located on the grounds of 

Stately Oaks Plantation, which is the 

site of an annual Native American 

Heritage Day. 

PHOTOS BY JIM KEMP. 

As the colony became established, the vast 

lands of the Indians presented an irresistible 

attraction. Like other Americans, Georgians were 

determined to move west. Under pressure, the 

Creeks surrendered great swaths of territory over 

the first two decades of the 1800s. 

One important loss of land came as the result 

of the Creek War. This conflict took place at the 

same time that the U.S. was fighting the British 

in the War of 1812. The Shawnee leader 

Tecumseh tried to build a grand alliance of 

tribes to resist the American westward 

movement. .He found some allies among the 

Creeks, notably a group known as the Red 

Sticks, who made war on the Americans in the 

Alabama and Georgia area. The government 

assigned Andrew Jackson, a popular leader in 

the new State of Tennessee and commander of 

its state militia, to pacify the region. Jackson 

made war on the Red Sticks, with the aid of 

Indian allies including Cherokees led by 

Pathkiller and Creeks under Big Warrior. Also 

serving under Jackson was William McIntosh, 

the son of a woman of the prominent Wind Clan 

of the Creeks whose father had been an 

American trader. The father also came from a 

prominent family; he was related to a future 

Governor of Georgia. Jackson defeated the Red 

Sticks but angered his Indian allies when he 

forced the surrender of twenty-three million 

acres of Creek land in Alabama and Georgia to 

the United States government. This land came 

not only from the defeated group, but also from 

those who fought at Jackson’s side. The general 

brushed aside their protests, but some of the 

Creek leaders vowed that they would never 

again surrender land. They promised death to 

any of their tribe who did. 

The Creek way of life changed greatly, as they 

adapted to the presence of the whites. 

Manufactured goods increasingly replaced hand 

crafted items and farming began to replace 

hunting and gathering. A few Creeks, such as 

McIntosh, became very well to do, with large 

land holdings worked by slave laborers. He kept 

up his relationship with Jackson, and joined 

him to fight in another campaign against the 

Seminoles in Florida. During this conflict 

Jackson took it upon himself to seize the 

Spanish colony of Florida and hand it over to 

the U.S. In a few years he would be president of 

the United States. McIntosh also continued to 

prosper as the owner of two plantations. He 

built an inn on one of these parcels of property 

at Indian Springs, in present day Butts County. 

Regarded by the government as a “chief” of the 

Creek nation, he participated in a series of 

negotiations that ultimately deprived the tribe of 

all the lands they had occupied in the state of 

Georgia. In reality the tribe did not recognize 

principal chiefs with the authority to dispose of 

its lands. 

On February 12, 1825, a few Creeks under 

the leadership of William McIntosh met with 


some representatives of the government at his 

new inn. They signed the agreement for the 

surrender of all remaining Creek land in Georgia. 

The Creeks were to receive acreage in the 

Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 

exchange. The agreement enraged the traditional 

leadership of the Creeks. Remembering their 

pronouncements at the time of Jackson’s land 

grab, they took their revenge, raiding McIntosh’s 

plantation home in Carroll County, killing him 

and destroying everything that could not be 

carried away. However, their outrage changed 

nothing. The President of the United States 

agreed with critics that the Treaty of Indian 

Springs was improper, but he did not consider it 

worth the effort that would be needed to try to 

stop the Georgians who were determined to 

move west. Within a year the rest of the Creek 

lands in the state also were handed over and the 

Creeks who resisted were forcibly removed from 

the state. [A similar grim drama would be acted 

out a few years later, resulting in the infamous 

Trail of Tears expulsion of the Cherokee from 

northwest Georgia.] 

The state surveyed the newly acquired land and 

divided it into relatively small lots, on the principle 

that every citizen of the state should have an equal 

opportunity to claim acreage. A lottery distributed 

the 202.5 acre parcels. Every head of a household 

could draw and then claim the land by paying a 

$19.50 registration fee. Of course, some land lots 

were more desirable than others, and speculators 

were ready to buy from those who drew but 

actually had nointerest in occupying their prizes. 

The state divided the former Creek lands into 

several counties, including one called Fayette, and 

an extremely large county named Henry. Parts of 

these two counties would form Clayton County 

some years later. 

These lands were part of the wild west of the 

early nineteenth century, where pioneer settlers 

carved farmsteads out of the wilderness. They 

followed the long-established Indian trails, 

which ran in an east-west direction with shorter 

north-south links connecting them; the trails 

often became established roadways. The settlers 

named one of the short north-south links 

Strawn’s Road; it connected McIntosh Road to 

the south with Rock Bridge Road to the north. 

These were the thoroughfares that brought the 

first settlers to the lands that would one day 

become Clayton County. 

THE TRAIN COMES TO TOWN 

Farmers made the great majority of the settlers 

who bought land in the newly created Henry and 

Fayette Counties in the years after the Creek 

❖ 

Left: Although most Creeks were 

forced out of Georgia, a remnant 

remained. Their descendants 

participate in annual Native 

American Heritage celebrations on the 

grounds of Historical 

Jonesboro/Clayton County, Inc.’s 

Stately Oaks historic house. 

COURTESY OF HISTORICAL JONESBORO/CLAYTON 

COUNTY, INC. 

Below: In 1821 the Creek Nation 

ceded a large strip of land that 

would come to include the future 

Clayton County. 

BY THE AUTHOR. 

Chapter I ✦ 7

❖ 

Above: This abandoned mill, once 

powered by the waters of the Flint 

River, was destroyed by fire in 1985. 

COURTESY OF THE CLAYTON COUNTY 

CONVENTION AND TOURIST BUREAU. 

Bottom (from left to right): 

William Thames settled in the area of 

Fayette County that was destined to 

become part of Clayton County. A 

veteran of the War of 1812 and 

pastor of Tanner’s Church, he also 

operated a saw and grist mill on the 

Flint River. Born in 1796, he lived 

until 1892. 

COURTESY ELAINE THAMES AND HISTORICAL 

JONESBORO/CLAYTON COUNTY, INC. 

Sirena Thames Hodnett was the 

daugter of William Thames. 

COURTESY HELEN HONEA KNIGHT AND 

HISTORICAL JONESBORO/CLAYTON COUNTY, INC. 

removal. They cleared land, built homes and 

planted crops—usually cotton or grain. Every 

place also planted a good deal of corn, which 

would have served as a source of meal for human 

consumption but also was the “fuel” needed to 

run mule-drawn farm equipment. Few of their 

places were large enough to be called 

“plantations.” Most are better described simply as 

“farms,” although many of the region’s farmers 

employed some slave labor. Nor did the pioneer 

settlers limit themselves to farming. Any 

enterprising individual whose lands included a 

suitable stream could gain additional income by 

operating a grist mill. 

The greater part of these settlers came from 

Virginia and the Carolinas, rather than from 

coastal Georgia and were English or Scots-Irish 

in origin. They cleared land and built cabins 

with the felled trees. A second step of 

establishing a home might be the construction 

of a second cabin along side the first, with the 

two joined by a sheltered “dog-trot” where the 

inhabitants would enjoy the use of the daylight 

while sheltered from sun and rain. Clapboards 

would eventually disguise the rough originals, 

but a few old Georgia houses still conceal 

within their walls the humble cabin that was 

their genesis. 

Where settlement developed, towns soon 

formed. One of the earliest settlements in the 

future Clayton County was named Leaksville, 

apparently after an early settler, Robert Leak. We 

find his name on the board of trustees of the first 

school in the area, the “Leaksville Academy,” 

along with Jack and Thomas Wilburn, John 

Chislum, and Columbus Watson. The village had 

developed at the crossing of two Indian trails that 

become wagon roads. One was variously known 

as the Whitehall or Griffin road; the other began 

as the Strawn Road. Running between the 

Fayetteville area and Decatur, a portion of the 

latter remains, still known as Stagecoach Road. In 

addition to the Academy, Leaksville enjoyed a 

tavern and a Baptist Church. The identity of the 

place as “Leaksville” evidently was not settled, 

because the first post office opened in 1842 

bearing the name “Singleton.” 

Early settlement progressed gradually until the 

newly developing railroad system penetrated the 

territory. As rails began to link the larger 

settlements within the state, the Central of Georgia 

built a line from Savannah to Macon and, in 1836, 

the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company set 

out to extend a line onward from Macon 

northwestward to Forsyth. It managed to go as far 

as the crossroads village of Leaksville/Singleton 

Sarah Matilda Hodnett Waddy, known 

as “Sallie,” granddaughter of Clayton 

County pioneer William Thames. 

COURTESY HELEN HONEA KNIGHT AND 



efore going bankrupt in 1843. Daniel Taylor 

bought out its assets and renamed the new line the 

Macon and Western in 1845. After this brief 

hiatus, within a year’s time the new railroad 

reached Atlanta—now a center of railroad activity 

that had not existed when the line had begun 

construction in Macon. 

The creation of the Macon & Western led to 

the transformation of the little crossroads 

settlement at the Singleton Post Office. Samuel 

Goode Jones, a civil engineer, had been in charge 

of the construction of the failed Monroe railroad. 

When bankruptcy brought a pause in the line’s 

progress, Jones became a resident of the town. 

While waiting for the railroad’s problems to be 

solved, he applied his skills to the improvement 

of his surroundings by laying out a street plan. 

The residents showed their respect and 

appreciation by renaming their town 

Jonesborough. The simplified modern spelling 

was adopted many years later for efficiency’s sake. 

No longer a mere crossroads, Jonesboro had 

become a real town. The scattered settlers of the 

region began to see it as a focal point. Stores 

appeared on the principal street, known as 

“Broadway.” The new railroad ran down its center 

and trains paused at a wooden depot, a bit to the 

north of the present depot location. 

On a warm Sunday morning in July 1845 the 

first train, carrying a load of salt, rolled through 

Jonesboro. The congregation of the Flint River 

Baptist Church abandoned their pastor, still in 

mid-sermon. According to an eyewitness account 

in the Jonesboro News, 

We all rushed pell mell up to Jonesboro to 

see the train. When we arrived, we saw a redshirted 

Irishman switching around with an 

engine with two driving wheels on each side, 

about the size of the front wheel of a carriage; the 

engine was minus brakes and could only be 

stopped by placing chunks of wood in front of the 

wheels. The writer thought he would give the 

world if he could just run that engine like that 

red-shirted Irishman. 

The engine gave a long whistle about the 

time we arrived and caused many runaways. 

Poor Bill Long’s horse threw him and caused 

him to be laid up for several hours; he 

came around all right that evening and was 

carried home…. 

Other towns along the line also became official 

“stops” for the new railroad. “Lovejoy’s Station” 

was south of Jonesboro, and to the north, the 

trains paused at “Morrow’s Station,” then “Quick 

Station,” which is now in Forest Park, and finally 

at “Rough & Ready.” 

When Lovejoy Station developed as an early 

stop on the old Macon and Western line, the 

nearby town was known as Fosterville. The 

Lovejoy name, which appears about 1850, 

probably derived from James Lovejoy, one of 

several prosperous planters who lived in the 

area. It was the location of a strong position held 

by Confederate forces against the onslaught that 

destroyed the town of Jonesboro. The scene of 

the Battle of Lovejoy’s Station once included the 

substantial earthworks that frustrated attacks by 

Federal forces, but is now largely occupied by 

residential development. After the fall of 

Atlanta, General Hood’s forces regrouped there 

❖ 

Above: Pioneers began with simple log 

houses. This log kitchen was relocated 

to the grounds of Stately Oaks 

Plantation in Jonesboro. The fireplace 

is of modern construction. 


Below: Early Settlers of Clayton 

County—a partial list. 

SOME EARLY SETTLERS OF CLAYTON COUNTY 

A. Y. Adamson, G. W. Adamson, N. C. Adamson, Patrick H. Allen, Thomas 

Byrne, Abner Camp, W. W. Camp, William Carter, W. Y. Conine, James B. 

Cooke, James Daniel, James Davis, Stephen G. Dorsey, James H. Chapman, 

John Chislum, Phillip Fitzgerald, Elijah Glass, J. J. Hanes, John M. Hine, 

Andrew L. Hint, James B. Key, Luke Johnson, Thomas Johnson, Robert Leak, 

Zachariah Mann, James McConnel, Thomas Moore, R.E. Morrow, A. J. 

Mundy, John Stanley, Moab Stephens, J. B. Tanner, and Peter Y. Ward, 

Columbus Watson, Jack Wilburn, and Thomas Wilburn 

Chapter I ✦ 9

❖ 

Above: Published in 1893, the 

boundary lines shown on this map do 

not conform exactly to those on more 

official maps, but it clearly shows the 

major towns and their relationship to 

the railroads of the day. 

MAP BY WALTER H. GRANT, THE CLAYTON 

COUNTY ANNUAL NO.1, (1893). COURTESY OF 

THE CLAYTON COUNTY MAIN LIBRARY 

GENEALOGY COLLECTION. 

Top, right: The Talmadge-Crawford 

Plantation, located in Lovejoy, which 

was where the Confederate forces 

regrouped after being forced out 

of Atlanta. 



Right: Before the development of Forest 

Park, this area of the county was rural. 

Several generations of the Kennedy 

family lived on a farm close to the 

present day Farmer’s Market; William 

T. Montgomery Kennedy and his wife 

Mary “Molly” Herrin Kennedy hold 

two of their grandchildren. 

COURTESY OF ELAINE THAMES. 

at the Crawford-Talmadge Plantation. 

Although the town has been recognized 

as a named place since the earliest days 

of the railroad, it was not incorporated 

as a city until 1970. 

In the years between 1827 and 1843, 

the state had issued thirteen land lot 

grants in the general area of present-day 

Morrow, which takes its name from an 

early settler, Radford E. Morrow. Among 

his many interests, he owned a thousand 

acre plantation and operated a mill, 

which was situated on “Lake Harbin,” 

which gave its name to a still-existing street. The 

wealthy planter lived in a twelve-room house 

with four white columns, located near the 

present Morrow City Hall at the corner of 

Morrow Road and Georgia Highway 54. The 

house was destroyed during the fighting in the 

area during the Civil War. However, the area 

close to the railroad stop continued to develop 

into a small settlement, serving farmers in the 

area who grew cotton and tobacco. The “Red 

Store,” a general merchandise establishment 

founded during Reconstruction, did business 

until 1952. 

Quick Station, the next stop on the line into 

Atlanta, was located at a village then called Astor. 

Before the Civil War, there had been a “Hardshell” 

Baptist church in the area, which left behind the 

Elam Church Cemetery. Astor had a one-room 

school house and only a few residents at the turn 

of the twentieth century, when the Central of 

Georgia railroad bought two hundred acres of 

land close to the Astor stop, which they renamed 

Forest Station. The railroad laid out streets and 

sold off residential lots. This took place at a time 

when residential suburbs, served by streetcars, 

had begun to appear on the outskirts of larger 

American cities. Evidently the railroad had this 

trend in mind when it created a development 

called Forrest Park; one inducement to 

purchasers with interests in Atlanta was the 

promise of the “Accommodation Train” that soon 

acquired the nickname, “The Dummy.” The 

creation of Forrest Park (in 1952 the city charter 

adjusted the spelling of the name to Forest Park) 

can be understood as an early step in the 

suburbanization of Clayton County. However, it 

is not purely residential. The modern Atlanta 

Farmer’s Market is within the boundaries of 

Forest Park. 

The colorful name of the last stop before 

Atlanta was “Rough and Ready.” The name did 

not describe the character of the town, but was 

chosen to honor Zachary “Old Rough and Ready” 

Taylor, a hero of the Mexican-American War of 

1845; he also was briefly President of the United 

States, but died a few weeks after his 

inauguration. The colorful name vanished from 

the maps when its residents incorporated in 1949 

and opted for the more elegant name “Mountain 

View.” Because of its close proximity to the everexpanding 

airport, the area became 

uninhabitable as a residential location; the town 

has vanished. 

Nineteenth-century Georgians centered much 

of their lives around the church, so the 

appearance of churches in Jonesboro reflects the 

growth of a true community. The Ebenezer 

Church relocated to Jonesboro, becoming the 

Jonesboro Methodist Church in 1845; for the 

next decade it provided the town’s cemetery. One 

of the earliest local congregations, the Flint River 

Baptist Church, met from 1825 to 1859 in the 

area of Hynds Spring before moving to 

Jonesboro. The Philadelphia Presbyterian Church 

kept its place several miles north of town, but in 

1879 the Jonesboro Presbyterian church came 


into being. Episcopalians in Jonesboro were 

part of the Parish of St. Philip in Atlanta; one of 

its original vestrymen was a Jonesboro resident, 

Guy Lewis Warren. The Episcopal Diocese of 

Georgia established a missionary station in 

Jonesboro, but the area’s Episcopalians—and the 

lone Catholic family—traveled by train into 

Atlanta to attend services. 

The railroad line where Lovejoy, Jonesboro, 

Morrow and other villages were emerging ran 

close to the border between Fayette and Henry 

Counties. Important business needed to be 

transacted at county seats some distance away, so 

citizens on both sides of this line began a 

campaign for the creation of a new county that 

would better serve their needs. In response a 

legislative act of November 30, 1858, joined a 

portion of Henry County to a smaller part of 

Fayette to create the new Clayton County. Its 

name honors the memory of Augustin Smith 

Clayton, who was a distinguished Georgia jurist 

and member of Congress although he had no 

particular personal association with the new 

county. He had died in Athens, Georgia. In 

January, 1859, the Clayton County government 

was established. The citizens chose James F. 

Johnson as their first state Senator and Elijah 

Glass as the first Representative. Jonesboro, 

named as the county seat, incorporated on 

December 13 of the same year, under the 

leadership of six commissioners: Dr. James B. Key, 

Sanford D. Johnson, Guy Lewis Warren, Joshua J. 

Hanes, William H. Sharp, Robert Holliday and 

James Alford. The county built a courthouse, 

facing the railroad, near the depot. This building, 

now a Masonic Hall, has survived the years and 

now has its address on McDonough Street. 

Although the old Leaksville Academy had long 

vanished, the town boasted several schools for its 

white children, (Sources variously claim seven to 

ten schools and number the children at more than 

650.) One hundred twenty-two of the children 

were enrolled in the Clayton High School, which 

was organized by Allen D. Candler, a future 

governor of the state. Commercial establishments 

lined Broadway, the central street of the town. 

There was no bank, but one merchant, Thomas 

Byrne, allowed local planters and merchants to 

store their cash in his large safe until they were able 

to take the train to Atlanta to make their deposits. 

Colonel James F. Johnson established a cotton gin 

(which passed through several hands in the 

following years). A tannery belonging to Radford 

Morrow was located somewhat behind the site of 

the present 1898 courthouse; other commercial 

undertakings included a carriage factory, a steampowered 

saw and grist mill, a hotel and livery 

stable, and numerous general merchants. 

Craftsmen of every sort plied their trades in the 

county; blacksmiths, carriage makers, stonecutters 

and masons, carpenters, woodworkers, and 

painters, and boot and shoe makers. There were 

clerks and clergymen, lawyers and physicians, 

including one who specialized in a “water cure.” 

Surprisingly, the town also was the home of a 

distiller. It was owned by the Reverend William 

Moseley, organizing minister of the First (formerly 

Flint River) Baptist Church, although he kept the 

❖ 

Left: Drawn in 1867, eight years after 

the General Assembly created Clayton 

County out of parts of Henry and 

Fayette Counties, this map represents 

the county shortly after the Civil War. 

“Map of Clayton County.” 

COURTESY OF THE GEORGIA ARCHIVES, COUNTY 

MAPS COLLECTION, RG 3-9-66. 

Above: Three unidentified Clayton 

County Masons posed for this 

photograph about 1849. 

COURTESY OF GEORGIA ARCHIVES, VANISHING 

GEORGIA COLLECTION, CLT010. 

FIRST CLAYTON COUNTY OFFICIALS 

Robert K. Holliday, clerk, Superior Court; A. J. Hayes, clerk, Inferior 

Court; James McConnell, ordinary (now called probate judge); William 

Gunter, tax receiver; Jefferson Kirkland, tax collector; B. W. Bonner, surveyor; 

and James H. Waldrop, sheriff. (His cousin, James L. Waldrop also lived in 

Jonesboro, and the two were frequently confused for one another in written 

sources.) Clayton County’s first state senator was Colonel James F. Johnson, 

and its first representative in the General Assembly was Elijah Glass. 

Chapter I ✦ 11

ANTEBELLUM 

ENTREPRENEURS 

Patrick H. Allen, James B. Betts, William O. Betts, Britton W. Brasell, Jabez 

Brasell, Phillip H. Brassell, Andrew J. Brown, James E. Brumblo, Thomas 

Byrne, The Reverend Joshua S. Callaway, Joseph Camp, Allen D. Candler, 

Stephen Carnes, John M. Chapman, William H. Chapman, Aaron E. Cloud, 

D. Columbus, S. B. Crawford, James Davis, Milligan B. DeVaughn, G. W. 

Dobbs, John M. Dorsey, John C. Ellington, K. C. Ellington, L. M. Farmer, 

Thomas Fayette, Samuel Fuller, David Hanes, James Hanes, W. H. Hilliard, 

Robert Holliday, Robert K. Holliday, Nathaniel G. Hudson, L. C. Hutcheson, 

William Jackson, J. F. Johnson, J. H. Johnson, Sanford D. Johnson, Jacob F. 

Lasseter, William C. Lee, James L. Lovejoy, A. J. McBride, W. J. Morris, Wilson 

L. Morris, Colonel Radford E. Morrow, James H. Morrow, William W. Neal, 

George M. Nolan, Quine R. Nolan, Seth W. Parham, Samuel G. Pegg, John B. 

Powell, Henry Sanders, A. F. Sears, J. W. Smith, W. Smith, D. Y. Tomlinson, E. 

M. Tomlinson, E. S. Tomlinson, T. M. Tomlinson, Allen W. Turner, Dr. J. A. 

Turner, Richard H. Waters, Henry Widener, George S. Williamson 

offending equipment on property he owned in 

Spalding County. The Sons of Temperance 

organization sought to prevent his election to the 

state Senate on those grounds, but Moseley’s 

argument was that morality was a private and 

individual matter that could not be legislated. He 

firmly supported the separation of church and 

state. 

To be sure, Jonesboro was no longer a “wide 

spot in the road,” but had become a proper town, 

with a bright future in view as the center of a 

thriving agricultural community; many of those 

who operated businesses in the town also were 

farmers. However, of the total population of the 

county, slightly more than one-quarter were 

slaves. There was one free man of color living in 

the area. 

In the first half of the nineteenth century, 

agriculture in Georgia always entailed the use of 

slave labor. In some parts of Georgia, huge 

plantations used workers by the hundreds, but 

this was not the case in the Piedmont area, where 

the soils were less productive. Certainly, none of 

the households in Clayton had the gigantic work 

forces that the popular imagination—and 

Hollywood—mistakenly think of as typical of 

southern plantations. The custom of the time set 

the owner of about 20 or more slaves as 

substantially well-to-do. Lists compiled from tax 

and census records for 1860 reveal that in the 

years immediately before the civil War most of 

the county’s 171 slave owners controlled fewer 

than five persons, with only 15 individuals falling 

in the category of the “large” holder of 20 or 

more. The greatest number of slaves held by 

individuals in this list was in the hands of 

planters S. B. Gay (39) and S. G. Dorsey (38). 

From historical sources, we learn that it was not 

unusual for ordinary owners to do field work 

along with enslaved farmhands from time to 

time. This would have been closer to life in the 

real Clayton County than in its Hollywood 

counterpart in the movie Gone with the Wind. 

WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 

As farmers and townsmen met in Jonesboro’s 

stores and taverns, talk turned increasingly to 

issues that threatened to split the nation. These 

included conflicts relating to slavery, issues of 

taxation, and a profound disagreement over 

constitutional principles regarding the sovereignty 

of the states vis-à-vis the national government. 

Although slavery had existed in all of the 

original colonies, geographic and economic 

conditions did not promote its continued use in 

the northern regions, so it virtually disappeared 

in those states. Meanwhile, the increasing 

production of cotton intensified the use of 

slave labor in the South. On the whole, 

Northerners paid little attention to the “peculiar 

institution,” and in point of fact, the American 

textile industry purchased its raw materials 

from Southern producers. However, a small but 

vociferous abolition movement slowly gained 

ground, and the anti-slavery cause obtained 

additional support from the “Free Soil” advocates 

of the middle west. They feared the expansion 

of slavery into new territories because they did 

not want to compete economically with 

enterprises operated with unpaid workers. Thus 

on both economic and cultural grounds, the 

agrarian South and the urban North became 

increasingly polarized. 

Other differences were political. For the first 

half of the Nineteenth Century, Southerners had 

effectively held their own in national politics. 

They won the right to expand slavery into any 

territory, and made it possible for each new 

state added to the Union to choose to legalize 

slavery within its borders. After 1850, United 

States Marshals were required to assist in 


eturning escaped slaves to their owners. On the 

other hand, Southerners resented certain 

national policies such as the use of import taxes 

to protect American producers from their 

foreign competitors. Such taxation increased 

prices for American consumers of manufactured 

goods, and tempted other nations to retaliate 

with their own tariff barriers, which would 

threaten the export-based Southern economy. 

Furthermore, in spite of a generally strong 

Southern political position, changes in the 

nation’s demographics continued to shift the 

weight of the electorate toward non-Southern 

areas. Looming in the future was the possibility of 

a national government no longer responsive to 

Southern interests—not just with regard to 

slavery, but also on points such as the tariff. 

Southerners foresaw the possibility that these 

shifts in political power might lead to a national 

abolition of slavery, the ruin of their economic 

arrangements and the end of their customary 

ways of life. 

These disputes point to a more profound, 

fundamental disagreement over the very nature 

of the “more perfect union” created by the 

ratification of the Constitution in 1787. One 

faction of Americans held that the union, once 

created, was permanent and indivisible. Others 

held that although the states were the building 

blocks of that union, they had preserved their 

right to self-determination. In general, this was a 

North-South division of opinion and it was this 

point of controversy that came to be tested when 

the Southern States determined to claim their 

right to secede from the Union. Heated 

discussion of all of these matters was heard 

throughout the South, in state capitals as well as 

country towns such as Jonesboro. 

The election of 1860 saw the division of the 

Democratic Party into northern and southern 

factions that each nominated Presidential 

candidates. The Republicans, who previously 

nominated strongly abolitionist candidates, 

turned to Abraham Lincoln because he had 

expressed relatively moderate views for the future 

of slavery in the U.S. Furthermore, some 

Southerners formed a new Constitutional Union 

party that hoped to defend traditional Southern 

interests while preserving national unity. A 

majority of electoral votes in the resulting fourway 

contest brought victory to the Republicans, 

although only about forty percent of the popular 

vote went to Lincoln. 

The election results would have arrived in 

Jonesboro quickly, via the telegraph that always 

came along with the new railroads. The 

Republican Party may have thought of Lincoln as 

a moderate; Southerners saw him differently. To 

a great many of them, the Republican victory 

was the last straw. As secession movements 

swept the South, Georgia’s governor called for a 

convention in Milledgeville to consider the 

possibility of Georgia’s leaving the Union. At 

first, support for the proposal was not 

overwhelming. In the recent election, slightly 

fewer than half of all Georgians had voted for the 

Southern Democratic candidate, which meant 

that they would support secession, while over 

forty percent had supported the Constitutional 

Union Party, which opposed secession. (A small 

number voted for the Northern Democratic 

candidate; it could go without saying that 

❖ 

Surviving portion of a map showing 

“Parts of Fulton, Fayette, Clayton, 

and Campbell counties, Georgia, 

made from surveys and information 

at Topographical Engineering Office, 

Department of the Cumberland, 

before Atlanta, Ga. August 23rd 

1864.” Principal roads are colored in 

red, by hand. Also visible are pencil 

notes made for use of the Federal 

forces in the campaign to destroy the 

railroads that supplied Atlanta from 

the south. 

COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION, CIVIL WAR MAPS. 

Chapter I ✦ 13

❖ 

Above: Every Southerner did not favor 

secession, but when the decision was 

final, they put aside their differences. 

Two men take part in the annual reenactment 

of the Battle of Jonesboro. 

COURTESY OF CLAYTON COUNTY CONVENTION 

AND TOURIST BUREAU. 

Below: These men reenacting the 

Battle of Jonesboro resemble the 

Clayton County volunteers who 

joined the Confederate forces to 

defend their homes. 



Lincoln was not on the ballot.) Clayton County 

opinion broke on similar lines in the presidential 

vote, and the county’s two delegates to the 

secession convention represented opposite 

positions. James F. Johnson voted for secession 

while Radford E. Morrow was opposed. 

However, after the convention voted in 

January 1861 to adopt an Ordinance of 

Secession, Clayton residents accepted the 

decision and prepared for war. Certain citizens of 

the county, possibly looking toward the future, 

had already organized a militia called the 

“Clayton Volunteers” in 1859. Members were 

exempted from patrol, road, and jury duty, 

according to the petition for recognition that they 

presented to the Superior Court of the county. At 

the actual outbreak of hostilities, the men of the 

county formed other military units, including the 

Clayton County Invincibles, the Clayton County 

Dragoons, and the Estes’ Guards. Other local 

men joined units organized in nearby areas or 

entered the military as individuals. By the end of 

the war virtually every able-bodied man in the 

county saw service. 

Deep in the South, Georgia was the 

breadbasket of the Confederacy; furthermore, the 

new city of Atlanta had begun to develop as one 

of the few Confederate manufacturing centers. 

These two factors made the region a significant 

military objective. However, the first years of the 

war touched Clayton County only indirectly. Men 

marched away to fight while women did their 

best to keep things going at home. Radford E. 

Morrow, the prosperous planter who gave his 

name to the next stop after Jonesboro on the 

railroad to Atlanta, owned a tannery and served 

as a government contractor producing shoes and 

other leather goods for the Confederate military. 

As was true of much of rural Georgia, Clayton’s 

greatest contribution to the war was fighting men 

and food supplies. 

Over the years between 1861 and 1864, the 

overmatched Southern economy and 

outnumbered military proved unable to stop the 

advancing Federal forces. William Tecumseh 

Sherman’s implacable campaigning brought the 

armies of Ohio, the Cumberland, and Tennessee 

into Georgia in the summer of 1864. As the battle 

lines moved southward, the city of Atlanta 


fortified its boundaries and prepared for the 

coming siege. The Confederate leadership 

replaced their commander in the area with 

General John Bell Hood, a Texan. General 

Sherman crossed the Chattahoochee and began a 

two-month campaign to take the city. 

Several rail lines now radiated from the center 

of Atlanta. Federal Forces cut off the Georgia 

Railroad breaking the link to Charleston, South 

Carolina. The remaining lifeline of the beleaguered 

city ran to the south. The Macon and Western 

Railroad passed from Atlanta to the town of East 

Point, then through the heart of Clayton County 

and onward, all the way to Florida. At East Point, 

the Atlanta and West Point line branched away to 

the southwest, toward Alabama. These lines 

funneled Confederate supplies and troops into the 

heart of the besieged city. 

General Sherman recognized that taking East 

Point, where the two lines joined, would cut off 

the city’s last sources of supply. In July he ordered 

a cavalry raid against that key railroad 

intersection and other areas south of the city of 

Atlanta. The Confederates put up a vigorous 

defense of the region. A battle at Ezra Church 

resulted in the capture of five hundred Federal 

troops and one of their commanders, Major 

General George Stoneman. 

The Federal forces also moved against the 

railroad line that cut through Clayton County. 

Confederate Brigadier General Francis A. Shoup 

described the action in his journal. “The 

enemy…hurried on striking the Macon and 

Western Railroad about four miles and a half 

below Jonesborough.” Confederate forces were 

dispatched to resist; and “…within three hours… 

a telegram was received reporting their arrival at 

Jonesborough.” Faced with resistance, “….the 

enemy abandoned his work of destruction and 

retired…the damage to the road is but slight.” 

About a mile and a half of tracks and a mile of 

telegraph wire had been destroyed. Shoup 

cheerfully quoted Confederate General Wheeler’s 

dispatch from Newnan, “We have just completed 

the killing, capturing, and breaking up of the 

entire raiding party….” 

Although the Federal forces damaged the 

Atlanta and West Point tracks near the Alabama 

❖ 

Left: Confederate forces successfully 

rebuffed the first Federal attempts to 

take the railroads in Clayton County. 

Scene from the annual reenactment of 

the Battle of Jonesboro. 



Below: The small pencil rectangle 

near the printed “Jonesboro” symbol 

probably represents the depot, a key 

objective for the Federal forces. 

Detail from “Parts of Fulton, Fayette, 

Clayton, and Campbell counties, 

Georgia, made from surveys and 

information at Topographical 

Engineering Office, Department of the 

Cumberland, before Atlanta, Ga. 

August 23rd 1864.” 



Chapter I ✦ 15

❖ 

Above: Military camp with supply 

wagons near area of present-day 

Forest Park, 1864. 

COURTESY OF THE GEORGIA ARCHIVES 

VANISHING GEORGIA COLLECTION, CLT049-84. 

Below: Rough and Ready survives on 

the tattered edge of a Federal map 

used in the movements through 

Clayton County. “Parts of Fulton, 

Fayette, Clayton, and Campbell 

counties, Georgia, made from surveys 

and information at Topographical 

Engineering Office, Department of the 

Cumberland, before Atlanta, Ga. 

August 23rd 1864.” 



border, a greater effort would be 

required to deprive Atlanta of its 

railroad lifeline. Sherman was 

persistent; his next attempt began 

on August 18. Major General 

Judson Kilpatrick led twenty-five 

hundred Federal cavalry around 

the western side of Atlanta and 

down into Clayton County, falling 

upon a poorly defended 

Jonesboro. They ripped out a 

section of tracks and set the station 

and several nearby buildings ablaze. High winds 

spread the flames, destroying about two-thirds of 

the town. The Federal forces then started a 

second attack, on Lovejoy’s Station, but were 

frustrated by well entrenched Confederates and 

were turned back. They circled back by way of 

McDonough to the Federal position in Decatur, 

where their commander pronounced the 

Jonesboro adventure a success. However, 

Kilpatrick’s triumphant return was dampened 

within a matter of days, when trains from the 

south once again were seen steaming into the city. 

General Sherman ratcheted up his plans of 

attack. He began on August 26, by moving the 

bulk of his forces back across the Chattahoochee, 

giving Confederate commander Hood the 

impression that the invading army was retiring to 

regroup and resupply. In fact, only the XX corps 

remained to guard the crossing over the river, 

while the rest of Sherman’s forces executed a 

grand wheel around the western side of Atlanta. 

On August 28 and 29 Union forces wrecked the 

West Point Railroad in the area of Red Oak and 

Fairburn; on the afternoon of the following 

day they drove into the heart of Clayton 

County toward Jonesboro. Confederate General 

Hood first learned of troop 

movements below the city in 

reports of a skirmish close to 

the city, in the area of Rough 

and Ready station. He 

mistakenly concluded that the 

main attack would be directed 

at that place and also 

underestimated the size of the 

Federal force. Hood’s errors of 

judgment, a lack of accurate 

intelligence and poor 

organization combined to 

weaken the Confederate defense fatally. The 

Confederate commander did dispatch two Corps 

by train to Jonesboro, where the battle was 

joined. These defenders fought courageously, but 

they lacked supplies and equipment. 

A Union sharpshooter watched the town 

of Jonesboro from a position high in a tree. 

Lt. Fish, who was “on my tree at 7 am” spent 

the entire day there, observing and periodically 

reporting. He saw the Confederates building 

a second line of earthworks while three 

regiments of infantry moved in to reinforce the 

defenses of the town. Two trains steamed toward 

Macon, and as fighting went on, he watched a 

herd of beef cattle moving through the town. 

From his perch in the tree he guided 

a battery of napoleon guns to find the range 

of the Confederate works and force their 

defenders away. 

Intense fighting marked the day. The 

Confederates attempted unsuccessfully to take 

the fight to their adversaries, at one point 

charging up towards a fortified position on the 

crest of a ridge where they came within pistol 

shot distance before being driven back. Later in 

the day hand-to-hand combat could only delay 

the Union advance. Much activity took place in 

the area of the two-story Warren House. One of 

the few large structures that survived early raids 

on Jonesboro, the large white house was highly 

visible in the area of the final battle; at various 

times it was a headquarters for both the 

Confederate and Union forces. As night fell, the 

Confederates found themselves nearly 

surrounded; under cover of darkness, they 

moved southward from Jonesboro to the 

strong point at Lovejoy; the Battle of Jonesboro 

was over. 

Loss of the railroad forced General Hood to 

abandon Atlanta. The Union forces near Lovejoy 

did not pursue their adversaries at this point, 

but marched back through Jonesboro to claim 

their prize. On September 2, Atlanta’s Mayor 

Calhoun officially handed over the city to the 

Union commander. 

Having taken his objective, General Sherman 

was determined that the railroad would not be 

quickly repaired this time. Regiments lined up 

along the tracks and lifted miles of rails from the 

roadbed. Then they pulled out the ties, piled 

then up and set them afire. In these fires, they 


heated the rails until they could be twisted 

around trees or posts to make “Sherman’s 

hairpins.” Even this destruction was not 

enough—the occupying army also cut through 

the road bed itself and booby-trapped the cuts 

with artillery shells hidden in piles of brush. 

General Sherman wired Washington, “Atlanta 

is ours and fairly won.” He then proceeded to 

make that possession complete by expelling the 

city’s residents, writing to the Confederate 

commander, General Hood: 

GENERAL: I have deemed it to the 

interest of the United States that the citizens 

now residing in Atlanta should remove, 

those who prefer it to go south and the 

rest north…. For [those who choose to go 

south] I can provide transportation by cars as 

far as Rough and Ready, and also wagons;…. it 

will be necessary for you to help the families 

from Rough and Ready to the cars at Lovejoy’s. 

… If this proposition meets your views I will 

consent to a truce in the neighborhood of Rough 

and Ready,…” 

Sherman deflected protests from General 

Hood and from the Mayor of the city: 

“You might as well appeal against the thunderstorm 

as against these terrible hardships of 

war. They are inevitable….” At the Rough and 

Ready station (adjacent to the present-day 

airport), wagons picked up the civilian refugees 

and hauled them to the new “terminus” of 

the rail line about forty miles to the south at 

the town of Griffin. Thus Clayton County 

witnessed one of the last, sad scenes in the 

battle for Atlanta, as the citizens of the captured 

city set out on the search for sanctuary, farther 

to the south. 

Sherman’s men, following their practice of 

ruthless foraging, passed through Clayton one 

last time as they moved out on their “March to 

the Sea.” In Jonesboro troops commanded by 

Union General Kilpatrick encountered 

Confederate cavalry under the command of 

General Alfred Iverson. They carried on a 

running battle all the way to Lovejoy where 

entrenched Confederate forces resisted before 

being forced further to the south. Kilpatrick’s 

forces did not pursue them further, but turned 

toward Savannah to take their part in Sherman’s 

campaign through Georgia. 

As this struggle had raged about him, one 

young Confederate feared that a military loss 

might also cause the loss of his deeply cherished 

connection to the Sigma Chi fraternity, which he 

had joined while a student at the University of 

Virginia. The fraternity had its origins in Ohio, 

and secession seemed likely to separate its 

southern members forever. Harry St. John 

Dixon determined to take action: 

In the ruin at hand my sentiment was to preserve 

the lofty principles typified by the White 

Cross. I know that I had no authority to establish 

a chapter of Sigma Chi outside a college, or at 

all; but, isolated as we were, I thought I should 

raise the standard and fix a rallying point. By so 

doing, we should preserve the order, whether we 

failed or not in our struggle for independence. 

Dixon and a few other members of the 

fraternity gathered in an abandoned building 

on September 17 to create the Constantine 

❖ 

Above: A portrait of Harry St. John 

Dixon during his service in the 

Confederate military. 

COURTESY OF THE SIGMA CHI 

INTERNATIONAL FRATERNITY. 

Below: Built by G. A. Warren in 1840, 

the Warren House served as a field 

hospital for the wounded of the 52nd 

Illinois Regiment of Dilworth’s 

Brigade. According to some accounts 

it was a grisly scene immediately after 

the battle, with amputated limbs and 

corpses heaped in the yard. Soldiers 

being treated in the house wrote 

their names on some of the interior 

walls; some of these remain in an 

upstairs room. 

Chapter I ✦ 17

❖ 

Left on their own, Southern women 

had to adjust to harsh conditions 

during and immediately after the war. 

History lovers who recreate the battle 

of Jonesboro each year do not forget 

the contributions of these women to 

the war. 



Chapter and initiate a few new members, 

fabricating the fraternal badge from a silver 

dollar. The Constantine Chapter functioned 

only briefly before the stresses of reconstruction 

led to its dissolution, although a monument 

commemorating the chapter has been placed in 


The Federal strategy to destroy the last 

sources of supply for the Confederate army left 

the county destitute. One eighty-year-old 

Clayton County woman, who had been in her 

early teens at the time of the battle and 

subsequent occupation of the county, told her 

story to her son, Robert O. Huie. When word 

arrived of the imminent arrival of the troops 

who were beginning the historic “March to the 

Sea,” the mother of the family at first thought 

to escape. Two servants who had remained 

with her hitched up a wagon, but as the 

loading proceeded she became so overwhelmed 

that she fainted. When she was aroused, 

she calmly changed her mind, had the 

wagon unloaded, determined to stay in 

her home. Behind locked doors and windows, 

the mother and children watched as the 

first columns of troops passed by without 

pausing. The next night, however, “half a 

dozen big, rough fellows” intruded into 

the house. The young girl was frightened but 

one of the men reassured her, “Sissy, we won’t 

hurt you,” and stood guard over her while the 

other men looted the house. The following day, 

her mother stopped some passing Union officers 

to complain of the incident; a guard was posted 

at her door for as long as troops remained 

encamped in the area. The Federal soldiers 

came to the family’s well for water and gave the 

mother and children a few small gifts of coffee, 

sugar, rice and crackers before going on their 

way. The father of the family had been away in 

the army, and Mrs. Huie remembered the day of 

his return: 

And finally Father came—weary and footsore, 

his clothes in tatters, almost barefoot, face 

emaciated but lighted with a happy smile. I shall 

never forget that day. Years seemed to be 

magically lifted from Mother’s shoulders, though 

when she first beheld the gaunt, pathetic sight 

approaching with dragging footsteps, she could 

not restrain a few tears. 

In honor of the occasion we sacrificed the last 

fowl on the place and feasted on chicken pie. Our 

hearts welled up in gratitude to the kind 

Providence that had preserved him, while so 

many of our friends came home with empty 

sleeves, or artificial limbs, and many did not come 

back at all. 

I am now 80 years of age, but I remember 

those dark days almost as well as the events of 

last year. 

Other Confederates who survived the 

struggle also made the long journey back to 

home and family. The descendants of James T. 

Thames recount the family story that when he 

returned to this house he did not enter, but 

called out for his wife and asked her to bring 

soap, matches, and a clean change of clothes to 

a little stream near their home. He was so dirty 

and infested with lice that he did not want to 

enter his home until he had bathed and burned 

the garments he had worn through the last 

campaigns of the war. 

In the county seat of Jonesboro only a 

handful of structures survived. Some who left 

as refugees never returned, but the citizens 

of the Clayton County who remained now 

faced the task of rebuilding their lives under 

military occupation. 


CHAPTER II 

The war left Clayton County in ruins. The county seat, Jonesboro, lost all but a handful of 

structures. The railroad that had run down the middle of Broadway through the town’s business 

district was destroyed, along with the depot that had served it. The businesses that lined this main 

street had all been burned as had the county courthouse. Many families, displaced by war, never 

returned, although a few established planters began to rebuild their fortunes and to diversify their 

interests by investing in various other businesses. 

Surviving Confederate veterans turned homeward to face the task of rebuilding their lives and 

fortunes faced forging a new relationship with the labor force. This process was shaped by a federal 

agency, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the 

Freedmen’s Bureau. Congress created the bureau to assist the newly freed slaves in dealing with the 

system of wage labor and in solving some other social problems. Bureau agent J. L. H. Waldrop 

represented the agency, opening his office in Jonesboro; his service represents the tactful approach of 

the early leadership of the Bureau. Waldrop was actually a Confederate veteran and a citizen of the 

town, appointed with the goal of making relations between the Bureau and local citizens run more 

smoothly. From his base, he served Clayton, Fayette and Campbell counties. Waldrop dutifully 

reported in writing to his superiors in Atlanta and Washington, so Freedmen’s Bureau records 

preserve many examples of his activity. In one case, the bureau created a system of apprenticeship 

for certain African-American children who were placed with persons who were expected to look after 

their welfare. In July 1867, Waldrop reported that “W. C. Lee is a responsible man & was kind to his 

servants & would comply with his Obligation….” Waldrop himself accepted custody of an 11-yearold 

orphaned black child named James Williams, agreeing to care for him humanely and see to his 

education. When the boy reached adulthood he petitioned the court to change his surname to 

Waldrop, which evidently testifies to his guardian’s care for his well-being. 

Promotion of education was one of the most important activities of the Freedmen’s Bureau. 

Waldrop organized a freedmen’s school in Jonesboro, obtaining a plot of ground and filing requests 

for lumber and nails. According to a summary in the Freedmen’s Bureau records, which now may be 

seen in the National Archives, Waldrop “States that the title to the land is good, the amt. already 

expended is $50/00. no. of Pupils 75 board can be obtained at $12.50 per month the freedpeople 

❖ 

Clayton County farmers returned to 

their customary activities soon after 

the war. The loading dock of this gin 

house (note the cotton baskets) was at 

the corner of Main and College Streets 

in Forest Park. 

COURTESY VANISHING GEORGIA, GEORGIA 

DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY, OFFICE OF 

THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 

Chapter II ✦ 19

❖ 

Above: J. L. H. Waldrop was a young 

Confederate veteran when he served 

as a Freedmen’s Bureau agent, with 

an office in Jonesboro. He held this 

position only briefly, but remained a 

respected citizen of Clayton County. 

This portrait was made about 1910. 

COURTESY OF JOE MOORE. 

Right: The Johnson-Blalock House on 

Main Street in Jonesboro, one of the 

few surviving antebellum buildings in 

the county, was a field hospital for the 

casualties of battle of Jonesboro. The 

ten-room white clapboard house, built 

by General Assembly member J. F. 

Johnson, is one of the last residential 

structures near the Main Street 

business district. In the year 2000, the 

87-year-old Mrs. Sam Blalock, who 

had moved into the house as a young 

bride, told an interviewer that heating 

the large house had been a challenge. 

“We used to burn 25 tons of coal and 

shovel 50 tons of ashes.” She recalled 

life on Main Street in earlier times: 

“The grocery store delivered the food 

to your house. We never locked the 

doors and the owner’s son put the 

milk and meat in the icebox.” 

PHOTO COURTESY OF CLAYTON COUNTY 



Proposes to raise that amount or more if 

necessary.” In other communications, he 

struggled with the task of finding a suitable 

teacher for this school. However, the presence of 

a school for African-American children was too 

much for some residents of the area, and the 

building was burned. Even though citizens of 

Jonesboro offered a reward for the arrest of the 

arsonists and also offered help to provide a 

temporary schoolhouse, a Freedman’s Bureau 

official in Atlanta sniffed that “…I know that 

many…at heart rejoice of it.” 

Critics of the Bureau’s administration 

questioned the loyalty of civilian agents who were 

natives of Southern states, claiming that they 

tended to favor white citizens of the counties 

where they served. The law required that salaried 

employees of the Bureau must swear an oath 

attesting to their past loyalty to the US; of course, 

Confederate veterans such as Waldrop could not 

qualify for this oath. At first, the native 

Southerners who served as local agents for the 

Bureau were allowed to receive their 

compensation through a system of fees paid for 

their services, such as the reviewing of labor 

contracts involving freedpeople. When the 

practice of collecting these fees was stopped by 

the Bureau, men such as Waldrop, ineligible for a 

salaried position, were forced out of the Bureau. 

Their replacements seem to have been neither 

better nor worse than the native Georgians who 

now looked elsewhere for a living. As for 

Waldrop, he went on to rebuild his life as a wellrespected 

and successful citizen of Jonesboro. 

As daily existence settled into a peaceful 

mode, a few buildings began to appear on 

Broadway, the principal street of Jonesboro. A 

new granite depot, located somewhat to the 

south of the ruins of the first, took its place in 

1867 as a major stop on the line of the 

reconstructed railroad. Although the tracks ran 

along the original right of way through the 

business district, they no longer were level with 

the surface of the street as they had been before 

Sherman’s troops ripped them out. The new 

roadbed was raised and thus divided Broadway 

into two parallel thoroughfares. These acquired 

the new names of Main and McDonough Streets, 

and the old name fell out of use. 

Clayton County built a new courthouse on the 

foundations of the one destroyed in the battle. An 

Atlanta architect was paid the fabulous sum of 

$25 for the plans and the local firm of Mansfield 

and Chapman put up the building as well as a 

one-story jail, finishing the task in 1871. This 

same concern constructed several of the buildings 

that formed the revived business district of 

❖ 

Top, left: Jonesboro depot as it appears 

from the railroad tracks today. It is 

now the location of the “Road to Tara” 

museum and the Clayton County 

Convention and Tourist Bureau, which 

provided this image. 

Top, right: The restored railroad bed 

divided downtown Jonesboro’s business 

district, changing Broadway into the 

parallel Main and McDonough Streets 

on opposite sides of the tracks. 


Below: Rebuilding after the end of the 

war, Clayton County built a new 

courthouse on the foundations of the 

one that was destroyed in the fighting 

around Jonesboro. 



Chapter II ✦ 21

❖ 

Above: A typical nineteenth-century 

school. Students of the Bethel School 

posed in 1894 with their teacher 

Minnie Travis and two of her friends. 

COURTESY OF VANISHING GEORGIA, GEORGIA 



Bottom, left: James E. England, 

“licensed to exhort” in 1869 and 

“licensed to preach” in 1873 was 

pastor of Jonesboro Methodist Church 

at the turn of the century. 

COURTESY OF THE GEORGIA ARCHIVES, 


Bottom, right: Commerce returned to 

Jonesboro in the years following the 

Civil War; the City Drug Store sold 

everything from kerosene to perfume. 

COURTESY OF HISTORICAL JONESBORO/ 

CLAYTON COUNTY, INC. 

Jonesboro, mostly on the Main Street side of the 

railroad. They used bricks manufactured from red 

clay found within the city of Jonesboro; the exact 

location of the “brickyard” is not recorded, but it 

was somewhere on Smith Street. 

By the decade of the 1870s, Clayton County 

had about fifty-five hundred residents, twothirds 

of them white. Its children attended 25 

schools (19 for whites). Baptists and Methodists 

maintained most of the churches, but the 

Presbyterians and Lutherans each had one 

congregation. The Georgia Department of 

Agriculture called Jonesboro the area’s market 

town. It also was the location of a furniture 

factory and a plough factory. In the county, ten 

flour and corn mills kept busy. Stephen Dorsey, 

a prosperous planter both before and after the 

war, produced an excellent peach brandy. A 

newspaper, the Clayton Times, began publishing 

in 1870. 

Travelers stopping at Jonesboro had a choice 

of hotels. One of these, the Coleman House on 

Main Street, formerly known as the Planters’ 

Hotel, belonged to Daniel L. Coleman. Also on 

that street, Mrs. Julia Turner operated the Turner 

House. A carriage factory, which was located 

near McDonough Street on a lot that is now part 

of the 1898 courthouse grounds, was converted 

to make yet another hotel. 

About 1880 the county added a second story 

to the 1869 jail building. The renovation is still 

visible as a subtle change in the bricks in the 


exterior walls of the structure, which now 

houses a museum under the supervision of the 

Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County, Inc. 

organization. The post-war courthouse served 

from 1869 until 1898, when a new courthouse 

rose on the site of the former Milligan DeVaughn 

home, on the McDonough side of the railroad 

adjacent to the Jonesboro business district. This 

handsome building, located on “Court House 

Hill,” underwent extensive restoration more 

than a century after its construction and still 

serves—along with a modern building on Tara 

Boulevard—as a center of Clayton County 

government. After the new courthouse opened, 

the 1869 building became the Jonesboro 

Presbyterian Church as well as the home of the 

Jonesboro Lodge No. 87, Free and Accepted 

Masons. There is a nice symmetry to this 

change, since the county had borrowed an older 

Masonic Hall to hold court before the first 

courthouse was constructed and again after it 

was destroyed in 1864. The building still serves 

Lodge No. 87. Throughout the county recovery 

continued but, in spite of the reshaping of the 

town, Jonesboro continued to show the scars of 

war, even at the turn of the century, when a few 

burned-out ruins still were visible. 

In spite of its past troubles, Jonesboro was a 

lively place, with a sort of “wild-west” quality to 

some aspects of its life. Before the eventual 

victory of prohibition supporters, the county 

seat possessed a number of establishments 

selling strong drink. Some were merely grocery 

or general stores that carried liquor and wines, 

but other establishments offered liquor by the 

drink and provided havens where some of the 

men of the county might pass the time with 

cards and billiards. Descriptions of life in the 

immediate post-war years suggest a frontier 

atmosphere on Broad Street, which ran parallel 

to Main Street and was the location of several 

establishments that retailed alcohol. The records 

connected with a fatal shooting draw the 

picture: Christmas Eve revelers passed from 

place to place along this street when a quarrel 

arose in a back-room tavern—complete with 

billiard table—behind the McConnell & Elliot 

grocery store. A person named Thomas O’Neal 

quarreled with Joseph M. Anthony, the son of a 

prominent local family, and then shot him—all 

of this in the presence of the town marshal, J. O. 

Hightower. With the aid of other men on the 

premises, Hightower immediately arrested 

O’Neil. A local physician, also present in the 

establishment, tried in vain to save young 

Anthony. The assailant was convicted of the 

murder, but his ultimate fate is unknown. 

According to some reports, election times in 

Clayton County were fraught with violence to 

the extent that some families put their children 

to sleep on the floor, to avoid the danger of a 

stray bullet entering the house. J. O. Hightower 

also served as county sheriff during the years 

from 1873 to 1877. During one election 

campaign he was assaulted as he stood talking 

❖ 

Above: The historic courthouse 

building was restored after a century 

of use, and is now supplemented by a 

modern building on Tara Boulevard. 



Below: James Osgood and his wife 

Matilda became well-known 

Jonesboro citizens. Osgood and his 

wife’s brother Absalom Harris were 

partners in the Jonesboro 

Manufacturing Company. 



Chapter II ✦ 23

❖ 

Right: Long-time residents of Clayton 

County, George and Sallie Waddy 

lived on Fayetteville Road in 

Jonesboro. Shown are (from left to 

right) William Paul Chambers, Nellie 

Mae Waddy Chambers, Bessie Waddy 

Thames, Sarah Meade Waddy Turner, 

Sarah “Sallie” Matilda Hodnett 

Waddy, George Eubanks Waddy, 

[unknown], Minnie Lois Waddy. 

COURTESY OF HELEN HONEA KNIGHT AND 


Below: Hightower and his family 

founded and operated several 

concerns including the Jonesboro 

Manufacturing Company early in the 

twentieth century. 



with a group of men on Main Street. The 

attacker—who was never charged, or even 

named—cut his throat, nearly killing him. 

Physicians treated him in a nearby store because 

he was too traumatized to be moved. He 

recovered, and according to a family friend, he 

grew his “side whiskers” to cover the scar. 

However, he remained silent about the incident. 

The most well-remembered “true crime” story 

from Clayton’s past resulted in the County’s only 

execution, the 1881 hanging of the convicted 

murderer Tom Betts. In October of the previous 

year, Betts lay in wait for Judge Hilliard Moore, an 

elderly cotton planter who was carrying the cash 

proceeds of the sale of the years’ harvest as he 

returned home. Betts smashed the Judge’s head 

with a wooden maul and fled the scene, but the 

crime was discovered shortly after. A search party 

formed, but it was Sheriff Archer who spotted 

Betts walking along the railroad tracks and took 

him in custody. The assailant was promptly tried, 

convicted and sentenced to death; just as 

promptly the death sentence was confirmed on 

appeal. County officials conducted the public 

execution in the manner of the times. According 

to an account published in the Griffin Daily News, 

the convicted man had undergone a religious 

conversion while in prison. Seated on his own 

coffin, wearing a black suit, slouch hat and 

slippers, he was taken in an open wagon through 

a crowd of onlookers, to a scaffold that had been 

built on the edge of town. Sheriff Archer held his 

arm and escorted him up the steps. Betts asked 

the Sheriff, “How long have I got?” and was 

allowed half an hour to speak. In an address timed 

as taking twelve and one-half minutes, he 

confessed that he had “led a wicked life.” “I 

tracked off after that old man, Moore, and hurled 

him off into eternity without time. The Devil had 

me in his arms…. I have indulged in whiskey and 

bad women all my life, and have come to this 

rope.” He warned his listeners to “examine and 

see what your soul is worth…. Turn today, 


tomorrow maybe to late.” With that he offered, 

“May God save you all in Heaven…is my prayer.” 

Another more refined face of Clayton County 

in the Gilded Age shows an appreciation of 

education and culture. Before the Civil War, 

Allen Candler (who was known as “Colonel” 

Candler after his service in the war) had 

conducted Clayton High School in Jonesboro, 

located on a street called “Academy.” He left the 

school in the care of his sister Maggie when he 

went to serve in the Confederate military. This 

service brought him full circle—he fought in the 

battle of Jonesboro, suffering a severe wound 

that cost him an eye. The war also forced the 

school to close, but when peace returned, 

Candler attempted to open a new school. A 

group of trustees—many of them from the 

board of the earlier school—acquired a site. A 

series of financial transactions related to the 

older school and monies due to Colonel Candler 

ensued. However the project halted when the 

State of Georgia instituted, for the first time, a 

system of public education. Two schools, one 

for white children and one for blacks, were 

built. Candler, who also was involved in 

agriculture, manufacturing, and the railroad 

industry, liquidated his interests in Clayton 

County and relocated to Gainesville, where he 

began a distinguished career in state politics, 

ultimately serving as governor of the state. 

However, in 1879, Middle Georgia College, a 

private boarding school, appeared in Jonesboro, 

on Academy Street close to the site of Candler’s old 

High School, and Academy Street soon became 

known as College Street. Jonesboro Baptist Church 

provided a good part of the land, for a 

consideration of only $5, “for the promotion and 

advancement of white children only,” and with an 

additional proviso that the land would revert to the 

church if it were no longer used for educational 

purposes. A two-story wooden building fronted by 

four columns housed the school. 

A Confederate veteran, Professor George 

Cleveland Looney, and a Mrs. C. D. Downey 

operated Middle Georgia College. Looney had 

conducted other schools and was co-author of a 

widely used textbook, Southern Arithmetic 

(1858). The school offered primary, preparatory, 

and collegiate programs of study as well as 

music training and a separate Department of Art 

and Modern Language, which required an 

additional tuition fee. An advertisement 

promised a money-back guarantee to “Any 

gentleman or lady…who tries any department 

of Middle Ga. College and finds it below first 

class in its dignity and its workings….” 

These ladies and gentlemen studied a typical 

curriculum of humanities, music, art, science, 

and mathematics. Courses in Latin were 

available. Two hundred students enrolled 

during the first year. There was no dormitory 

but Professor Looney and his wife provided 

boarding for some of those who came from out 

of town, while other students stayed in nearby 

private homes. 

Looney remained in his position only a few 

years before relocating to a suburb of Atlanta, 

where he founded Cox College for women and 

the Georgia Military Academy (now Woodward 

Academy). Mrs. C. D. Crawley conducted the 

school briefly. She was succeeded by Professor 

George Pollock and his wife Pearl Couch Pollock. 

❖ 

Religion became increasingly 

important to Southerners in the postwar 

years. Baptist doctrine requires 

complete immersion, which often took 

believers out of doors to find a 

suitable body of water. In this case, 

the congregation of the Rock Baptist 

Church gathered at a pool between 

Rock Spring and Tan Creek. The rite 

is performed by Pastor Bledsoe as 

candidates dressed in white await 

their turns. 

PHOTO (C. 1891) COURTESY OF VANISHING 

GEORGIA, GEORGIA DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND 

HISTORY, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 

Chapter II ✦ 25

❖ 

Right: Rebuilt after a fire destroyed 

the original structure, this Middle 

Georgia College building later became 

Jonesboro High School. When it also 

burned the school relocated and the 

First Baptist Church reclaimed the 

land that it had previously donated 

for educational purposes. The area is 

now part of the large grounds still 

occupied by the church. 

COURTESY VANISHING GEORGIA, GEORGIA 



Below: After the Middle Georgia 

College ceased to function, parents 

could send their sons to Georgia 

Military Academy. 



At the turn of the century fire destroyed the 

original building, which was replaced by a 

somewhat grander structure with towers at the 

two front corners. Over the years the academic 

program of Middle Georgia declined, and it 

became simply the public high school for the 

Jonesboro area. Families seeking more advanced 

studies for their children sent them elsewhere to 

preparatory schools or hired private tutors. The 

second building also burned, and the high 

school was rebuilt in another location. 

Following the terms of the original agreement, 

the land then reverted to the Baptist Church and 

is now part of that church’s large campus. Some 

years after Middle Georgia College ceased 

operations in Jonesboro, Ebenezer College in 

Cochran adopted the name Middle Georgia 

Junior College and in 1929 resurrected the old 

name of Middle Georgia College. It is now a unit 

of the University System of Georgia. 

As time moved on, life in the county acquired 

more amenities. Residents of Clayton County 

might attend concerts of Professor Holstead’s 

brass band or recitals presented by music 

teachers Julia Waldrop and her niece. They could 

take part in a debating society and they could 

read about all of these events in the Jonesboro 

News, founded by Reverend Aaron E. Cloud. 

Students at Middle Georgia also presented 

musical programs, and their commencements 

were quite elaborate. A health spa, the Hygenic 

Institute (later moved to Fayetteville) offered the 

“water cures” typical of such facilities, which 

were widely popular during the period. 

The Jonesboro News of January 1881 

remarked on the calmer demeanor of the 

County during the Christmas season, although 

they did admit to “a number of the ‘boys’ about 

three sheets in the wind and ready for frolic.” 

However, nothing untoward occurred, while 

several pleasant social events marked the 

season. Baptist and Methodist churches 

decorated Christmas trees and on Christmas Eve 

night, gifts were distributed. A “sociable” at the 

Turner House and a “hop” at the Court House 

entertained participants. Mrs. Ellen Vaughn’s 

party was the “crowning success” of the season: 

“Here were gathered all the gallantry and beauty 

of the city, and the hours sped on golden wings 

till the party, wearied with enjoyment, were 

preparing to depart when they were agreeably 

surprised by the arrival of a splendid supper…” 

They dined in Mrs. Vaughn’s tasteful parlor 

before retiring for the evening. On Christmas 

morning, Clayton County awoke to find snow. 

“The young men rolled each other in the streets, 

the young ladies pelted indiscriminately big, 

little, old, and young, whenever opportunity 

afforded, while the children shouted with glee 

the results; and he who escaped without getting 

a quantity of the frozen mass down his spinal 

column might deem himself fortunate.” 

Although Jonesboro, as the county seat, was 

a center of activity, other areas also experienced 


❖ 

Top: This is the most recent of a series 

of structures built by the church in the 

area of the school building. 



Middle: The Jonesboro News was 

published for several years, but few 

copies have survived. 



Bottom, left: The fashionably 

dressed Walter Gray Hightower left 

Clayton County to pursue a career in 

the theater. 



Bottom, right: The extensive Middle 

Georgia commencement exercises in 

June 1888 included presentations in 

the form of “recitations,” and 

“dialogs,” with titles such as “The 

Mother’s Darling,” “Not Guilty,” “The 

Naughty Boy,” and “Diffidence;’” a 

tableau of “The Four Seasons;”and 

a musical presentation on the 

hand organ. 



Chapter II ✦ 27

❖ 

Above: Joseph Hampton Thames 

posed with several women of his 

family (far left). These women along 

with (from left to right) Mary Viola 

Kennedy, Eleanor Huie, and Mrs. J. 

Osgood Hightower exemplify the welldressed 

lady of the turn of the century. 

GROUP PHOTO AND VIOLA KENNEDY PHOTO 

COURTESY OF ELAINE THAMES; HUIE PHOTO BY 

LENNEY STUDIO, ATLANTA, COURTESY VANISHING 

GEORGIA, GEORGIA DIVISION OF ARCHIVES AND 

HISTORY; HIGHTOWER PHOTO COURTESY 


Below: The Estes family posed for this 

family portrait on a narrow bridge 

near their mill in Rex. 




development in the latter half of the century. 

For example, Rex has existed for a very 

long time. Beginning as a stop on the old 

Stagecoach Road that linked Decatur and 

Jonesboro. Touch Hollingsworth built the 

Hollingsworth Flour Mill in the area soon after 

the settlement began. The brothers W. C. and F. 

F. Estes purchased the mill that is presently seen 

at the side of Rex Road in 1887; they renamed it 

Estes Mill. The mill complex included a waterpowered 

cotton gin that the Estes family 

adapted to use in their business of producing 

grain cradles. When mechanical harvesters 

ended the demand for grain cradles, the 

equipment was again adapted to grind corn 

meal. The mill changed hands several times in 

the recent past, and was briefly an antique shop; 

a plan to locate a restaurant there never reached 

fruition. Today the Rex Mill, one of the last 

remaining water-powered mills in the county, 

may be in danger of demolition because of the 

need to replace another relic of times gone by, a 

one-lane bridge. 

Riverdale was begun on lands donated by 

Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Rivers, who hoped to 

encourage business development in the area. 

There had been scattered settlement in the 

area of the present town even before the 

Civil War, but a change began when the 

railroad line from Atlanta to Fort Valley 

opened in 1887. Monroe Huie, a local farmer, 

provided wood for the train, and others soon 

followed suit. Trains stopped for wood, and on 

the return trip they hauled in loads of fertilizer. 


This small local trade in wood and fertilizer was 

the first business activity in the area. Further 

growth depended on creating a main stop for 

the railroad, but this would require land for its 

depot, sidetracks and worker housing. The 

Rivers’ gift of the necessary land made the train 

stop and the resulting development of the town 

possible. Business activity and the emergence of 

a small town led to the establishment of a post 

office with the designation “Riverdale” in honor 

of the family whose gift had made it possible. In 

1908, when G. M. Huie, Clayton County’s 

representative in the General Assembly, 

introduced incorporation legislation, the town 

name was made official. In the twentieth 

century the Clayton General Hospital was 

located there. Its present-day successor, the 

Southern Regional Health System, includes a 

number of facilities, including the 406-bed 

Southern Regional Medical Center hospital. 

Politics in the years after the end of 

Reconstruction rapidly fell under the 

domination of the Democratic Party. State laws 

made voting very difficult for African 

Americans, who had been the main support of 

the Republican Party. These same laws also 

tended to push poor whites from the voting 

rolls. Soon the political life of the state was 

entirely in Democratic hands. However, late in 

the century a new, grass-roots challenge to 

Democratic dominance came with the 

appearance of the Farmer’s Alliance movement. 

This organization of small farmers from the 

South and Midwest demanded currency 

inflation, easier credit, and a variety of other 

reforms, some quite radical. They supported 

candidates for state and national office, first 

running on the Democratic tickets. In 1892 a 

handful that had been thus elected to Congress 

organized the Populist Party, under the 

leadership of a Georgian named Tom Watson. 

This party existed only a few years, but while it 

lasted made itself noticed all over the country, 

partly because it included a number of colorful 

orators. One Populist speaker, however, met his 

match in Clayton County at the hands of John 

M. Mundy, one of a large clan of long-time 

residents of the area. (A family business has left 

❖ 

Top, left: In 1939 Leon Hancock 

perched on the roof while Henry 

McElroy, A. O. Bowles (railway agent 

and stationmaster), and M. Vassa 

McConnell (postmaster) posed 

between the double entrances of the 

train depot at Riverdale. 




Above: John M. Mundy was a devoted 

Democrat who could out-talk a 

populist orator. 

Left: About 1894 the Odd Fellows of 

Riverdale met at the Pleasant Grove 

Methodist Church. One of these 

men is Eugene Mitchell, father of 

Margaret Mitchell. 




Chapter II ✦ 29

❖ 

Above: The Kennedy family posed at 

the entrance to their farm house on 

Kennedy Road. 


Right: Solid examples of the citizenry 

of Clayton County, Luke, Jasper and 

John (rear), and Jim and Thomas 

Martin Brown (front) posed at Old 

Orr Station. 



THE SECRETARY OF STATE, CLT74-84. 

its mark in the street name, Mundy’s Mill.) A 

staunch Democrat, Mundy attended a Populist 

rally—uninvited—and demanded a chance to 

be heard. The orator agreed, with the proviso 

that he would be allowed to rebut the Democrat 

after he finished. This was his mistake, because 

Mundy knew the habits of his audience of 

farmers very well. He plunged into his oration, 

giving it all he had, for as long as it took the sun 

to sink to the horizon. When he relinquished 

the platform to his Populist opponent, most 

of the audience had departed. Farmers don’t 

stay up late at night, even to hear a very 

good speech. 

By the end of the century, Clayton was being 

drawn into the orbit of Atlanta. Railroad 

transportation made it possible to live in the 

county and work or do business in the city. 

Walter H. Grant, in his Clayton County Annual 

published in the fall of 1893 extolled the virtues 

of the area: “Here you get pure air, wholesome 

food and the same advantage of a free school [as] 

in the largest cities.” He also pointed out that 

“quarterly [railroad] tickets can be purchased at 

such a reasonable price that there is very little 

difference in living in the suburbs and residing 

in…the county.” Grant admitted that the local 

farms “are generally thin” but pronounced the 

local farmers so skillful, diligent and persistent 

that they were “some of the most productive in 

the state.” He added that Clayton County “is a 

prohibition county and perfect harmony prevails 

in every section of the county.” As a result, the 

county had changed dramatically. He urged 

readers to “…count the large number of men 

who are now good, sober, honest citizens, who 

ten or fifteen years ago were almost worthless.” 

This odd bit of praise might not have 

flattered everyone who heard it, but there was 

no doubt that the “wild west” quality of Clayton 

County life in the post-war years had steadily 

moderated during the Gilded Age of American 

history. Although the county had begun the 

slow process of becoming an Atlanta suburb, it 

remained a place of small towns and farms as it 

moved into the twentieth century. 


CHAPTER III 

As the county passed from one century to the next, Clayton County changed slowly but 

constantly. The population grew, businesses and public institutions increased and modernized, and, 

while it continued to be largely agricultural, the county was pulled more closely into the orbit of the 

city of Atlanta. Many areas of community life reflected these changes. 

An example of this urbanizing trend is the town of Forest Park, which began its life as a village called 

Astor. Before the Civil War, there had been a “Hardshell” Baptist church in the area, which left behind the 

Elam Church Cemetery. Astor had a one-room schoolhouse and only a few residents at the turn of the 

century when the Central of Georgia railroad bought two hundred acres of land in an area of a stop called 

Forest Station. The railroad laid out streets and sold off residential lots. This took place at a time when 

residential suburbs, served by streetcars, had begun to appear on the outskirts of larger cities. Evidently 

the railroad had this in mind when it created a development called Forrest Park; one inducement to 

purchasers with business in Atlanta was the promise of service from the “Accommodation Train” that soon 

acquired the nickname of “The Dummy.” The creation of Forrest Park (in 1952 the city charter adjusted 

the spelling of the name to Forest Park) can be understood as an early step in the suburbanization of 

Clayton County. The Atlanta Farmer’s Market is within the boundaries of Forest Park. 

❖ 

J. J. Evans Grocery Store in Forest 

Park during the last quarter of the 

nineteenth century; Frank Pickett, 

third from the left, holds a mail bag; 

seventh from the left, W. I. Bartlett, in 

shirtsleeves, stands in front of a post. 



COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE 

In the previous century, the county lacked a bank of its own. A local merchant offered the use of 

his safe to his neighbors on the occasions when they possessed unusually large amounts of cash. 

Unless a person went to the banks in Atlanta, credit had been a matter of private relations. For 

example, Alfred (A. C.) Blalock operated a general merchandise store on Main Street, selling 

everything from plows to coffins, with a livery stable in the rear. He followed the common practice 

Chapter III ✦ 31

❖ 

Above: In 1926 the Harris Brothers 

Grocery Store, on Main Street in 

Jonesboro, had recently purchased a 

glass-fronted refrigerated display case. 

Standing behind the case are Addie 

Wallis (Mrs. Harvey Harris), and the 

Harris brothers, Oliver and Harvey. 



Right: One of the great pleasures of 

rural life was to cut open a 

watermelon under the shade of a tree 

on a hot summer day. 


of offering credit to his customers and also made 

small loans. Blalock used his own system of 

bookkeeping, recording transactions in his 

pocket diary. Most were for small sums, and 

some have notations of 8 or 12 percent— 

evidently the interest rate; he also entered a date 

for the transaction and a due date. 

In a logical extension of the loans he made to 

local farmers and townspeople, Blalock organized 

the Bank of Jonesboro in 1903. His family 

remembered that beyond providing this useful 

service, he had an eye for customer relations. 

Jonesboro residents who saw his long touring car 

parked in front of the bank knew that they could 

take a seat and ride with him on his weekly trip 

to Atlanta. After spending the day in the city, 

Blalock departed from the front of the Kimball 

House Hotel promptly at 4 o’clock, taking along 

all who wished to return to Jonesboro. This 

generosity brought good will for both the banker 

and the bank, which he operated for the rest of 

his life. In his will, he expressed the hope that the 

bank could continue: “Realizing the importance 

of the service as may be rendered to our town and 

county by a bank, it is my desire that the 

operation of the Bank of Jonesboro be 

continued…as long as practicable as may be 

judged by the support and appreciation accorded 

the same.” 

The executor of Blalock’s estate was his niece, 

Elizabeth M. Blalock, who became president of 

the bank, the first woman in Georgia to hold 

such a position. Her niece, Ida Huie Lenahan, 

published a recollection of her aunt that 

included a description of the bank’s operations. 

Miss Blalock, perfectly groomed and frequently 

dressed in velvet, would “sit at her desk 

crocheting and discussing money with the 

businessmen who came to see her.” Although 

she would coyly claim not to know much about 

business, she constantly studied professional 

publications and attended banking conventions. 

The bank advertisements promised, “This Bank 

welcomes the opportunity to make useful loans 

under sound banking requirements, which 

will help the borrower and the community 

and safeguard the deposit entrusted to its care.” 

The bank was small, with only two other 

full-time employees, so once a month on 


“Statement Day” she would organize her sisters, 

niece and nephew to get this important mailing 

out on time. She paid them each a silver dollar 

for the evening’s work. Later in the century 

other banks, including the Bank of Riverdale, 

owned by W. O. Camp entered the commercial 

life of the county. 

Clayton County had occasionally enjoyed the 

presence of some small newspapers—The News 

had been the last—but by the early twentieth 

century, it was no more. At the time, J. Ellis 

Mundy was a young lawyer, but as he told an 

interviewer, “I got ink on my fingers while I was 

at the University of Georgia, where I was the 

editor of the Red and Black.” The former college 

editor created the Clayton County News and 

Farmer. A few years later he sold his interest in 

the paper when he was appointed assistant U.S. 

district attorney, and went on to pursue his 

interests in law and politics. The newspaper 

likewise flourished into the middle of the century. 

The surviving copies of the weekly Clayton 

County News and Farmer are snapshots of life in 

a county that still kept its rural character in spite 

of the looming presence of the city of Atlanta a 

few miles to the north. The largest advertisers 

usually appealed to farmers. Products such as 

“Natural Chilean Nitrate of Soda, the Natural 

Side Dressing” or “Chilean Potash” boasted their 

power to produce abundant crops. After the 

demise of prohibition, the makers of “Beer, the 

Beverage of Moderation” extolled the economic 

value of their product both to the local farmers 

and to the nation and announced that “Here Mr. 

Farmer is a big, new customer,” that was ready to 

purchase barley, hops, corn and rice. 

Mechanization had not entirely won the day; 

farmers still could study the ads for likely horses 

and mules. 

Several Clayton County citizens raised 

livestock, including cattle, hogs, and chickens, 

which they could sell at the Flint River stock 

and poultry market. But in addition to these 

fairly conventional pursuits, Jess Holbrook bred 

Shetland ponies and Floyd F. Davis raised 

several types of Guinea pig for sale to the State 

Department of Health among other customers. 

As the county became more urbanized, Alfred 

Huie, who raised beef cattle, had to contend 

with having his pastures cut by the development 

❖ 

Above: In its earliest years J. Ellis 

Mundy took an active role in 

producing the Clayton County News 

and Farmer. 



Below: Modernizing agriculture meant 

adopting new crops. Will Mundy is 

seen in a field of soybeans. 

JONESBORO SCRAPBOOK, COURTESY OF THE 

CLAYTON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM 

Chapter III ✦ 33

❖ 

Above: With the best of intentions, 

Clayton County farmers were among 

those who planted kudzu to control 

erosion. No one anticipated the vine’s 

uncontrolled spread over the Southern 

countryside. 


CLAYTON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM. 

Right: Employees of Carnes Bagging 

Company posed with W. E. Carnes, 

manufacturer of re-rolled bagging and 

re-bundled ties used to cover cotton 

bales, such as those in the photograph. 



of Tara Boulevard. To accommodate movement 

of the cattle from one side to the other, large 

culverts were installed under the roadway to 

provide an “underpass” for the cattle. 

In the years after WWII, county farmers and 

livestock producers took interest in scientific 

management and conservation. Under the 

guidance of the county agent they planted cover 

crops, improved pastures, and undertook 

reforestation, terracing, and crop rotation. In the 

same spirit that led to the creation of the GI Bill, 

a plan assisted returning veterans in becoming 

modern farmers, using the latest scientific 

methods. A report on the county’s agricultural 

life affirmed, “Conservation of soil, water and 

our natural resources affects our health, 

standard of living in … our community, county, 

state and nation.” Unfortunately, hindsight leads 

us to shake our heads in dismay when we see 

that one “scientific” project to control soil 

erosion involved planting 12 acres in “kudzu 

crowns.” In February 1949, the newspaper 

asked, “Why not make plans to set kudzu this 

season, and let it start work in controlling 

erosion, producing feed, thereby getting some 

returns from idle unproductive acres?” We now 

understand that if kudzu worked to prevent 

erosion, it has also swarmed over every unused 

plot of ground in the South, climbing telephone 

poles and smothering trees and abandoned 

buildings. But it was one of the few missteps 

made on the farm front in that time. 

At this same time, the Atlanta Farmer’s 

Market, located in the city’s West End since 1939, 

began to outgrow its facilities. In January 1959 it 

moved to a new location in Forest Park. The 

operators of the market like to call their 150 acre 

facility the “World’s Largest Roadside Fruit and 

Vegetable Stand” and county residents enjoy 

shopping there for fresh produce and flowers. 

However, there is a good deal more to the facility: 

it is a center for commercial produce transactions 

involving chain grocery stores, brokers, packers, 

repackers, farmers, and retailers. Ninety tractor 

trailer loads per day come to the Farmers’ Market, 

which never closes. 

Being engaged in agriculture did not mean 

that the county was in any way backward. As 

the century moved forward, living in the 

country no longer meant being isolated. A 

newer telephone system began service on June 

28, 1939. Later, Southern Bell Telephone 

Company established a Rural Development 

project, to extend service beyond closely settled 

areas such as Jonesboro, where they already 

handled 847 telephones. Postal service 

improved; in 1950 the Highway Post Office 

carried mail between Columbus and Atlanta by 

bus, serving Jonesboro as it went. 


In the first part of the twentieth century, most 

stores in the county dealt in a combination of 

groceries and farming necessities, such as feed, 

seed, laying mash, coal, and other agriculture 

products: C. E. McKown in Forest Park sold 

“Grocery Bargains” along with laying mash, seed 

Irish potatoes, good house brooms, and men’s 

and boy’s hats, all colors. However, some stores 

could specialize in food: Rodgers Store, 

managed by J. L. Jenkins, regularly offered sales 

and specials, such as the 19¢ Sale that offered 

catsup, Colonial milk, Silver Label coffee, juice 

and Loveley-Jel at a bargain price. 

At mid-century, Clayton County residents 

who wanted to go out to eat had several choices. 

There was “Good Home Cooking” at Mrs. 

Buchanan’s Café; Smitty’s Café also served 

“Home Cooking – Short Orders, Everything the 

best at reasonable prices” and was prepared to 

cater “parties and banquets on short notice.” 

The county now had drugstores, furniture stores 

and car dealerships; Wayne’s 5¢ - 10¢ – 25¢ 

Store and Najjar’s Department Store, “The Store 

of Values,” which offered clothing and shoes. 

However, the newspaper also carried a column 

of advertisements from Atlanta merchants 

dealing in everything from furnaces to 

eyeglasses. Clayton County’s economy, tied by 

the railroad to Atlanta from the beginning, 

became more and more interconnected with the 

metropolis to the north. 

The Works Progress Administration, a New 

Deal government program to create jobs, 

produced a guide to the state, which reported 

that “Jonesboro (905 alt., 1065 pop.), seat of 

Clayton County...has sawmills, a bagging and 

tire plant, a coffin works, and a cotton gin.” 

Hastings Nursery, 1513 acres in extent, 

produced vegetable and flower seed and roses; 

extensive plantings of evergreens, shrubs acres 

of canna marked its frontage along the highway. 

The plant that had, since 1918, produced 

bagging material (used to wrap cotton bales) 

continued in operation to the middle of the 

century, when it was noted of the Carnes 

Bagging Company, “Regular employment is 

given to approximately 25 colored employees, 

many of them never having worked any other 

place.” Planters Gin & Mfg Co. (E. J. Swint 

manager) published advertisements of the days 

in the fall that the gin would be in operation and 

took another ad on December 1 to announce 

that ginning had ended. In the 1950s the plant 

processed a thousand bales a year. When the 

cotton had been ginned, A. A. Huie’s Jonesboro 

Warehouse would buy and store it, with no 

charge for picking up the bales. 

Clayton County also was the location of the 

Low Temp Refrigeration Company, which 

manufactured “all types of stainless steel kitchen 

and restaurant equipment,” and the Estes- 

Wolcott Company, which had begun in the 

previous century making grain cradles, and now 

produced first quality wooden lawn furniture. 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES & 

ENTERTAINMENT 

From its beginning, churches played a central 

role in the Clayton community. In addition to 

serving as centers of spiritual support, every 

church in the county offered organizations and 

activities to interest the various members of their 

congregations. Jonesboro Baptist Church offered 

a number of “Circles” for members. In 1939 a 

Missionary Circle met to hear presentations on 

topics such as “the Great Commission and the 

Orient,” “Palestine today,” “China today” and 

“Japan today.” Other Circles sponsored orphans 

and contributed support to missionary efforts. 

Like many churches, it offered a Vacation Bible 

school for children. In the summer of 1950 

nineteen teachers worked with 139 children. 

Although this was the largest of the area 

congregations, a similar level of activity could be 

found in churches throughout the county. 

❖ 

Above: Miss Amah Lee Rutherford, 

Worthy Matron 1948-49, Jonesboro 

Chapter #174, Order of the 

Eastern Star. 



Below: In their centennial year, 

Jonesboro’s Masonic Lodge No. 87 

built a “hut” for the use of Boy 

and Girl Scout troops in the 

Jonesboro area. 



Chapter III ✦ 35

❖ 

The Confederate Cemetery on 

McDonough Street holds the remains 

of an indefinite number of men who 

fell at the Battle of Jonesboro; some 

burials are unmarked. One is this 

unusual grave, decorated with sea 

shells. The significance of these shells 

is not specifically established; 

however, in English tradition, shells 

may signify resurrection. 

COLOR PHOTO BY JIM KEMP; GRAVE PHOTOGRAPH 

FROM JONESBORO SCRAPBOOK, COURTESY OF 

THE CLAYTON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM. 

Jonesboro churches expressed deep concern 

for the well-being of the younger generation. 

The Women’s Society of Christian Service of 

Jonesboro Methodist Church joined with the 

Wesleyan Service Circle to sponsor a debate by 

the young people: “Resolved: that the churches 

of this community are largely responsible for the 

lives of the youth of this community.” Typical of 

the activities for young people provided by 

Jonesboro churches was a Youth Fellowship 

hour held in September of 1950 at the first 

Baptist Church. The program centered on 

devotional music and featured as guest preacher 

Trammell Buckalew, the son of their former 

pastor, Reverend C. C. Buckalew. His message 

was “most inspiring and tied in beautifully with 

the Fellowship Hour.” 

Church revivals were more than a break from 

daily routines; they were front-page news. The 

June 23, 1939, News and Farmer ran a 

photograph of the Rev. John H. Williams under 

the headline “Presbyterian Revival Begins Next 

Sunday.” The Presbyterians of the county had 

arranged for his appearances a year in advance, 

and declared that anyone who heard him once 

would certainly return for the rest of his series 

of sermons. The meetings were held in the 

Jonesboro school. 

Smaller congregations were equally vigorous. 

Pastor M. L. Gilbert of the Congregational 

Holiness Church made “trips in his station 

wagon every Sunday morning to bring carloads 

of neighbors” to his small white concrete 

church. The thirty-three members of the Church 

of God managed to buy a bus, organize the 

choir, raise $300 for missions and give support 

to an orphan’s home. Noah’s Ark Methodist 

Church, Flint River Baptist Church, Bethel 

Baptist Church all continued to serve small 

congregations. The Mount Zion Baptist Church, 

which had been organized in the middle of the 

Nineteenth Century, listed 328 members. 

Other organizations also absorbed the 

interest of Clayton County residents. For 

example, the county contained four Masonic 

lodges—Jonesboro’s historic Lodge No. 87 had 

been joined by lodges at Riverdale, Forest Park 

and Rex. The Jonesboro lodge occupied and 

maintained (as it continues to do, up to the 

present) the historic 1869 courthouse, which 

requires careful upkeep. They celebrated their 

Centennial in 1949, and at that time 

constructed a “hut” for the use of the Boy Scouts 

and Girl Scouts. Jonesboro chapter #174 of the 

Order of the Eastern Star supported a variety of 

worthy causes. In 1950 they presented a 

fundraiser, “Aunt Silly: The Famous Comedy 

Success” that included musical performances 

by members. 

The United Daughters of the Confederacy 

Jonesboro Chapter continued that organization’s 

historic mission of caring for the Confederate 

Cemetery in Jonesboro. The UDC also met 

regularly to hear presentations on topics such as 

“The Siege of Vicksburg,” “The Life of Thomas 

Jefferson,” “The Prison Life of Jefferson Davis,” 

or “Andersonville Prison.” Every meeting 

included Bible verses and inspirational poetry. 


Among the most active groups, the Jonesboro 

Women’s Club donated to worthy causes, served as 

a clearinghouse for good used clothing, saw that 

all of its members registered to vote and 

established a permanent $100 scholarship for a 

girl in the senior class of Jonesboro high. An 

annual music program featured performances by 

members of the Jonesboro school faculty. The 

women’s organization helped organize the Friends 

of the Library, which set out to raise funds for a 

building to be raised on a lot purchased by the 

Library Board on Smith Street. The Garden 

Division Committee sponsored a flower show. 

They also planned to beautify the city park 

grounds by landscaping and providing tables, 

benches, and an outdoor fireplace. 

The Women’s Club also started two children’s 

clubs, one for children ages 8 through 12 called 

the “Fun Club,” which met at the high school on 

Wednesday afternoon to swim, hike, and play 

outdoor and indoor games. The second club, the 

“Swing Inn” was for young people 13 through 20. 

They met on Thursday evenings either in the 

school lunchroom or the athletic building. 

Activities included square dances, picnics, and 

indoor games. “All in all wholesome recreation 

was enjoyed, one night each week.” They also 

had a record player. 

At the time of WWII and after, the Clayton 

County Chapter American Red Cross helped 

servicemen, veterans, and their families obtain 

financial assistance, extension of leaves and 

provided other services. They sponsored visits by 

The Blood Mobile Unit, and supported projects at 

several regional hospitals. The Red Cross, the 

Department of Public Welfare and the Jonesboro 

Community Chest provided financial assistance 

to the needy. 

One entertaining feature of Clayton County life 

was a fondness of civic organizations for 

“Womanless Weddings” as fundraising events. A 

cast of male performers dressed up in fantastic 

feminine garb to enact the farce. In 1950 the Girl 

Scouts presented a cast of local gentlemen: “The 

grand finale will be the wedding procession and 

ceremony. The delicate 300-pound bride will float 

on the strong arm of her 90-pound father” attired 

in lace and accompanied by bridesmaids garbed 

in satin; the “ladies” presented a “vision out of this 

world…as they proceeded to the altar, where “the 

snappiest snazziest of grooms” awaited his 

“bride.” Members of these mock nuptials included 

folks named Aunt Hominy Grit, Prissy 

❖ 

Above: In a photograph made in 

1951, Mrs. Mary Archer Barnette, 

Librarian, posed with Mrs. Ella C. 

Romeo, the first person who 

registered when the library opened 

on June 6, 1941. 



Below: About 1940 a PTA group in 

Forest Park staged this “Womanless 

Wedding” to raise money for a school 

gym. The “bride” was Wop [sic] 

Starr, brother of Senator Terrell Starr. 

Other members of the wedding were 

Tommy Thomas, ring bearer; Grady 

Lindsay, the baby; and Lowell S. 

Terrell, bridesmaid. 

PHOTO BY CHARLES T. HADAWAY, COURTESY OF 

THE GEORGIA ARCHIVES, VANISHING GEORGIA 

COLLECTION, CLT057-84. 

Chapter III ✦ 37

❖ 

Above: John Word West’s Fair of I850 

sought to educate as well as amuse. 

Jonesboro boosters included materials 

from his museum in their “Champion 

Hometown” entry in 1950. 



Below: John Word West collected large 

items such as buildings, farm 

equipment and vehicles. 



Pincushion, the Skinflint family, and Miss Muddie 

Ricefield. Among the many “guests” were 

Governor and Mrs. Talmadge, Nelson Eddy and 

Gene Autry—or anyway, people who claimed to 

be these celebrities! 

The county fair—a staple of country life 

throughout the nation—was a high point in the 

year and demonstrated the importance of 

agriculture to the area. Although livestock and 

farm machinery were mainstays, there was a lot 

more to see. Sponsored by the Exchange Club, a 

typical fair would feature displays from schools 

all over the county, including Bethel, Forest 

Park, Lovejoy, North Clayton, Jonesboro, 

Mountain View, Riverdale, Bast, Clayton, and 

others. The Women’s Department would show 

fine needlework, quilts and spreads. In 1950 the 

organizers promised, “There’ll be nothing left 

undone to make this our biggest Fair, and we 

ask your cooperation. The Clayton County Fair 

belongs to the people of Clayton County, and we 

should do our BEST. Plan now to give these four 

days over to the investigation and recreation. 

Develop the FAIR habit. It’s your Fair, so be 

there.” 

Of course, everyone loves the movies. 

Clayton County residents visited the Tara 

Theater to watch Buck Jones in “The Stranger 

from Arizona,” or to shed a tear for “Boys’ Town” 

which was billed as “The Greatest Heart Drama 

of The Year.” The theater first had a flat floor 

with an “operating room” (projection booth) at 

the rear, but the management later added a 

sloping floor with 200 seats for white patrons 

and a “gallery” that would accommodate 50 to 

75 black patrons. The renovation added a central 

box office at the front of the building and located 

the “operating room” above it. Theatergoers 

enjoyed this facility only a few years before fire 

consumed the structure in 1942. Undaunted, the 

management rebuilt, installing cushioned seats 

and all the “necessary equipment to maintain a 

first class theater. ”By 1950, Clayton County had 

three theaters—the Tara, Forest Park Theatre, 

and Roosevelt Drive-in. 

The Fair of 1850, created by history teacher 

John Word West, had one foot in history and 

one in entertainment. It included a small lake 

for fishing, picnic areas and an outdoor fireplace 

suitable for use by large groups. The Fair also 

provided space for a local swap meet and for a 

girls’ summer camp and visitors found a 

playground area for children near the entrance. 

The centerpiece of the Fair was the large 

main building where its ever-increasing, 

miscellaneous collections were on view. It also 

provided a space to be used by visiting school 

classes, who were thrilled by a lecture that 

ended with the firing of a flintlock gun. Displays 

included high-wheel bicycles, antique 

agricultural equipment, two hundred guns and 

pistols, walls “…covered with distinctive 

historic pictures and the windows adorned with 

deer antlers.” There was an antique racing sulky 

and a gig (small carriage). West was inspired by 

John D. Rockefeller’s project at Williamsburg 

and Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village so he did 

not limit the collection to smaller items; for 

example, an 1850 gin house was moved several 

miles onto the grounds. He collected mostly 

from North Georgia, but as time went on, it 

seems that nothing was without interest to the 


Fair of 1850. In 1950, it acquired one pair of 

spring scales made by an English soldier of the 

war of 1812; a copper arrowhead found in a 

mound near Moundsville, Ohio; a coin bearing 

the face of Alexander the Great, found in Egypt, 

and a stone face from Babylon “broken out of 

the wall beside the lion den into which Daniel 

was cast.” West died in 1961 after 

unsuccessfully attempting to interest the state in 

taking over the Fair. In 1966 the organizers of 

Westville Village, a living history museum, 

purchased the assets of the now-defunct Fair of 

1850 and incorporated them into their new 

location in Stewart County. 

EDUCATION 

& SCHOOLS 

The first documentation of community life in 

the future Clayton County was the Leakesville 

Academy. Although this school did not 

continue, Allen Candler’s academy operated in 

the years before the Civil War ended its 

existence. After the war, the county briefly had a 

Freedman’s school, which was followed by the 

newly created public schools, with separate 

facilities for whites and blacks. Middle Georgia 

College thrived for a time, and eventually 

became Jonesboro High School. In Forest Park, 

students attended the Forest Grove School and 

the Howard School. However, the old style of 

nineteenth-century schooling gave way to some 

new ideas in the twentieth century. 

Under Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, public 

education expanded in Georgia; the schools in 

Clayton reflected the agricultural focus of the 

county. According to Professor J. T. Wheeler, 

professor of teacher training and education at the 

University of Georgia, canning had an educational 

as well as an economic value. Therefore, a canning 

plant operated for the benefit of the public at 

Jonesboro High School. In June 1939, R. R. 

Caswell, vocational teacher, reassured the readers 

of the News and Farmer that the construction of a 

new plant would not prevent the usual activities 

from proceeding. He urged everyone wanting to 

use the facility to bring freshly prepared vegetables 

and reassured them, “The plant will be operated on 

a non-profit basis. You will only pay for the actual 

expense of canning your products.” The program 

continued for some years. In 1943 the Clayton 

County News and Farmer carried an announcement: 

“…the Jonesboro canning plant will open on June 

15 for the regular canning season” and went on to 

give details of the schedule of operation. Plenty of 

cans at 5 or 6 cents each would be available, “Each 

person who brings it to be canned must prepare his 

or her own food and pack it in the can.” 

Boys in the high school in Jonesboro joined 

the Future Farmers of America; they studied 

scientific farming, with a hands-on approach. 

The results of their efforts were on display at 

every County Fair. In 1949 they organized a “pig 

chain.” In this system, a boy began with a sow 

and a litter of piglets. He would give one pig to 

another boy in the chain who would raise and 

breed it. The second boy could then repay his 

friend with a piglet from his own litter and pass 

on another to the next boy in the “pig chain.” 

Beginning with five Hereford hogs, the Future 

Farmers of Clayton County owned seventy-five 

animals in a short time. 

❖ 

Top: Decorations transformed the 

lunchroom of Jonesboro High School 

into a ballroom for a Junior-Senior 

dance in the early 1950s. 



Above: The Jonesboro High School 

Concert Band. 

Chapter III ✦ 39

❖ 

Top, right: As late as 1940, Morrow 

seemed quite small, giving no hint of 

the extensive commercial development 

that would soon be enclosed within its 

city limits. 

DETAIL FROM MAP OF CLAYTON COUNTY, 

COURTESY OF THE GEORGIA ARCHIVES, MAP 

COLLECTION, CMF0701. 

Above: Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, 

top WWI flying ace and president of 

Eastern Airlines, survived a plane 

crash in Morrow. 

At this point, about one thousand 

schoolchildren studied in the grammar and high 

schools under a faculty made up of thirty 

“adequately trained” men and women. In 1950 

Jonesboro High School was constructing a new 

building, and was admitted to the Southern 

Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. 

The curriculum included forty-one courses in 

“all interest fields.” 

Students with an interest in music, for 

example, could participate in several bands or a 

glee club. Grammar school students marched in 

a Drum and Bugle Corps. More than a hundred 

students received instruction on piano, band 

instruments, or violin, and in voice. The PTA 

helped by providing instruments, and the 

Exchange Club helped with uniforms. 

The schools fielded interscholastic athletic 

teams; the Jonesboro High School football team 

were Regional 3C Champions in the 1949-1950 

season. Two hundred fifty children were taught 

to swim in the following summer. 

MORROW 

The village of Morrow formed around the 

depot that served the neighborhood of the onethousand-acre 

plantation founded by Radford 

Morrow. In 1941 the crash of an Eastern Airlines 

twin-engine DC-3 into a pine thicket in the 

southeastern corner of then-unincorporated 

Morrow thrust the town onto the front page. 

Seven persons died, and among the survivors 

was Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, the top WWI 

flying ace and president of the airline. When 

Morrow residents opened their newspapers to 

read accounts of this major news event they were 

chagrined to find their town characterized as a 

“whistle stop.” Civic pride moved them to seek 

incorporation as a city, which was accomplished 

in 1943. The population remains small (between 

five and six thousand), but no one could deny 

the importance of Morrow today. Within its city 

limits, along Mt. Zion Road, lie some of the more 

important retail shopping areas of the county, 

including the Southlake Mall. Morrow also is the 

location of the Performing Arts Center, a large 

auditorium operated by Clayton County 

Schools. Presently under development, “Olde 

Morrow” will present a collection of historic 

houses that have been relocated to a site adjacent 

to the Southlake Mall. When this project is 

completed, visitors will enjoy shopping and 

dining in a charming, nostalgic atmosphere. 

Clayton State University in Morrow began in 

1968 as the two-year Clayton Junior College. 

Citizens of the county subsidized construction 

with a $5 million bond issue. Changes in its 

name reflect its steady growth. In 1986, as 

Clayton State College, it began offering 

baccalaureate degrees; it received university 

status in 1996. Its present name was approved 

in 2005. It offers undergraduate degrees in 

various fields of Arts and Sciences, Professional 

Studies, Information and Mathematical Studies, 

Business, and Nursing and has recently added a 

graduate program with Master’s degrees in 

Liberal Studies, Nursing, Health Administration 

and Business Administration. CSU was a 

pioneer in the use of computer technology in 

education; all students are required to own 

laptop computers and classrooms are equipped 

with projection equipment and wireless internet 

access. The campus, heavily planted in pines, 

features a lake and several small ponds that are 

home to a flock of waterfowl, including a pair of 

swans. True to its tradition, Clayton State 

University continues to serve a constituency of 

“commuter” students but it also has added oncampus 

housing for a steadily increasing 

student body. 

Spivey Hall, located on the Clayton State 

University campus is one of the finest small 

concert halls in the United States and is the 

home of the 79-rank, 3-manual, 4,413-pipe 

Albert Schweitzer Memorial Organ. Spivey Hall 

was the inspiration of real estate entrepreneur 


Walter Spivey and his wife Emilie. Mrs. Spivey 

had enjoyed the Lyceum, a program of cultural 

offerings at Clayton Junior College so she and 

her husband concluded this would be the ideal 

location for a first-rate performance venue. They 

arranged for a location overlooking the lake and 

organized the Walter and Emilie Spivey 

Foundation to finance the project, giving 

somewhat more than half of the cost of the hall’s 

construction. Walter Spivey died in 1984 but 

his wife carried on with the project. While 

Spivey Hall was in planning, Mrs. Spivey, herself 

a musician, insisted on hiring the best acoustical 

engineers to design the auditorium. Sadly, 

Emilie Spivey did not live to see the opening trio 

of concerts in 1990 that featured violinist Itzhak 

Perlman, pianist André Watts and bass Samuel 

Ramey. The result of Emilie Spivey’s vision is an 

intimate four-hundred-seat hall, where the high 

quality of the acoustics delights audiences and 

performers alike. Musicians as diverse as the 

great choral director Robert Shaw and Jazz 

pianist Ellis Marsalis praise Spivey Hall; Shaw 

declared that “Spivey Hall is to music what light 

is to painting,” and Marsalis said, “Spivey Hall is 

the most fantastic little performance hall I have 

played—ever!” In keeping with the educational 

mission of Clayton State University, Spivey has a 

strong program of music education, supporting 

The Spivey Hall Children’s Choir and Spivey 

Hall Young Artists. Music lovers from all over 

the greater metropolitan area come to the 

Clayton State campus to enjoy performances by 

musicians of international importance. 

The Archives of the State of Georgia is 

adjacent to the Southeastern Branch of the 

National Archives and both are close to 

Clayton State University. This pairing of two 

archives is unique, and their staffs frequently 

cooperate in providing programs for the public. 

Researchers of all varieties, from authors to 

genealogists come from all over the country to 

access the original records housed in the two 

neighboring archives. 

The Reynolds Nature Preserve in Morrow 

occupies a wooded site with trails winding 

around a large central pond. The earliest 

evidence shows that Robert T. S. Huie and his 

family lived there in the time of the Civil War. 

Their home was a two story, four-room house, 

which grew over the years with the addition of 

an attic and porches and additional living 

space. Nearby were barns, a corn crib, a spring 

house and two tenant houses. William 

Huie Reynolds acquired the property in 1920; a 

decade later the ponds that are the centerpiece 

of the Preserve were created. Reynolds, a 

lawyer, had a deep appreciation of the 

natural beauty to be found on these 130 acres 

of woodlands and wetlands; he gave it to 

Clayton County for the creation of a nature 

preserve. In 1979 a federal grant financed the 

construction of an interpretive center, piers, 

bridges and other improvements. The trustees 

have also expanded the Preserve to a total 

of 146 acres. It serves thirty-five thousand 

visitors a year, with programs and exhibits 

for children and adults. The four thousand 

children who come to the Nature Center each 

year can see native amphibians and reptiles and 

an observation hive of honeybees. There are also 

wheelchair accessible trails. The Huie/Reynolds 

❖ 

Top: In a unique arrangement of 

federal and state research facilities, 

the Archives of the State of Georgia is 

adjacent to the National Archives and 

Records Center, Southeastern Branch. 


Above: Visitors to the Reynolds 

Nature Preserve enjoy walking on 

trails surrounded by native Georgia 

plants. An interpretive center provides 

information on Georgia wildlife. 


Chapter III ✦ 41

❖ 

Top, right: The “Dummy” train 

provided commuter service on a line 

extending from Lovejoy to Atlanta. 



Above: The uniform worn by Jack 

Lambert of Clayton County indicates 

his position as a railroad conductor. 

Notice his watch chain; a man in 

this profession carried a highly 

accurate timepiece. 


house is not open to the public, but the 

historic barn contains an assortment of antique 

farm implements. 

GOING 

PLACES 

Travel away from the county, and especially 

to neighboring Atlanta, became more 

convenient as modern methods of 

transportation developed. From the first days of 

the railroad, Clayton County residents could 

catch the passenger lines to and from Atlanta. In 

1914 the railroad added passenger waiting 

rooms to the depot in Jonesboro. 

The commuter train, properly named the 

Jonesboro Accommodation, but known as “The 

Dummy,” shared the tracks, keeping a regular 

schedule of stops—about a mile apart— 

between Lovejoy and Terminal Station in 

downtown Atlanta. “Dummy” has a number of 

meanings relating to railroads, but the one that 

applies here is a passenger train with a small 

engine that runs on a short route; Clayton’s 

“Dummy” consisted of a small engine and three 

small cars, two for passengers and one for 

baggage. Four times a day, for thirty years, it 

traveled forward into the city and in reverse on 

the return trip, thus avoiding the necessity of 

turning around at each end of the route. In the 

earlier part of the century Clayton County 

families kept books of tickets on hand for 

convenience; students rode to school in 

Jonesboro on the train. However, improved 

roads and the growth of the automobile finally 

displaced the train; engineer H. K. Puckett took 

the Dummy on its last run in 1931. 

When automobiles and busses became more 

convenient, railroad passenger service began a 

long, slow decline. However, long-distance 

trains continued to provide a high level of 

service for many years. In the late thirties, the 

Central of Georgia offered coach service with 

“air-conditioned, air-cooled, steel coaches, toilet 

facilities, free drinking cups, smoking 

compartment, ladies’ lounge” all for 1 ½ cent a 

mile in the Southeast. However, in the 1950’s, 

some trains still stopped at the depot, but others 

only paused when flagged down. At that time 

about 20 freight and 12 passenger trains passed 

through Jonesboro daily. 

Before the Civil War, when the railroads were 

still developing, two long-distance roadways 

already led southward from Atlanta; they only 

nicked through the northwest and northeast 

corners of Clayton. The first passed through 

Fayetteville and the other through McDonough. 

Roads developed very slowly in Georgia, and 

paved roads remained scarce for a long time. 

With the exception of the Old Dixie Highway, 

which was paved in 1919, roads in Clayton 

County remained unpaved until 1940. 

Reporting on road work, the local newspaper 

optimistically commented that in good weather, 

Highway 54 was almost as good as a paved road. 

The Old Dixie Highway, which was US 41, 

left Atlanta and passed through Hapeville where 

GA 85 branched away southwest to Fayetteville; 

US 41 continued to Jonesboro and then 

followed the long established route to Lovejoy. 

This road was also part of US 19, which ran 

from northwestern Pennsylvania to Florida, 

bringing many tourists through the county. 


Travelers driving to Florida in 1950 could 

stop at Aladdin’s Drive Inn to purchase gasoline 

at 19 1/2 cents per gallon, and pick up 

cigarettes, drinks, sandwiches and groceries. 

They could acquire some interesting items at the 

Pottery Gateway or the Town and Country 

Shoppe and go on to Harvey’s Candy Kitchen to 

order a shipment of fresh pecans for the folks 

back home. Finished with shopping, the tired 

tourists could rest at the Peach State “Autotel” or 

the Ranch Motel. But travelers would need to 

take care as they proceeded southward to the 

area of the Hastings overhead bridge where a 

“dead man’s curve” took at least half a dozen 

lives within a couple of years, until road 

improvements removed the hazard. 

When private automobiles were not within 

reach, public carriers were busy. In the mid- 

1930s, Ader Coach Lines departed Jonesboro 

eight times daily, four going north and four to 

the south. By the middle of the century, 35 

busses from the Greyhound and Trailways lines 

stopped at Bama’s Drug Store, which served as a 

depot. Across the street from the drug store, the 

Jonesboro Taxi Company provided both cab and 

bus passengers shelter during bad weather. The 

cab company reassured riders, “Only qualified 

drivers who have permits registered with the 

City Clerk are allowed to drive.” 

Although not yet enfolded into the full 

suburban embrace of Atlanta, connections 

between the city and Clayton County increased 

with the revolution in transportation. Many 

residents traveled to work in the city, which 

induced the county to accept the innovation of 

Daylight Savings Time. The newspaper groused 

that “So many of our people work in Atlanta 

that we are practically forced to accept the time 

change.” The Jonesboro City Council and the 

Methodist Sunday School had already accepted 

the system, although the editor still was “not 

impressed with this time change….” 

LAW 

& ORDER 

With the advent of a new century, law 

enforcement in Clayton County began to need 

more than a sheriff or a town marshal to protect 

its citizens. In 1928 a special session of the 

County Commission created the Clayton 

County Police Department, consisting of four 

officers who reported directly to them. The force 

had been reorganized by 1939 when R. L. Winn 

of Jonesboro was named Chief. He and 

patrolman W. A. Humphreys of Forest Park 

were each provided with a telephone, and 

instructed to report to the County 

commissioners but to cooperate with the sheriff. 

Their duties included inspection of roads and 

bridges, but also to see that “roadhouses, filling 

stations, tourist camps, etc.” operated according 

to the law. About a year later Winn left the force 

and was replaced by Sam Blalock. Howard 

Smith, who was Chief in the Fifties told an 

interviewer that in the early days of the force, 

the county “had honky-tonks running out of 

our ears,” which kept the officers busy. At about 

the time of Smith’s interview, two members of 

Jonesboro’s three-man police force (one was the 

Chief) posed with a new patrol car in front of 

their minuscule “station” on Main Street. The 

need for such a force was evident; traffic had 

become so heavy that the city had installed a 

four-way stop light on Main Street. 

Moonshiners gave steady employment to 

peace officers. One still was found in 1939 in 

the Flint River Swamp “not far from Mundy’s 

Mill.” Only a small quantity of “the distilled 

product” was found, but the raid uncovered one 

hundred gallons of beer. According to the 

❖ 

Above: A few of the businesses that 

aimed to serve the travelers passing 

through Clayton County on the Old 

Dixie Highway. 

IMAGES FROM JONESBORO SCRAPBOOK, 

COURTESY OF THE CLAYTON COUNTY PUBLIC 

LIBRARY SYSTEM. 

Below: A physician in College Park, 

Robert Warren Colquitt Green served 

Clayton County in the Georgia House 

of Representatives; photo c. 1917. 

COURTESY OF HELEN HONEA KNIGHT AND 

HISTORICAL JONESBORO/CLAYTON COUNTY, INC 

Chapter III ✦ 43

newspaper, the raid was in the nick of time, “In 

another day or two the still would have been in 

operation and it would have flooded the county 

with moonshine.” 

The presence of Atlanta put increasing 

pressure on the county’s police resources. In 

1939 the residents of the northern part of the 

county requested that the County Commission 

increase its police force and backed this with the 

helpful suggestion that there would be no 

expense involved because the additional arrests 

made by the expanded force would bring in 

enough revenue to offset the cost. 

In 1940, when the Clayton County 

Commission voted to close the “Public Works 

Camp,” the editors of the News and Farmer 

reported that this facility, formerly known as the 

“Chain Gang,” had become very expensive for 

the county since the state had stopped making 

contracts with counties for road repairs. 

Therefore, the prisoners were returned to the 

custody of the state. The editors supported a 

possible plan to locate a state-financed camp in 

the county in the near future. 

CHALLENGES 

Along with the rest of the nation, Clayton 

County suffered through the struggles of the 

Great Depression. Although this financial crisis is 

associated with the 1929 market crash, problems 

appeared in rural regions a few years earlier. The 

first hint of trouble was an unexpected decline in 

the price of cotton, coupled with the arrival of the 

boll weevil. Yields reduced dramatically; an acre 

of land had yielded a bale of cotton, but after the 

arrival of the weevil, farmers needed eight to ten 

acres to make a single bale of cotton. Desperate 

and hopeful some farmers held on to their cotton, 

hoping for a price recovery, only to have it rot 

during the long wait in storage. Others sold at a 

loss. A four-month drought in 1925 turned 

farmlands to tinder as food and cotton crops 

dried up. 

Farmers fought the boll weevil with various 

poisons, dusting the plants with calcium arsenate 

powder or mopping the stalks with molasses laced 

with the poison. However the bugs were resistant 

to these methods and many years of research were 

necessary to bring them under control. According 

to an account by J. Ellis Mundy, 

There were no jobs. On the farm people were 

glad to work for fifty cents a day wages, but few 

there were who had the fifty cents to pay. Clothes 

were patched and later the patches on the 

patched clothes were patched. Fertilizer sacks 

and flour and feed sacks were salvaged to make 

underwear, shirts, and dresses. It was not 

uncommon to see lettering on a man’s shirt 

back…[or] a boy's pants….” 

Without income, unable to repay loans, 

farmers lost their land to foreclosure or sold—if 

they could find a buyer—for a few dollars an 

acre. Some simply surrendered their land to 

anyone who would agree to take over the debts it 

carried. The family farm was becoming a thing of 

the past in Clayton; where agriculture persisted, 

dairy farms and peach orchards began to displace 

cotton planting 

The Roosevelt administration’s “New Deal” 

policies brought some relief to hard pressed 

communities. The city of Jonesboro applied for 

extensive WPA improvements for their town. 

They wanted paved roads, one “from the school 

❖ 

When the U.S. Highway cut through 

Arthur Huie’s pastures, an 

“underpass” accommodated moving 

the cattle from one side of the road to 

the other. 




uilding to the highway” and another “to the 

Courthouse.” Also in their request were 

sidewalks and curbs, water mains and fire plugs. 

The plan had preliminary approval in the fall of 

1939, and awaited approval from Washington. 

They expected that all of this would cost about 

$60,000, with the city responsible for only a 

small portion of the total. 

While Clayton County struggled through the 

problems at home, new dangers arose in other 

parts of the world. In March of 1939, the News 

and Farmer reported, “Hitler is again grabbing 

territory…. He is going to keep on until he gets 

what is coming to him.” The editor advocated 

preparedness as a deterrent, but was certain that 

other countries knew “we are not going over 

there to hunt trouble.” In September of that year 

the News and Farmer announced, “Germany 

invaded Poland last week in a war of greed.” It 

reported the declarations of war by England and 

France and President Roosevelt’s statement of 

American neutrality. The editors worried about 

rapidly rising food prices. They reported, “Some 

predict a long war with practically the entire 

world involved” but offered the possibility that 

the situation might be remedied by a revolution 

because “much unrest is noted in Germany.” 

War in Europe was front page news, but so was 

the success of a recent American Legion 

barbecue and the $25 prize won by the Future 

Farmers for the best grain demonstration in 

northwest Georgia. 

President Franklin Roosevelt took the 

threatening conditions in Europe seriously, and 

instituted a peacetime draft as a precaution. The 

News and Farmer reported on the work of the 

Clayton County Selective Service Board. In the 

spring of 1941 they were “receiving calls for 

trainees from three to four times a month.’ The 

paper noted that “Bill” Whaley had volunteered 

for service and listed three white and two 

“colored boys” who had recently been called. 

They expected that by the end of the year all of 

those who had registered would be in training. 

When the war came, Clayton County, as it 

had in the past, provided agricultural products 

as well as fighting men. A Crop Corps formed of 

volunteer church workers, Boy Scouts, and 

school children occasionally assisted in 

harvesting the county’s crops, on one occasion 

picking seven bales of cotton. The newspaper 

proclaimed, “They are out to help harvest the 

crop which must be saved with the labor 

shortage. They have entered the fight at the 

home front.” 

Air raids probably were not much of a danger 

in Clayton County, but the News and Farmer 

printed a diagram of the Civilian Defense “New 

Air Raid Warning System” on its front page, on 

March 5, 1943. A steady blast meant enemy 

planes on the way, short or wavering blast meant 

“bombing expected,” and another steady blast 

meant that the enemy planes had left the area 

but might return.. “All Clear” message would 

come by radio or telephone. 

A system of ration stamps allocated food and 

fuel resources. Purchasers presented stamps 

when they bought goods such as gasoline, coffee, 

tires and fuel oil. County residents could study 

the detailed regulations in the newspaper: “Sugar 

ration stamp number 12 which becomes valid 

March 16, is worth five pounds but it must last 

through the end of May, a period of 11 weeks. 

Stamp 11, which is good for three pounds is 

good from Feb. 1 to March 15.” In another 

article, the editor affirmed that rationing is “only 

a small part of the supreme sacrifice being made 

by the boys in the front lines.” 

The newspaper also liked to present firsthand 

reports of Clayton County “boys” in the 

service. Cpl. Claude H. Whaley wrote about his 

life in the Marine Corps, where “They fed me 

good and worked me hard.” He trained at Parris 

Island and then went to Quartermaster training, 

but had not yet seen combat.” Pfc. William P. 

❖ 

The war came home on the frontpage 

of the News and Farmer, with 

news of local citizens in the service, 

news of the home front and civil 

defense preparations for the possibility 

of attack. 

MICROFILM OF THE SURVIVING COPIES OF THE 

NEWSPAPER IS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 

MAIN LIBRARY, GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT. 

Chapter III ✦ 45

❖ 

Jodeco Road, about 1950; after 

WWII the rural character of 

Clayton County would give way to 

relentless suburbanization. 

Reeves graduated from aircraft mechanics 

school and expected to be “on the line soon.” He 

ended his letter with a “Prayer of Penitence.” 

The editors also gave attention to those who 

were leaving for the service. On the last day of 

April 1943 they listed seventeen young men 

who had been ordered to report to Fort 

McPherson in five days. 

During WWI the Atlanta Army Depot had 

been located in warehouse space in the city 

donated by philanthropist Asa Candler. It 

operated until 1922, and was shut down. Faced 

with the threat of war in 1939, it was reactivated 

as the Fourth Corps Army Quartermaster Depot 

and briefly located at Fort McPherson before 

being moved back to the old warehouse 

location. Finally, Congress appropriated $20 

million for a new facility that was constructed 

on a large tract of farmland close to the town of 

Conley, where fewer than one hundred people 

lived at the time. Close to railroad lines, the 

depot was a key distribution point for military 

supplies. Also located on the site were an 

Ordnance Automotive School and facilities for 

repair and refurbishing of engineer and 

ordnance equipment. It was briefly a center for 

the repatriation of the remains of those killed in 

military service, and later became the 

headquarters for the administration of military 

cemeteries in the Southeast. Morris Army 

Airfield operated as part of the facility for a few 

years. In 1962 the Quartermaster Depot was 

renamed the Atlanta Army Depot when control 

transferred from the Quartermaster Corps to the 

U.S. Army Supply and Maintenance Command. 

Finally, in the wake of an Army reorganization 

in 1973, the depot becamea satellite installation 

of nearby Fort McPherson and was again 

renamed Ft. Gillem in honor of the career of 

Lieutenant General Alvan C. Gillem, who 

became commanding general of Fort 

McPherson, where he had begun his forty-year 

military career as a private. Eventually Ft. 

Gillem was annexed by the city of Forest Park. 

Ft. Gillem, which had come to Clayton 

County during WWII, continued to be used by 

the Army as a supply depot and training 

location into the twenty-first century before 

being closed. Most of the land has reverted to 

civilian uses, although a few small military 

activities will remain in the county. 

Although the war had brought many changes 

to Clayton County, at mid-century the county’s 

principal cash income still came from 

agriculture including peach orchards, cotton, 

truck crops, dairy products, beef, pork, poultry 

and production of seed for market. But change 

was still on the march, and Clayton County 

was due for major transformations in the 

near future. 


CHAPTER IV 

The last five decades have been times of profound change for Clayton County, bringing economic, 

social, and physical change. Long a center of agricultural activity, the county is now thoroughly 

urbanized and integrated into the “Greater Atlanta” metropolis. Many descendants of early settlers 

still make Clayton their home, but the area is now home to large numbers of newcomers who have 

come not just from the region or other parts of the nation, but from all corners of the world. The 

county provided one of the venues for the Centennial Olympics of 1996. For all the years of its 

existence, one theme remains constant: Clayton County is a crossroads. 

Jonesboro, the county seat, is a starting place for those newcomers and visitors who have an 

interest in area history. Visitors to the Stately Oaks complex will see several historic buildings in 

addition to the house itself. The train depot, located in Old Downtown Jonesboro, is now a visitor 

center and home of the Road to Tara Museum of Gone With the Wind memorabilia including original 

posters, costumes, and still photographs from the Oscar-winning film. The 1869 Jail building now 

houses the Clayton County History Museum and may be toured by appointment. Many of those who 

died in the battle of Jonesboro now rest in the peaceful, tree-shaded Patrick Cleburne Memorial 

Confederate Cemetery on McDonough Street, not far from the business district. 

Also in Jonesboro, the Arts Clayton Gallery is a project of the Arts Clayton, Inc., organization that 

was founded in 1987. The gallery, located in a renovated building at 136 S. Main Street, features the 

work of Georgia artists. Murals depicting life in the 1940s and ’50s adorn the exterior of the building. 

Arts Clayton also sponsors educational programs, including an Art Van that visits schools and other 

locations where children can benefit from art enrichment activities. 

As Clayton has grown over the years, a network of communities came into being; some can first be 

identified because in the days before the zip code, they had a separate, named post office; others are 

mentioned in family histories or other documents. Some villages have left little more than a place 

name in the historic record but Dorsey, Bumblehook, Flint River, Hastings, Hillyer, Ibarra, Nolan, 

❖ 

Clayton County International Park is 

a legacy of the Atlanta Centennial 

Olympic Games in the year 2000. 

Beach volleyball made its debut as an 

Olympic sport in the tournament 

played on “Atlanta Beach.” The small 

lake surrounded by an artificial beach 

of white sand remains the centerpiece 

of the park, which also includes picnic 

areas, a tennis center, and the Muscle 

Beach Fitness Center. 

Chapter IV ✦ 47

❖ 

Above: Originally a burial ground for 

soldiers who died in the local field 

hospitals at the time of the Battle of 

Jonesboro, this cemetery was named 

in honor of CSA General Patrick 

Cleburne. After the war, the remains 

of others who had been hastily buried 

on the battlefield were also moved to 

this location. 

Below: Early aviators looked down on 

the abandoned oval of the Atlanta 

Automobile Association’s former race 

track and saw a good spot to land 

their planes. 

COURTESY OF THE KENAN RESEARCH CENTER AT 

THE ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER 

Orrs, Selina, and Thames still must be 

remembered. Lake City is tucked in between 

Morrow and Forest Park; the Southeastern 

Branch of the National Archives and Records 

Service sits on the boundary between Lake City 

and Morrow. The archives houses about seventy 

thousand cubic feet of archival holdings dating 

from 1716. The city’s name derives from several 

small lakes in the area which now have been 

filled. Ellenwood, on Georgia 42 and the 

Southern Railroad, is now largely a residential 

area. It is the location of a facility connected with 

the Southeast Branch of the National Archives 

and Records Service, which is called the Atlanta 

Records Center. The Center stores and services 

records from Federal agencies in Alabama, 

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North 

Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. 

FLYING 

The most dramatic development in Clayton 

County’s modern history has been the growth of 

the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International 

Airport. Its story begins in the first decades of 

the century with another mode of 

transportation—quite new at the time—the 

automobile. “Buddy” Candler, son of Coca-Cola 

founder Asa Candler, became enamored of the 

invention. Many of his friends agreed, and they 

formed a club, the Atlanta Automobile 

Association. The group took an interest in 

racing, and prevailed on the senior Candler to 

advance funds to build a racetrack not far from 

the village of Hapeville. There, they staged at 

least one race of national interest; the legendary 

driver Barney Oldfield burned up the track with 

speeds over seventy mph in his Buick racer to 

win the Coca-Cola Trophy. In spite of the 

interest generated by this race, the AAA track 

did not show a profit, and financier Candler, 

who expected a return on his investment, lost 

patience. He foreclosed, and demolished the 

track facilities for scrap in order to recover a 

portion of the original loan. Only the oval track 

remained, forlorn in an open field. 

However, the track did not go entirely unused; 

this was also the dawn of aviation, and fliers in 

the area used the track as a convenient landing 

place. This did not go unnoticed at a time when 

the city had determined to secure a position in 

the newly forming web of U.S. airmail routes. 

Atlanta Mayor Walter A. Sims signed a five-year 

lease for the track in 1925. The terms of the lease 

reflected Candler’s affection for the city; he 

charged the city only the amount of the taxes he 

would be required to pay on the land. Thus, 

Candler Field, located in Clayton County, was 

established as Atlanta’s airport and the city 

succeeded in winning a place in the airmail 

system. The first Contract Air Mail flight, piloted 

by Ben Ellison, took off from Candler field on 

September 15, 1926, bound for destinations in 

Florida. A stop had been planned at Macon, but 

because of a local political dispute, the airfield 

was plowed up. Instead of landing, the pilot 

watched for a signal from the Macon postmaster, 

buzzed the field where he stood, waving a white 

handkerchief in each hand, and dropped the mail 

bag. This route was soon abandoned because of 

insufficient demand, perhaps the result of the 

10¢ per ounce postal rate. However, Candler 

Field continued in use; Charles Lindbergh, the 

celebrity pilot who made the first solo flight over 

the Atlantic, landed his Spirit of St. Louis there 

for a short appearance before thrilled onlookers. 

Then, in 1928, Pitcairn Aviation reestablished 

mail service, with Atlanta as a link between New 

Orleans and New Jersey. 

Airmail had become a permanent feature of 

the U. S. Postal Service and in 1929, the city 

purchased Candler Field. In the first of a series of 

revisions, the city officially named it Atlanta 

Municipal Airport, although the “Candler Field” 

appellation continued in use for some years. 


The cost was $94,400, certainly the best 

investment in Clayton County real estate ever 

made. Airmail service continued to expand. 

During the Roosevelt administration, Delta 

Airlines, a Louisiana firm, won the Atlanta to 

Charlotte airmail contract. Charles Dolson, a 

pilot on this route eventually became the CEO of 

Delta. The new airline established a maintenance 

facility at the airport; and in 1941 it moved its 

center of operations to the Atlanta airport, 

starting a long and important relationship that 

has lasted into the twenty-first century. 

Passenger service came almost immediately 

after the inauguration of the Contract Mail 

Service. In 1930 Delta began flights to 

Birmingham, and Eastern Air Transport 

(formerly Pitcairn Aviation) opened passenger 

service, first to Dallas and Los Angeles; and 

within a few months, added flights to New York 

and Florida. By 1939 air traffic had become 

heavy enough to require the construction of the 

airport’s first control tower. 

World War II doubled the size of Candler 

Field, when the government declared it a U. S. 

airbase. Although Atlanta officials maintained 

that the name of the airport had been changed 

at the time of the purchase of Candler Field, a 

dispute with the Post Office led them to reaffirm 

the official title, “Atlanta Municipal Airport” in 

the summer of 1942. Whatever its name, it was 

already the nation’s busiest airport in terms of 

flight operations in the year 1942, with a record 

seventeen hundred takeoffs and landings on one 

single day. In 1948, while the airport 

administration worked in a war-surplus hangar, 

more than a million passengers came through 

the airport. To meet the increasing flow of 

business, the need for a larger terminal seemed 

evident. From this point forward, the airport 

facilities have remained in an almost constant 

state of improvement and expansion. 

In 1957 a new terminal was under 

construction and traffic through the Atlanta 

airport set a new record: between noon and 

2pm, it was now the busiest airport in the 

world. The new terminal opened in 1961, and 

was almost immediately operating at its 

capacity. It had been planned to accommodate 

about six million travelers, but the advent of jet 

travel had delivered over 9 million travelers to 

the Atlanta Municipal Airport. 

The city renamed the airport in 1971, to 

honor the memory of long-time Mayor William 

B. Hartsfield, but that name was soon revised 

when Eastern Airlines inaugurated the first 

international flights to Mexico and Montego Bay. 

Now the airport was the William B. Hartsfield 

Atlanta International Airport. More 

international flights connected to the airport, 

which in 1980 opened the world’s largest 

passenger terminal, designed to serve 55 million 

passengers annually. Over the years additional 

runways had been added and existing ones 

extended. In 1988 the airport was tied into 

Atlanta’s MARTA rapid transit system; passenger 

light rail trains now linked the Clayton County 

airport to the heart of the city of Atlanta. The 

passenger facilities also grew, with the addition 

of a concourse devoted to serving international 

passengers as well as more renovations of the 

❖ 

Above: Candler Field was officially 

renamed “Atlanta Municipal Airport” 

in 1942. Today it is busiest airport in 

the world in terms of flight operations. 



Below: In the early 1960s a broad, 

straight highway led directly to the 

airport terminal, which now is 

encircled by coils of entrance and exit 

ramps serving the three interstate 

highways that surround the airport. 



Chapter IV ✦ 49

❖ 

Above: A group of schoolgirls posed 

in the shade of a schoolyard tree 

in 1950. 



Below: Clayton County farm laborers 

and a cook posed with members 

of the family that employed them in 

the 1940s. 


VANISHING GEORGIA COLLECTION. 

terminal. Because of the terminal’s large 

“footprint” the airport provides a system of 

subway-style passenger trains and a moving 

sidewalk to cover the distance between the 

ticketing facilities and their flights. While at the 

airport, passengers can visit shops and dining 

facilities located in the main terminal building 

and along the five concourses where passengers 

meet their planes. 

In October 2003 the city of Atlanta once 

again renamed the airport, to honor the memory 

of another Mayor, Maynard H. Jackson, who had 

been a strong supporter of the airport. 

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport 

continues to be the world’s busiest airport; over 

80 million passengers used the airport in 2007, 

including more than 9 million international 

visitors. Fifty-five passenger or cargo airlines use 

the Hartsfield-Jackson facilities. According to the 

Air Transport Research Society, they have come 

to the “Most Efficient Airport in the World.” 

The presence of an airport naturally 

stimulates development of related facilities. One 

of the largest of these is the Georgia 

International Convention Center, on the 

outskirts of College Park, a town that began its 

existence in 1890 as a prospective textile 

manufacturing site that was first called 

Manchester. College Park is mostly located in 

Fulton County, but the Convention Center was 

built on the portion that extends into Clayton 

County. Close to the airport as well as the 

intersection of three interstate highways, the 

Center is a few minutes travel from downtown 

Atlanta. With over two hundred thousand 

square feet of space for exhibits, meetings, 

performances and other events, it is the second 

largest convention facility in the state. 

AFRICAN- AMERICAN 

LIFE 

Until the middle of the twentieth century, the 

lives of African Americans in Clayton County 

are poorly recorded. Slave lists from antebellum 

years give only a general demographic picture. 

Because Clayton County had only a few large 

plantations, the greater part of the county’s 

black population was scattered across the area, 

living with the households they served in small 

groups or as single individuals. One free person 

of color, known only as Frank is recorded; he 

lived as the rules of the time required, under the 

legal guardianship of Leander C. Hutcheson. 

Enslaved persons occasionally appear in 

legal documents, such as wills or bills of sale, 


Spencer [says] that Mrs. E. Sharpe who is the 

mother-in-law of Chaney promised to see him 

paid in other words see that he has his rights. 

There is no proof of the statement of Mrs. 

Sharpe, only as a freedman’s word for it R.E. 

Chaney lives with Mrs. Sharpe. He owns no 

property. is there any remedy for the freedman 

that had no written contract[?] 

but little of substance preserves the memory 

of individuals, beyond some sentimental 

recollections of “faithful servants” recorded by 

whites who knew them. 

This attitude largely continued after the end 

of slavery, although a search of Freedman’s 

Bureau records will reveal glimpses of the new 

relationships that were forged between the 

former slaves and the whites of the region 

during the Reconstruction era. A typical case 

involved a dispute over wages. In this instance, 

the local agent J. L. H. Waldrop asked for 

some advice from his superior about the case of 

a freedman named Spencer who claimed that he 

had made a verbal contract to work on the farm 

of a man named Chaney. 

Chaney postponed the payment of the debt 

by promising to settle soon. The freedman has 

not yet been paid. Chaney has no property that 

can be applied to the payment of any debt. 

Waldrop also looked after a school for the 

children of the local freedmen, but had many 

difficulties, including the arson of the building. 

In January of 1869, reported “in reference to the 

School House and Church at this place,” 

We have a good teacher here now. The house 

that I have rented for the freedman [school] is 

not large enough to accommodate the number of 

students that could go to school. If there is any 

chance for the freedman of this county to get any 

assistance to build a school house now is the 

time…we cannot have a proper school without a 

comfortable house, and that the freedmen is not 

able to build 

One source reports that nothing is known 

of any Ku Klux Klan activities in Clayton 

during Reconstruction, but also reports 

recollections of some by elderly persons that 

“…at dusk, local vigilantes rode abreast on 

horseback, and at a fast pace, through the streets 

of the town as a signal that any blacks on the 

streets at that hour would be well-advised to go 

to their homes and stay there until daylight of 

the following morning.” 

❖ 

Above: “Aunt” Bird Glenn, an 

employee of Ettie Brown, was 

photographed in 1920. 



Below: Robert Morris, a prosperous 

dealer in quality groceries, did 

business with the most prominent 

families in the county. 

COURTESY OF HISTORICAL JONESBORO/CLAYTON 

COUNTY, INC. 

Chapter IV ✦ 51

❖ 

Above: A photograph Andrew’s Chapel 

was included in Jonesboro’s Champion 

Home Town entry. 



Below: The “colored” schools of 

Clayton County held May Day 

celebrations with parades and 

performances by the students. 



Only in the twentieth century does much 

information about the life of the county’s 

African-American population come slowly to 

light. Tantalizing hints appear, such as a 

reference to an unnamed black person whose 

home contained “portraits in oil.” A tattered 

1907 receipt introduces Robert Morris who was 

a “Dealer in Staple and Fancy Groceries, Fruits, 

Etc., and All Kinds of Fresh Meats.” He counted 

among his customers the more prominent 

families of Jonesboro. By 1930 the census 

recorded that the 54-year–old merchant owned 

a house worth $1,000 and, unlike most of his 

neighbors, a “radio set.” He and Nettie, his wife 

of ten years, were the parents of three 

children—Hattie, Robert, Jr., and William. 

Awareness of race was a constant in the life of 

the county. For example, the advent of the 

Selective Service, just prior to the outbreak of 

WWII, meant that all young men, including 

African Americans, registered for the draft. A 

newspaper story in 1941 records the race 

consciousness of the Clayton County Selective 

Service Board, “So far the Board has had 

practically enough volunteers to fill their calls 

from among the whites, but they are having to 

induct colored boys as among them were very 

few volunteers.” Two “colored boys” named A. 

C. Glenn and Clifford Howard Turnipseed 

entered the service at the time of this story. 

Newspapers before the civil rights era were 

nearly silent on the subject of black life, unless 

they reported some instance of wrongdoing or 

public foolishness. The custom of the time 

excluded any positive news related to the African- 

American community from the front page. The 

general public did not read about weddings and 

funerals, school programs, college graduations, 

travel abroad, artistic works or personal 

achievements of any sort that were a part of black 

life. These omissions tended to reinforce a 

widespread misconception among whites that 

their black neighbors did nothing of consequence. 

In 1950, Jonesboro’s entry into the 

Champion Home Town contest finally brings 

into view an African-American community 

already fully formed. The town’s entry took the 

form of a scrapbook extolling all of the best 

features of the town, so it included a report on 

the presence of “Colored Churches.” Shiloh 

Baptist Church held services under the 

leadership of Pastor S. M. Davis of Atlanta on 

alternate Sundays, but had Sunday school with 

six teachers every week. Andrews Chapel 

Methodist Church had 225 members, a Sunday 

school with seven teachers, a Missionary Society 

and a Methodist Men’s Society. 

In its treatment of education, the scrapbook 

covered both white and “colored” divisions of 

the segregated county schools. Fading snapshots 

of a May Day celebration, evidently connected 

with the Jonesboro Consolidated Colored 

School, show a parade with floats and a 

marching band. Dancers in sombreros perform a 

folk dance, surrounded by interested onlookers. 

Another series of photos records a sunny day on 

an elementary school grounds; children run 

about and a group of smiling girls gather in the 

shade of a tree. The high school had boys’ and 

girls’ basketball teams; posed in their uniforms. 

The faculty and the principal of one of the 

schools stood on its steps to be photographed. 

The bonds formed in this community are 

strong. When desegregation of the local schools 

meant that African-American teachers would be 

reassigned to formerly white schools, it was 

apparent that even this most desirable step 

forward may have some cost. The faculties of 

two “colored” schools had worked together for 

so long that they wanted to preserve their 

relationship. They formed the Arnold-Fountain 

Professional Club, naming the group after the 

two schools where the founding members had 

taught. This group continues to meet regularly, 

decades after the end of segregation. 

The ruling that reorganized Georgia’s schools 

was not welcomed by many residents of Clayton 


County, which was a center of Ku Klux Klan 

activity. Individuals identified as state leaders of 

the KKK lived in the county. In her fictionalized 

memoir of growing up in post-WWII Clayton, 

Patty Wilson Byars described a Klan demonstration 

on Main Street, with some Klansmen on 

horseback brandishing flaming torches: 

All of the men were dressed in long white 

robes, or sheets, with only the bottom part of 

their pant legs and shoes showing. Their heads 

were covered with white hoods, eye slits cut so 

they could see. Some of the horses, too, were 

covered in white sheets, even their faces, and 

large round eye holes were cut out to permit full 

vision. Many Klansmen carried torches that 

flamed high over their heads. Others blew long 

blasts on their bugles. Some had megaphones, 

shouting through them in booming voices…. 

The street glowed with fire from the torches, 

lighting up the area so all could see. 

Presbyterian Church. A group of Klansmen 

appeared in the parking lot as those who 

attended were leaving. Arthur and Lucy remained 

to lock up the building and then went outside. 

There, illuminated by a single light about a dozen 

hooded men moved toward the Huie’s lonely car. 

The two started their walk toward it. Then she 

thought, “All right you Klansmen, you are the 

ones who have talked so much about how you 

are the protector of Southern Womanhood and 

how you always protect southern ladies from 

danger. Well, I’ll show you who is a Southern 

Lady.” She reached into her purse, and recovered 

her white gloves. Putting on these markers of her 

status as a “Southern Lady” Lucy concealed her 

fears as she walked beside her husband past the 

menacing robed figures to the car; they got in and 

drove away. A convoy of Klansmen followed as 

they drove home, entered the house and locked 

up. Then they watched from an unlighted 

window four cars parked by the roadside. A 

cluster of robed men conferred for a time before 

driving away. But they were not finished with 

Arthur and Lucy. The next night the Huies found 

a burning cross in the front yard. It was the first 

of several as they, and other members of HOPE 

persisted, and finally prevailed in their defense of 

the schools. 

From its earliest days Clayton County has been 

the home of two parallel cultures, one black and 

one white. Only recently has the white community 

had the opportunity to know their black neighbors 

more completely. An example of this half-hidden 

community life revolves around a burial ground, 

❖ 

Above: A photograph of the “Colored” 

educational facilites in Jonesboro were 

offered as part of an entry in a 

“Champion Home Town” contest. 



Below: The Lodge was destroyed by 

fire, but many of the graves that were 

located next to it bear signs of the 

connection between the burial ground 

and the Masons. 


However, some citizens of Clayton County 

stood up to this powerful force. In the late 1950’s, 

when the political leadership of the state 

considered shutting down the Georgia school 

system rather than desegregate, a citizens’ group 

called Help Our Public Education organized to 

support the continued operation of the integrated 

schools. A small chapter of that group formed in 

Clayton County; Arthur and Lucy Huie were 

members. Lucy later recounted their experience 

with the Klan on a dark night after the HOPE 

group concluded its meeting in the Jonesboro 

Chapter IV ✦ 53

❖ 

Anderson “Paps” Freeman was the 

progenitor of a large family. Many 

of his descendants still live in 


COURTESY OF VIRGINIA FREEMAN FORD. 

now known as Clayton County Memorial Gardens 

Cemetery. After the displacement of the Creek 

Indians, a man named Steele and his slaves farmed 

this land where, after some time, a slave burial 

ground developed. Steele gave land near the 

graveyard for a black church, which later divided 

into two congregations, one Baptist, one 

Methodist. Members of the latter group organized 

a Masonic lodge. In the late 1800s a group of 

members of the York Rite Masonic Lodge #429, 

Lovejoy Enterprise, purchased the two acre tract. 

They built a “Lodge Hall” that also was used as a 

school. Some Clayton County citizens 

remembered attending classes in the first decades 

of the twentieth century. One teacher, Mrs. Ethel 

K. “Kate” Lovett managed four “grades” of pupils 

in the one-room schoolhouse. 

Throughout this time, African-American 

families, mostly those connected with the Lodge, 

continued to bury their relatives in this place. 

However, at some point after the middle of the 

century, the building disappeared; some people 

familiar with the property believe it burned, 

possibly as the result of arson. At some point a 

different group seems to have replaced the old 

York Rite lodge, because in 1966 it was the P. S. 

and S. Lodge No. 5 that sold the land. For the 

token sum of $1, Kate Lovett, the former teacher 

in the one-room school who had become a 

community activist and evangelist, hoped to 

preserve the community burial ground with free 

burials for the poor. Unfortunately, in the ensuing 

years most of the graves became overgrown, 

although some persons still were laid to rest with 

their kinsmen from time to time. 

The hidden graves at the Lodge Hall burial 

ground were rediscovered by Wayne Patterson, a 

county employee. He contacted Minnie Thrasher, 

a descendant of persons buried there. Patterson 

also contacted County Commission Chair Eldrin 

Bell, who recognized the historic significance of 

the place and supported a campaign to restore 

the old cemetery. In 2006, Mrs. Lovett’s heirs 

passed the land on to Clayton County. The burial 

ground was put back into good order; 237 graves 

were revealed, although many more probably 

exist in the area. Chuck Ware, the county’s Grants 

and Government Liaison made the recovery of 

the cemetery a special project. He told the 

Clayton News Daily, “I’m getting the living 

together with the dead, in a way of speaking.” At 

the dedication ceremony of the newly named 

Clayton County Memorial Gardens Cemetery in 

May 2006, Chairman Bell announced plans to 

add the cemetery to the county’s “Heritage Trail” 

and to preserve “The Lodge Hall” as the name for 

a portion of the grounds. A new access road and 

park-like landscaping are planned and the county 

also hopes to reconstruct a replica of the old 

combination Lodge and school, where records of 

the burials will be made available to visitors. 

Members of several long-established Clayton 

County families took an interest in this project to 

restore dignity to the last resting place of their 

African-American ancestors. One of these 

families is made up of the numerous descendants 

of Anderson “Paps” Freeman, Sr., who is buried 

there. Freeman was born in about 1830 and lived 

as a slave on the plantation of a person named 

Anderson. After slavery ended, he married Alice 

Freeman, who was born in 1840 or ’45 and they 

had eleven children. After the death of Alice, 

“Paps” Freeman married Jane Knight and two 

more children were added to the Freeman family 

tree. The family lived in Clayton or neighboring 

counties for the rest of Anderson Freeman’s life. 

FOUNDERS OF THE YORK RITE MASON LODGE 

NO. 429,LOVEJOY ENTERPRISE 

Floyd Thrasher, King Allen. Robert B. Jones, James B. Jones, Oscar Wimbush, Bennie Nunnally, 

and Tilman Walker 

O FFICERS OF THE P. S .&S . LODGE NO. 5 

Wesley Turnipseed, Mary Sandford, Jimmie Lee Brown, Precious Eason, Maggie Robinson, 

Carrie Hayes Nunnally, and Tilman Walker. 


One of his sons, William H. “Luke” Freeman 

was very prosperous and became owner of 278 

acres of land; possibly he was the first African 

American to own land in Clayton County. He 

had tenants and kept a small store for the small 

community in the neighborhood of his acreage. 

A family member recalled, 

…if the people of the community had 

something to sell they would bring it to his store 

and he’d sell it for them with a little profit out of 

it. It was a good relationship going on between 

that community. If anyone got sick, they would 

go to each other’s houses and stay with them 

until theywere healed. 

In 1906 Anderson Freeman and some of his 

children organized the first Freeman Family 

Reunion; this close-knit group continued its 

annual meetings every year, with the exception of 

1942, when wartime rationing made it impossible 

to arrange. Members of the family have made the 

effort to preserve their history. Reunions usually 

took place in Clayton County, but occasionally 

sub-reunions convened in places as far away as 

Toledo, Ohio or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Members of the family come from as far away as 

Boston or Portland, Oregon. One family member, 

Glenda Matuté Hunter, remembered a time when 

she was a small girl walking for a very long time at 

night in order to reach the reunion in time. When 

they arrived, “They were hugging, kissing, and 

crying. I used to wonder why they were crying 

because at that time I didn’t know about the tears 

of joy.” The celebration centered on a meal of 

cakes, pies, chicken, and other treats, served 

outside on “horse leg tables” decorated with white 

tablecloths made from fertilizer sacks. The ground 

around the table was carpeted with several inches 

of fresh sawdust, “so all the children could run 

around without hurting their feet on the rocks.” 

Before settling in to the feast the family members 

formed two lines and marched around the table 

singing the family song, “I Shall Wear a Crown.” In 

her description of these events, Virginia Freeman 

Ford wrote, “After dinner the children played and 

the other family members talked about the love 

and wisdom of God, how hard they worked, and 

their trials and tribulations. Their main concerns 

were food, clothes and shelter. The families all 

looked out for one another.” 

POPULATION GROWTH & 

CHANGE 

During the Eisenhower administration the 

United States Congress accepted the president’s 

recommendation to create a massive interstate 

highway system. Ultimately three of these 

highways connected to the city of Atlanta, even as 

the trains of the previous century had done. In an 

echo of that early pattern of railroad development, 

one of the major lines of the system, Interstate 75, 

linked Atlanta to the South passed through 

Clayton County just as the railroad and the U.S. 

highways had done. Several large trucking 

concerns have centers in the northeastern portion 

of the county, close to the Perimeter Highway that 

circles Atlanta and connects Interstates 20, 75, 

and 85. These new roads played a large part in 

bringing population change to the county, which 

previously had increased and changed mostly by 

a gradual influx of Southerners. Now the county 

has become increasingly suburbanized, while its 

demographic characteristics have changed 

dramatically. Immigrants from Latin America and 

Asia, combined, represent about ten percent of 

the population; about two-thirds of Clayton’s 

citizens are African American. 

Perhaps the most spectacular and beautiful 

visual example of demographic change is the 

Hindu Temple of Atlanta, in Riverdale, that 

opened in 1990. Master craftsmen brought from 

India by the temple’s organizers built it in the style 

of the tenth-century Chola Dynasty; it stands a 

brilliant white filigree against the blue Georgia sky. 

Several hundred Atlanta-area Hindus, who are 

largely middle-class professionals from southern 

India, attend the temple each day. 

❖ 

Suitable streets and roads combined 

with the internal combustion engine to 

create a system of delivery that is 

essential to modern commerce. 


VANISHING GEORGIA COLLECTION, CLLT84-85 

AND CLT45-84. 

Chapter IV ✦ 55

❖ 

Above: Each day worshippers from all 

over the metro Atlanta area visit the 

Hindu Temple of Atlanta in Riverdale. 

COURTESY OF THE HINDU TEMPLE OF 

ATLANTA, INC. 

Below: Although it is actually situated 

a short distance beyond the Clayton 

County boundary, members of 

Clayton County’s new Buddhist 

community were involved in building 

the Wat Lao Photisarum. 


Another demonstration of the newly 

international flavor of Clayton County life is its 

small Buddhist community; Laotian Buddhists 

have built the Wat Lao Photisarum temple in 

Conley. Lao Buddhist temples serve immigrants 

from Laos, but the Lao Buddhists also say, 

“Buddhist temples welcome all seekers of 

knowledge regardless of ethnic background.” 

A visit to any of the county’s supermarkets will 

demonstrate the presence of the large Hispanic 

population—slightly more than 11 percent of the 

county—that has made a home in Clayton over 

the recent years. They offer a variety of tortillas, 

canned goods and toiletries from Latin America, 

selections of dried peppers, Latin American style 

cheeses and fresh plantains. In the northern 

portion of the county are stores catering entirely 

to customers seeking these products. In all, 

Clayton’s Hispanic-owned businesses represent 

about 4 percent of the county’s businesses. Other 

specialty shopping facilities aim at an Asian- 

American customer base; Asians comprise about 5 

percent of the county population and they operate 

about 8.6 percent of its businesses. Spanish and 

Korean signs invite Clayton County newcomers to 

church services in their native tongues, while 

private schools teaching English as a second 

language do steady business. 

The presence of the Interstate system finished 

off a process that began when the first Clayton 

County residents took a train into Atlanta to work 

or shop. A county of small towns and farms has 

become almost entirely suburbanized. Where milk 

cows once grazed or cotton rose up in the heat of 

a Georgia summer, now housing developments 

and strip malls flourish. A person driving through 

the county will need to watch for road signs to find 

the place where Morrow leaves off and Lake City 

begins. Where Arthur Huie’s beef cattle once 

grazed, a modern courthouse and county jail now 


stand. Rush hours bring heavy traffic to Highway 

54 and Tara Boulevard. The world of nature now 

may be seen only in a few precious spots such as 

the Reynolds Nature Preserve, where visitors can 

walk the trails and imagine Clayton County as it 

was in the distant, quiet past. 

CAN YOU DIRECT ME 

TO TARA? 

Little girls often enjoy spending time with 

their interesting aunts. This was certainly the way 

young Miss Peggy Marsh felt about coming to 

Clayton County from her home in Atlanta to visit 

her maternal aunts, Sis and Mamie Fitzgerald, 

elderly ladies still residing on their family 

plantation. One of the best things about these 

visits was the exciting stories of the old times— 

life in plantation days, the desperate time of war, 

and the struggle to rebuild from near total 

destruction. In those times (Margaret Munnerlyn 

Mitchell had been born in 1900) scars of the old 

battles could still be seen in Clayton County. 

Peggy was destined to have a very interesting 

life. She had an unhappy first marriage followed 

by a happy second one, and worked as a writer for 

the Atlanta Constitution, now with the byline 

“Margaret Mitchell.” Like many newspaper 

reporters she also had a literary project on the 

side. She was mining the treasure-trove of 

Southern history—including the stories from her 

Clayton County kin and their neighbors—to write 

an epic historical novel. The huge manuscript 

rested in her closet for some time before a friend 

persuaded her to offer it to a publisher. Named 

Gone With the Wind, her story of life in the old 

South zoomed to the top of the best seller lists, 

won the Pulitzer Prize, and inspired a spectacular 

and equally successful movie. Margaret Mitchell 

became an international celebrity. 

Gone With the Wind premiered at Atlanta’s 

Loew’s Grand Theater in December, 1939, taking 

all of its stars as well as author Margaret Mitchell 

through a dazzling round of social events and 

publicity. Clayton County also was discovering 

some new-found celebrity as it became known as 

a source for the hit movie. In anticipation of the 

premiere, the United Daughters of the 

Confederacy made plans to place welcoming signs 

along the roads into the area. Local volunteers 

stood ready to guide visitors to historic sites, 

which were also to be marked for easy locating. 

The Jonesboro City Council and various private 

donors contributed funds to purchase an 

advertisement in the forthcoming Atlanta 

Constitution special edition to commemorate the 

event. An exhibit of Civil War relics was planned 

for the City Hall. They optimistically anticipated 

“thousands” of visitors. This was the beginning of 

Clayton County’s career as a tourist destination. 

The Fitzgerald house she had loved to visit as 

a child, which is reputed to be the model for 

Tara, was far from the grandest house in the 

county. In fact, the white-columned Greek 

revival mansion shown in the film owes a lot 

more to the architecture of Natchez or New 

Orleans than to Clayton County. A closer 

examination of the famous book reveals very 

few details about the mythic O’Hara family 

home. Mitchell’s original vision of the past 

leaves Tara’s appearance mostly to the 

imagination of the reader. She tells us that it was 

constructed of whitewashed brick. 

[The house was]…a clumsy sprawling building 

that crowned the rise of ground overlooking the 

green incline of pasture land running down to the 

river; and it pleased Gerald greatly, for, even when 

new, it wore a look of mellowed years. The old 

oaks, which had seen Indians pass under their 

limbs, hugged the house closely with their great 

trunks and towered their branches over the roof in 

dense shade. The lawn, reclaimed from weeds, 

grew thick with clover and Bermuda grass, and 

Gerald saw to it that it was well kept. From the 

❖ 

Above: Margaret Mitchell became an 

international celebrity a a result of 

her prize-winning novel and the 

movie that it inspired. 

COURTESY OF THE KENAN RESEARCH CENTER AT 

THE ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER. 

Below: Probably inspired by the idea of 

the elegant antebellum home, Ashley 

Oaks, built in 1879, is also known as 

the Hutcheson-Bailey House. Built by 

Leander C. Hutcheson, it is of solid 

brick construction, with walls several 

inches thick. Jonesboro’s first banker, 

Alfred C. Blalock, boarded here during 

the early years of the twentieth 

century. It is now open to the public by 

special arrangement. 

Chapter IV ✦ 57

❖ 

Above: Located in the Old Depot in 

the Jonesboro business district, the 

Road to Tara museum houses 

memorabilia connected with the 

prize-winning book and movie, 

much of which was collected by 

Herb Bridges. 



Right: The actual Fitzgerald 

Plantation house and one of its 

associated outbuildings are in 

private hands. Although it would 

have been a very comfortable 

residence in its day, the house is a far 

cry from the Tara that has risen in the 

public imagination. 



avenue of cedars to the row of white cabins in the 

slave quarters, there was an air of solidness, of 

stability and permanence about Tara, and 

whenever Gerald galloped around the bend in the 

road and saw his own roof rising through green 

branches, his heart swelled with pride as though 

each sight of it were the first sight. 

So compelling is the power of Gone With the 

Wind that some readers lose track of the fact that it 

is a work of fiction. Employees of tourist 

information centers in Georgia regularly face the 

unhappy task of disappointing fans of the movie, 

asking for directions to Tara. First they must gently 

convey the fact that Tara is fictional, and then go 

on to point out that the written version describes a 

comfortable farmhouse such as the one visited by 

the child Peggy Marsh. But there is a consolation to 

offer. Although the now dilapidated Fitzgerald 

house is in private hands and far from public 

access, a well-preserved similar dwelling, called 

Stately Oaks, is open for visitors in the town of 

Jonesboro. Like Scarlett O’Hara’s fictional home, 

Stately Oaks offers airy rooms and a pleasant front 

porch; it is comfortable, if not a palace. In this 

place, where visitors can mingle historical fact with 

Margaret Mitchell’s fantasy, the prophecy of the 

UDC has proved correct—a steady stream of 

visitors comes to Stately Oaks, and some never 

give up their idea that it is the “real” Tara. 

Recent decades have witnessed great changes 

in the life of Clayton County. Old familiar names 

still may be seen on long-established businesses, 

but newcomers are finding places in the county 

as well. African Americans have moved to new 

positions of public leadership and service. 

Travelers from far away still pass through the 

county, visiting the scenes of the historic Battle of 

Jonesboro and remembering Gone With the Wind 

at the museum in the old Depot on Jonesboro’s 

Main Street. Once a crossroads, Clayton County 

is still a crossroads, always remembering its past 

as it moves into the new century. 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

Although this volume does not have the formal apparatus of an academic history—no footnotes, 

no detailed bibliography—the main sources of the information and the help of many persons must 

not go unrecognized. 

Some of those who directed me to the evidence of Clayton’s past include Barbara Emmert and Ted 

Key of Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County, Inc., who were the first that I consulted. I was allowed 

access to primary source materials as yet unavailable to the general public that are in Historic 

Jonesboro/ClaytonCounty, Inc.’s holdings. Some other helpful members of that organization included 

Virginia Freeman Ford, Helen Honea Knight, Joe Moore, Mark Pollard, Susan Pelfrey, Madison 

Pelfrey, and Elaine Thames. Interviews with Mrs. Lucie Huie provided insight into Clayton County 

in the civil rights era. 

Other helpful individuals include: Chuck Ware, who has represented Clayton County in the 

effort to restore the Memorial Gardens Cemetery and Kena Reyes, Clayton County archivist; 

Noah Phelps, Archivist, Historical Initiative, Sigma Chi International Fraternity; Michael Rose of 

the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center; Sherri A. Nettles, Public Affairs office, 

U.S. Army Garrison, Fort McPherson; Dr. B. K. Mohan of the Hindu Temple of Atlanta; Mike Toomey, 

Morrow Tourist Bureau; Patrick Duncand and Megan Spears, Clayton County Convention 

and Visitors’ Bureau; Jamie Carlington, the Southern Regional Medical Center; Andrea Towne, Georgia 

International Convention Center; and personnel at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International airport. 

❖ 

Left: Born in 1832, Jacob T. 

Eberhardt of Ellenwood was 

photographed in the last quarter of 

the nineteenth century. 

Right: William Calloway Estes and 

Margaret Malinda Kile were 

photographed at the time of their 

wedding in 1878. 

Acknowledgements ✦ 59

❖ 

Joseph Frank Thames feeds a calf on 

his family’s farm. 


The National Archives staff assisted in the use 

of microfilm of the Freedmen’s Bureau Records. 

The State of Georgia Archives had materials 

pertaining to the county’s history, and its 

Vanishing Georgia and Virtual Georgia 

photography collections and its map collection 

are outstanding; Barbara DeLoach and Steve 

Engerrand provided a great deal of help in 

acquiring photographs from these sources. 

At the main branch of the Clayton County 

Public Library System, Carol Stewart provided 

access to unique items in their holdings. The 

Georgia Newspaper Project of the University of 

Georgia Library was the source of microfilm 

copies of the Clayton County News and Farmer; 

Clayton State University’s library provided 

published reference material, and the use of its 

microfilm reader; Rosemary Fischer assisted in 

locating archival materials. 

Cindy Parrish of Maryville, Tennessee, 

provided the drawing of the Georgia land 

lottery, that was made by George I. Parrish, Jr. 

1930-1992; see a selection of historical art 

prints by this well known Georgia artist at 

georgeparrishart.com. 

Jim C. Kemp gave invaluable help in 

researching visual resources, making photographs, 

and providing editorial advice. 

Some of the published sources consulted were: 

Bakken, Terry. Historic Clayton County Home of Gone With the Wind. Jonesboro: Historical Jonesboro, Inc. 1975 

The Clayton County Annual, No.1…Lovejoy, Georgia: Walter H. Grant, 1893 

Coulter, E. Merton. Georgia: A Short History. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1960. 

The Clayton County News and Farmer (microfilm, University of Georgia Library, Georgia Newspaper Project). 

Dickson, Abb, comp. The Battle of Jonesboro: Three Views, Three Objectives. Privately published in Jonesboro Georgia. 

History of the City of Riverdale, Georgia, Bi-Centennial Edition 1776-1976 (In the Clayton County Main Library, Genealogy Collection). 

Huie, Lucy Cline “Meeting the Klan.” The Night the Animals Screamed. Morrow, Georgia: Pen and Pica Writers, 2003, 13-18. 

Jonesboro Bicentennial Committee. Jonesboro: A Historical Sketch. 1976, 

Kilgore, Alice Copeland; Edith Haynes Smith and Francis Partridge Tuck, eds. A History of Clayton County, Georgia 1821-1983. Clayton 

County, Georgia: Ancestors Unlimited, Inc. Genealogical Society, 1983. 

McCuller, Bernice. This Is Your Georgia. Northport Alabama: American Southern Publishing Company, 1966. 

Varner, James M. “Brief History of Clayton County” and “Historic Highlights of Morrow.” Clayton County Historical Society Historical 

Bulletin, No.1, May 1963. 

White, George. Statistics of the State of Georgia. Savannah, Georgia: W. Thorne Williams, 1849. 

_____. Historical Collections of Georgia, 1855 (repr. 1969). 

National Archives and Records Service. Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands (microfilm). 

New Georgia Encyclopedia (online). 

The New York Times (online archives). 

United States Bureau of the Census. US Census Quickfacts, Clayton County 

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/13063.html 


SHARING THE HERITAGE 

Historic profiles of businesses, 

SPECIAL 

THANKS TO 

organizations, and families that have 

contributed to the development and 

economic base of Clayton County 

City of Forest Park .........................................................................62 

Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County, Inc. ...........................................65 

Blalock Machinery & Equipment Company, Inc. ...................................66 

Hodges, McEachem & King, Attorneys at Law......................................69 

Sutherland’s Foodservice, Inc............................................................70 

Atlanta Produce Dealers Association ..................................................71 

Atlanta State Farmers Market...........................................................72 

Paragon Systems, Inc.......................................................................73 

Forest Park Sheet Metal Works, Inc. ..................................................74 

Action Tire Company.......................................................................76 

R. J. Haynie & Associates ................................................................78 

Georgia International Convention Center............................................80 

Clayton County Board of Commissioners .............................................82 

City of Jonesboro ............................................................................84 

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport .................................86 

BHW Sheet Metal Company ..............................................................88 

J. J. Jardina Company, Inc................................................................89 

Georgia Archives ............................................................................90 

Southern Regional Health System ......................................................91 

Clayton State University..................................................................92 

Arko Veal Company, Inc...................................................................93 

Dovetail Consulting.........................................................................94 

Spartan Lincoln Mercury..................................................................95 

Loggins & Associates, P.C.................................................................96 

Akstein Eye Center .........................................................................97 

Estes Heating & Air Conditioning......................................................98 

Chick-fil-A, Inc. .............................................................................99 

Allan Vigil Ford............................................................................100 

Clayton County Water Authority .....................................................101 

Atlanta Orthopedic & 

Arthroscopy Center, PC 

Clayton County 

Water Authority 

Heritage Bank 

Loggins & Associates, P.C. 

Sharing the Heritage ✦ 61

CITY OF 

FOREST PARK 

❖ 

These gentlemen probably referred to 

Forest Park by its first nickname, 

Stump Town. 

The City of Forest Park has 

been known by many names 

throughout the years. In the 

1830s and ’40s, it was 

nicknamed Stump Town for 

the numerous stumps left 

behind after multitudes of trees 

were cut down and their wood 

used for the steam engines 

riding the rails of the Macon 

and Western Railroad. 

Military maps drawn by 

Northern forces in 1864 referred 

to it as Quick Station; 1870 

Census records dubbed its 

station house Forrest Station; 

Simeon N. J. Waldrop in the mid 1870s 

deeded land adjacent to the Forrest Grove 

School to be utilized by the Forrest Grove 

Baptist Church; and in 1893, the Clayton 

County Annual No. 1 (1893), notes the 

community’s name as Astor and the station 

house was called Forrest. 

Then, on August 14, 1908, the Georgia 

General Assembly penned the charter, which 

declared that “the town of Forrest Park, in 

Clayton County, Georgia” was officially 

incorporated. And, finally, in 1952, the City 

decided to drop the extra “r” and officially 

adopted the name Forest Park, the name that 

remains today. 

But, despite the different designations—no 

matter how many times the name was 

changed—one thing has remained steadfast. 

The citizens of Forest Park are proud of their 

heritage—the sheer strength, faith and 

determination of their ancestors who struggled 

through wars, illnesses, infestations, epidemics, 

and more to lay the firm foundation upon which 

the city sits today. 

Conveniently located between I-75, I-85, 

I-285, and I-675, just minutes from Atlanta 

and all the world renowned amenities offered 

there, the City of Forest Park today covers 

9.3 square miles of constantly changing land. 

One can still see, however, the original one 

square mile design around the Main Street area 

of the city. 

Like the physical boundaries of the land, 

the population has also shown explosive 

growth—increasing more than forty fold from 

its initial counts of about 500 in the early 1900s 

to its current population of approximately 

22,000. By population, it is the largest city in 


Within the Forest Park city limits, one will 

find the world’s largest open-air farmers market. 

Covering a sprawling 146 acres, the Georgia 

State Farmers Market is run by the State 

Agricultural Commission and will soon be 

receiving a facelift as part of a major 

revitalization project. People from all over the 

world will be able to enjoy the same fresh 

produce offered today as well as specialty and 

prepared foods, local arts and crafts, numerous 

restaurants and food related vendors. The 

existing exhibit hall will be renovated so as to 

provide a venue for trade shows, demonstrations, 

classes, everything possible today but on a much 

larger, more up-to-date scale. 

Another attribute to the City’s growth and 

longevity is Fort Gillem Military Reservation. 

Established in 1941 and encompassing 1,427 

acres of land, Fort Gillem has been charged 

with training supply soldiers and maintaining 

and processing equipment used in every 

major conflict since WWII. Previously named 

Atlanta Army General Depot and the Conley 

Quartermaster Depot, the name was officially 

changed on June 30, 1974, to Fort Gillem, in 

honor of Lieutenant General Alvan C. Gillem, 

Jr., of the Third Army. 

Located in the eastern portion of the city, 

the base’s land has included warehouses, 

barracks, lakes, tennis courts, gymnasium, 

playground, a softball field, golf course, an 


airstrip and currently houses many different 

supply and support units. 

In 2011, however, the City will have a 

bittersweet, rare opportunity. The U.S. 

Government’s Base Closure and Realignment 

Commission has pinpointed several military 

bases for closure, and Fort Gillem as well as its 

neighboring base—Fort McPherson located in 

the southern section of Atlanta—will be lost. At 

Fort Gillem, 237 acres will be retained by the 

Army, leaving some 1,190 acres to be declared 

surplus and cleared of Army occupation by 

September 15, 2011. 

To formulate plans for the reuse and 

redevelopment of this surplus land, the Forest 

Park/Fort Gillem Local Redevelopment Authority 

(LRA) was created in May 2005 and has since 

put together a development team called the 

Forest Park Development Partners, LLC. 

Together, this team—which consists of Cousins 

Properties Incorporated, Weeks Robinson 

Properties LLC, and LNR Property Corporation’s 

Commercial Property Group—has presented an 

exciting $750 million redevelopment plan. 

Expected to take ten to fifteen years to 

complete, this massive project is anticipated to 

include 717 single- and multifamily housing 

units; 435,000 square feet of retail space; 

more than 1 million square feet of office space; 

more than 8.2 million square feet of light 

manufacturing and warehouse distribution 

space; and more than 200 acres of green space. 

When the project is complete, the City of Forest 

Park is expected to see an addition of twentyfive 

to thirty percent more land, $423 million in 

new real property taxes to the area, 4,700 new 

construction jobs and 17,642 permanent jobs. 

Another major project underway in the city 

is the Main Street Livable Centers Initiative 

Project (LCI). This project studies the city’s 

options associated with a proposed commuter 

rail line. Transportation, land use, housing, 

development and redevelopment around the 

proposed line and the overall economics of the 

❖ 

Above: Bill Lee Park located on 

Main Street. 

Below: A birds-eye view of what the 

Georgia State Farmers Market will 

look like after its planned facelift.. 


❖ 

Above: This beautiful eighteen acre 

park is a gathering place for citizens 

and one of the city’s center points. 

Below: The Main Street Livable 

Centers Initiative Project will bring 

the railroad back into the spotlight— 

this time as a commuter rail line. 

city are being studied. LCI plans include a 

Forest Park Town Center which will serve as an 

area for town festivals and other gatherings. 

Indeed, it is an exciting time in Forest Park. 

And with such grand activity and growth on the 

horizon, it is no wonder that the same citizens 

who came together to celebrate their city’s 100th 

birthday in August 2008 are so excited and 

hopeful about their future. 

Centennial birthday festivities included 

special guests, entertainment, games and 

souvenirs as well as a special museum. Though 

this centennial museum was placed in a 

temporary location for the celebration, a 

permanent location was in the planning stages. 

Items on display include photographs, books, 

clothes, and much more. For more information, 

visit www.forestparkga.org . 


Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County, Inc., is 

a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting 

interest in the historical background and heritage 

of Jonesboro, Georgia, and Clayton County and 

to developing this historical background and 

heritage to the cultural, economic, and social 

advantage of the entire community. 

The official birth of Historical Jonesboro/ 

Clayton County, Inc., occurred on July 19, 

1968, although its roots go back to the 

Jonesboro Women’s Club, where enlightened 

members would discuss the unique 

marketability of Jonesboro and the surrounding 

county due to the rich history of the area. 

Originally, two separate and distinct historical 

organizations were formed: one to preserve the 

history of the city of Jonesboro, and another to 

preserve the history of Clayton County. Later, 

the two groups merged to form a single entity 

dedicated to preserve and promote the rich 

history of the entire area. 

Through the efforts of the organization and the 

generosity of local citizens, several buildings of 

historical significance have been assembled on the 

grounds of its headquarters at the Margaret 

Mitchell Memorial Park located on Jodeco Road in 

Jonesboro. The 1839 Greek Revival house, Stately 

Oaks, along with the original log kitchen, were 

donated by the Haynie/Orr family. The one-room 

Bethel Schoolhouse was obtained from the Bethel 

Baptist Church with the assistance of James Parker. 

Juddy’s County Store (1894) was donated by the 

William Roberts estate. The R. G. Turner estate 

donated the tenant house and well house. The 

beautiful site also boosts a recreation of an early 

Creek Indian Village. Tourists from throughout the 

United States and many foreign countries visit 

Stately Oaks each year. Groups can enjoy lunch or 

dinner tours in the beautifully decorated 

schoolhouse. Educational programs include Civil 

War home front and Native American village life 

tours for school and other youth groups. 

The Clayton County History Center located 

in the Old 1869 Jail is the repository of 

numerous artifacts related to Clayton County’s 

history from the Creek period to present day. 

The facility, located on King Street, was donated 

by the Allen sisters—Louise, Mattie and Alma. 

First Baptist Church of Jonesboro donated the 

Gayden Webb-Sims House, which is currently 

undergoing restoration. 

❖ 

HISTORICAL 

JONESBORO/ 

CLAYTON 

COUNTY, INC. 

Top: Tenant and well house was 

donated by the R.G. Turner Estate. 

Bottom: Stately Oaks Plantation. 

Legendary home of Gone With 

the Wind. 


BLALOCK 

MACHINERY & 

EQUIPMENT 

COMPANY, INC. 

❖ 

Above: D. Braxton Blalock in his 

Senate Office at the Georgia Capital. 

Below: A.O. Blalock served under 

President Woodrow Wilson as 

Collector of Internal Revenue 

for Georgia. 

When Bill Blalock and his sister Mary talk 

about their family business—Blalock Machinery 

& Equipment Company, Inc.—it is obvious that 

they are not only proud of what they are today, 

but they are also proud of their heritage. And, 

who can blame them. 

After all, their forefathers and mothers laid 

an incredible foundation for them. They come 

from a long lineage of successful, yet humble 

men and women who can be traced all the way 

back to the middle 1700s—men who proudly 

served their communities, their state and their 

nation as community leaders and founders, state 

legislators and senators as well as brave soldiers, 

respected officers and true gentlemen. 

They come from generations of bankers, 

doctors, lawyers, educators, merchants, board 

chairmen, presidents and a multitude of other 

business leaders and founders. Their greatgrandfather, 

Aaron O. Blalock, in fact, served 

under President Woodrow Wilson as Collector 

of Internal Revenue for Georgia, and his 

brother, Dr. Alfred Blalock, was the Chief of 

Surgery at John Hopkins and is credited with 

perfecting the famous “blue-baby” operation, 

which restored and cured countless children 

with heart defects the world over. Another 

ancestor, Eugene M. Blalock, a lawyer and 

Jonesboro merchant who lived from 1851 to 

1907, founded the Atlanta Loan and Banking 

Company and established connections with 

many eastern capitalists, bringing to the South 

large sums of money at greatly reduced rates of 

interest. A farm loan banking business, Atlanta 

Loan and Banking extended into four states. 

Another Blalock-turned-banker, Dr. William 

Blalock, was the founder of Fulton National 

Bank in Atlanta. 

Though the known Blalock bloodline actually 

starts with Lewis Blalock who was born in 

North Carolina in 1749, the family tree was 

quickly transplanted to Georgia as Lewis 

himself moved here before his death. One of his 

sons, Zaddock Blalock, followed suit and was 

himself considered a Fayette County pioneer. 

Eventually, family members began migrating 

to neighboring counties, including Clayton 

County. In fact, several of Zaddock’s grandsons— 

the children of Zaddock Braxton Blalock— 

made quite an impact on Clayton. For example, 

Alfred C. Blalock, 1854-1934, was the first to 

move into the county and was actually the 

founder and president of the Bank of Jonesboro 

and served many years as Clayton County’s 

State Senator. Alfred’s brother, Edgar A. Blalock, 

1854-1896, was also a banker and merchant in 

Jonesboro; and yet another of his brothers, 

Aaron O. Blalock, was a banker and merchant 

as well as a member of both the Georgia State 

Legislature and Senate. Aaron O. was also the 


father of Daniel Braxton Blalock, founder of 

Blalock Machinery & Equipment Company, Inc. 

A skilled entrepreneur, Daniel Braxton 

Blalock started Blalock Machinery in the fall 

of 1927. At its conception, the company sold 

heavy road equipment and maintained real 

estate holdings with D. B. himself serving 

as president and chairman of the board for 

almost a quarter of a century before passing the 

torch to his son, Daniel Braxton, Jr. The now 

late D.B., Jr., led the company from 1950 

until 1976. 

D.B., Jr.’s, eldest son—Daniel Braxton 

Blalock III—took over in 1976 and served until 

his death in 1998. His brother, William “Bill” 

Blalock, took the reins and remains at the 

company’s helm today. He is joined by his 

sister, Mary Blalock Williams, who serves as 

the company’s vice president and secretary, 

and his sister-in-law, Susan Blalock, wife of the 

late Daniel Braxton Blalock, III, who serves as 

company treasurer. 

Though the company was initially founded 

in Atlanta, it was moved to Clayton County in 

1978 when its land was condemned to make 

way for a new MARTA station. 

Bill says that moving the business to Clayton 

County was like coming home and that the 

county has not only been good to his family, but 

it has been good for the business. The business 

is currently located at 683 Atlanta South 

Parkway in College Park. 

In addition to changing its business address, 

the company has also changed its product line 

from heavy road equipment to power lawn 

equipment and is, in fact, one of the top 

distributors of such equipment in the United 

States today. The company and its nineteen 

employees serve more than 150 dealers in 

Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee and have 

tripled revenues in the past eight years to more 

❖ 

Above: D. Braxton Blalock, Sr., and 

fellow Legislators pose with Evangelist 

Billy Graham (center). 

Below: Blalock Machinery’s founder 

and Chairman of the Board D. 

Braxton Blalock, Sr. (standing), and 

D. Braxton Blalock, Jr., company 

president, pose at the office in 

the 1950s. 


❖ 

Above: Seated Left to right: 

Republican gubernatorial candidate 

Bo Calloway; former Georgia 

Governor Ernest Vandiver; Senator D. 

Braxton Blalock; and Democratic 

gubernatorial candidate Lester 

Maddox meet with Governor Carl 

Sanders and others during a political 

meeting of the minds in this 

1966 photo. 

Right: D. Braxton Blalock III 

accepting for Blalock Machinery & 

Equipment Company an Award of 

Excellence from Exmark 

Manufacturing Company. 

than $30 million annually. The company also 

maintains real estate holdings and has been 

heralded in the small business category as the 

2007 Georgia Family Business of the Year. 

An awards program initiated by the Cox 

Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State 

University, the Georgia Family “Business of 

the Year” Awards emphasize the crucial role 

family businesses play in Georgia’s economy 

and in society. Winning businesses are chosen 

on the basis of proven business success, positive 

family/business linkage, multigenerational 

family business involvement, contributions 

to industry and community, and innovative 

business practices and strategy—all criteria 

Blalock Machinery not only meets, but 

often exceeds. 

“It was really nice to win an award like the 

Georgia Family Business Award. It not only 

affirms what my grandfather, father and brother 

did before me, but it is also an affirmation that 

we continue to move in the right direction,” Bill 

said, quickly adding that the driving force 

behind the company for the past eight decades 

is the concept that it is not just a family-owned 

business, but a business for families. 

“We are extremely proud that the 

relationships that have developed between the 

Blalock family and our employee family have 

survived for generations,” Bill continued. “The 

Blalock legacy is, of course, a major factor in our 

continuing success, but our employees deserve 

much of the credit as well.” 


HODGES, 

MCEACHERN & 

KING, 

ATTORNEYS AT 

LAW 

Like father, like son. When it comes to the 

story of attorney Carl H. Hodges of Hodges, 

McEachern & King, no phrase could be 

more fitting. 

Carl H. was just two years old when his 

father, the late J. Carl Hodges, Jr., moved his 

family to Clayton County and set up a law 

practice in 1953. He specialized in real estate 

law and practiced alone until 1975 when 

Carl H.—having just finished his law studies 

at the University of Georgia—followed in 

his footsteps. 

The firm became Hodges and Hodges and 

father and son practiced together for eight 

years before J. Carl retired in 1983. Carl H. 

specialized in wills, trusts, estates, and probate. 

After Carl H. joined the firm and before 

J. Carl retired, the Hodges took on 

another partner, Marion K. McEachern. 

A graduate of Emory University Law 

School, McEachern joined the practice 

specializing in real estate law. McEachern 

helps clients with a wide variety of legal 

issues relating to acquiring, financing, 

developing, managing, constructing, 

leasing, and selling commercial and 

residential property of all kinds as well 

as taxation and disposal issues that relate 

to such property. 

A third partner, Kyle King, joined the 

practice in 1997, giving the firm its current 

name of Hodges, McEachern & King. Like 

Carl H., King is a graduate of the law school at 

the University of Georgia and focuses on wills 

trusts, estates, probate and any litigation related 

to those areas. 

In addition, the firm of Hodges, McEachern 

& King also specializes in Elder Law, with the 

attorneys committed to helping clients in 

making their end-of-life plans from estate 

planning and administration to Medicaid, 

disability and other long-term care issues. 

The offices of Hodges, McEachern & King 

are located at 177 North Main Street in 

Jonesboro. For more information, you may call 

770-473-0072. 


SUTHERLAND’S 

FOODSERVICE, 

INC. 

❖ 

Above: In 1967, Sutherland’s moved 

to their new building at the market- 

”K.” It remains their present location, 

but many building projects and 

expansions have been completed 

since 1967. 

Below: Sutherland’s has an annual 

food show that welcomes the 

company’s customers. Shown here are 

some of the three generations of the 

Sutherland family that helped with 

the May 2008 show. 

In a tin shack at the corner of Washington 

and Trinity Avenues in Atlanta, Andrew W. 

Sutherland realized his dream to own his own 

business. From a small distributorship first 

hatched in 1947, where he had to sell and 

deliver eggs out of his car, to a major food 

supplier employing approximately seventy-five, 

Sutherland’s Foodservice, Inc., is one family 

business that has made a habit out of defying 

the odds, growing bigger and better every year. 

And, they have done so first by adhering 

strictly to the golden rule and treating their 

customers the same way they want to be 

treated and by providing not just service, but 

personal service. 

“Our customers are real people with real 

needs and not just a number or a sale,” said J. E. 

“Gene” Sutherland, Sr., the son of the late 

Andrew W. and Lucy E. Sutherland, and current 

company president. “It doesn’t matter how big 

we get, our partners and customers will always 

be like family. That’s the way it was when my 

father started the business and that’s the way it 

will always be.” 

Their second secret to success has been 

diversification. Since taking the reins in 1970, 

the second generation Sutherland has expanded 

the business, not only surviving, but thriving 

even as others faded away. In 1986, Sutherland’s 

acquired Rich & Morgan, Atlanta’s oldest 

independent grocer, and re-established itself as 

a broadliner, expanding inventory to include 

not just eggs and produce, but dry goods, meats 

and frozen foods. In 1992 it became a member 

of Frosty Acres, a national marketing and food 

buying cooperative, and began providing highquality 

national brands at the lowest prices 

possible; and, in 2007, became a member of 

Tailor Made Distribution, a premier national 

supply chain management company. 

“We survived because we didn’t have all our 

eggs in one basket,” Sutherland said, adding 

that they have continued to build relationships 

and friendships with new and existing customer 

partners and have consistently added to their 

product line to meet their customer’s needs. 

Current inventory, he said, now consists of 

seven thousand-plus items and includes just 

about anything related to the dining table from 

food to cleaning supplies. 

Even with such a tremendous inventory, 

however, eggs are still at the yolk of the 

Sutherland’s business—a business which has 

been named one of the nation’s “Top 50” food 

distributors by ID Access, publisher of two 

national magazines for the foodservice 


distribution industry. Sutherland’s has also been 

named in the Atlanta 100 list of privately held 

companies in the Atlanta metro area. 

Sutherland’s customer base encompasses 

restaurants, educational and healthcare facilities, 

bakeries, manufacturers and government 

institutions. In addition to six distribution 

centers totaling over 300,000 square feet of 

space, the company has a 120,000-square-foot 

main warehouse that also serves as the company 

headquarters. It is located at the Atlanta State 

Farmers Market in Forest Park where it has been 

since the market first relocated and opened in 

1959. All operations are still led by the 

Sutherland family. Gene, Sr.’s wife, Joan, and 

their four children—Bonnie, Connie, Diana and 

Gene—are all involved in management. In total, 

nine family members—one fourth generation— 

work for the company. Employees who are not 

related by blood still feel like part of the 

extended family and have recommended their 

own relatives who are now employed 

by Sutherland’s. The dedicated employees are 

also very engaged in helping to ensure 

When the Atlanta Produce Dealers 

Association (APDA) first sprouted into existence 

in 1947, its primary purpose was two-fold—to 

share credit information among its members 

and provide a forum where matters of general 

interest could be discussed and acted upon. 

Over the years, those basic principles have 

remained as constant as their commitment to 

helping each other and improving the industry 

has grown stronger. 

The official membership organization for the 

area’s professional produce business leaders, 

APDA is located at the Atlanta State Farmers 

Market and consists of wholesalers, retailers and 

distributors of food and produce, as well as 

associates from the businesses that work closely 

with them. 

It is the foremost advocate and liaison for the 

industry and offers a host of benefits to its 

members including monthly luncheons, a 

scholarship program, access to insurance, and 

fellowship activities. Additionally, the group is 

actively involved in legislative issues which 

affect its members and pursues special interest 

community projects such as the Forest Park 

Livable Centers Initiative. 

Sutherland’s continued success. Sales in 2007 

topped almost $90 million. 

For more information about Sutherland’s 

Foodservice, please visit www.suthfood.com. 

Atlanta Produce Dealers Association is 

located at the State Farmers Market in Forest 

Park, Georgia. 

❖ 

Above: Gene Sutherland, Sr., (shown 

here with wife, Joan), has been 

involved in the Clayton County 

business community since 1959. 

ATLANTA 

PRODUCE 

DEALERS 

ASSOCIATION 


ATLANTA STATE 

FARMERS 

MARKET 

With 150 acres bustling with a host of 

vendors, approximately 3,000 visitors per day, 

and a plethora of fresh produce and products, it 

should come as no surprise that the Atlanta 

State Farmers Market is one of the largest such 

markets in the world. 

Located in Forest Park, this open-air market 

is a literal feast for the senses, offering a 

smorgasbord of commodities from the freshest, 

most colorful and flavorful produce to the most 

mouth-watering baked goods and the best 

quality meats around. There are tons of Georgiagrown 

specialties such as peaches, peanuts, 

pecans, and Vidalia onions as well as other fresh 

produce from around the country and world. 

One can even find plants and flowers, Christmas 

trees, canned goods, landscape materials, sod, 

and dry goods. 

In addition to wholesalers and retailers 

peddling their wares, the market also features a 

garden center, a restaurant, the Georgia Grown 

Visitors Center, and a USDA Federal-State office. 

Special events such as a bluegrass festival, gun 

shows, exotic bird shows, ceramic shows and 

other special events are held throughout the year. 

The market is open 364 days a year and sales 

usually top a half-billion dollars annually. Its 

economic impact is estimated at more than 

$1.25 billion per year and its vendors employ 

more than 3,700 people with a combined 

annual payroll of approximately $75 million. 

Conceived in 1935 when the Georgia 

Legislature authorized the Commissioner of 

Agriculture to establish a market in Atlanta, 

the market’s first permanent location was 

actually a sixteen acre tract of land on Murphy 

Avenue in West End. This location was opened 

in 1939 at a cost of $150,000. The market, 

however, outgrew its Murphy Avenue facilities 

during World War II and the boom years that 

followed, resulting in the opening of the current 

location in 1959. Located at 16 Forest Parkway 

in Forest Park, the Atlanta State Farmers Market 

we know today came with an initial price tag of 

$10 million and has undergone several 

additional renovation and improvement projects 

over the years. 

For more information, please visit the Atlanta 

State Farmers Market at www.agr.georgia.gov. 


PARAGON 

SYSTEMS, INC. 

The employees of Paragon Systems, Inc., 

take their jobs seriously. Protecting thirty-two 

thousand homes and businesses from burglary 

and fire is serious business. 

Located in Jonesboro and founded almost 

forty years ago, Paragon is a family-owned 

business that is entirely self-contained. The 

company not only sells and installs burglar and 

fire alarm systems, but also monitors and 

services them. Performing these functions are 

twenty-eight dedicated employees, half of which 

have been with the company for more than a 

decade and a fourth that have been there for 

twenty plus years. 

“I have amazing people on my team,” owner 

and president Karen Sullivan said. “All of our 

employees are highly trained and certified, and 

are, undoubtedly, our greatest asset.” 

Also helping the firm to stand out is its 

twenty-four hours per day, seven days per 

week local monitoring service. While many 

local alarm companies contract their monitoring 

services through a 1-800 central station in 

a different section of the country, Paragon 

Systems, Inc., maintains its own central station 

in Jonesboro using local employees. The 

company was named the 2007 “Small Business 

of the Year” by the Clayton County Chamber of 

Commerce and is also a recipient of the Georgia 

Burglar and Fire Alarm Association’s “Member of 

the Year” Award. According to the Atlanta 

Business Chronicle, it is the largest local alarm 

company in the Atlanta area. 

Karen actually founded Paragon in College 

Park along with her husband, Stephen, in 

1970, but moved to Jonesboro in 1971. When 

Stephen passed away suddenly in 1990, Karen 

continued to run the company. All three of their 

children—Patrick, Kevin and Stephenie—have 

worked at Paragon at various times throughout 

the years and one has chosen to make it his 

career. After graduating from college and 

starting off as a “helper” in 1999, Kevin has 

worked his way up to vice president and is 

poised to become the company’s secondgeneration 

leader. 

Paragon and all of its employees are committed 

to their community and happily give time, money 

and in-kind service to a variety of causes and 

nonprofit organizations in Clayton County. 

For more information, please call 770-478- 

1513 or visit www.paragonsystem.com. 

❖ 

Paragon Systems, Inc., is located at 

7869 Old Morrow Road in Jonesboro. 


❖ 

FOREST PARK 

SHEET METAL 

WORKS, INC. 

Above: The family of Mario 

Moscardelli. Seated: Julie. Standing: 

Laurie, Linda, and Mike. 

Below: Mario and Mike working on 

job in earlier days of operation. 

Born of one man’s determination to provide 

for his family, Forest Park Sheet Metal Works, 

Inc., in Clayton County has been providing 

custom-fabricated products and quality service 

to customers for more than a half-century. 

“My parents literally built this company 

from scrap,” said Laurie McGouirk, who joins 

her nephew in running the company today. 

“Times were tough, but they really poured 

themselves into it, giving us a wonderful 

childhood and a business that continues to 

support our family three generations later.” 

According to McGouirk, her father, Mario 

Moscardelli, spent the Great Depression years as 

a shipbuilder in Boston, Massachusetts. He 

joined the army during WWII and after serving 

a tour of duty overseas was assigned to what is 

now Fort Gillem. He loved the area so much 

that he moved his family here when his tour 

of duty ended in 1948 and began working as 

a welder with Low Temp Manufacturing 

in Jonesboro. 

Though thankful to have a job, he desperately 

wanted more for his wife, Julie, and their three 

children—Mike, Linda and Laurie. He had 

bought a small mobile home for them to live 

in, but he wanted a real house. Feeling one job 

just was not enough, he almost immediately 

began building a shop behind the trailer where 

he could spend every spare moment making 

aluminum awnings. 

“Dad would go out and get the orders and 

then manufacture and paint the awnings 

himself,” McGouirk reminisces. “Mom ordered 

all the materials and answered calls. While dad 

worked and we went to school, she put the 

stripes on the awnings. They were truly a team.” 

Moscardelli eventually quit his job at Low 

Temp, officially founding his company in 1950. 

In addition to awnings, he began making all 

types of sheet metal products and actually had 

an exclusive contract to make the ornamental 

cupolas adorning the rooftops of A & P Grocery 


Stores as well as the canopies for Tenneco Gas 

Stations. A master salesman as well as a master 

craftsman, Moscardelli also convinced Bill Cook 

of Griffin LP Gas Company that he could beat 

whatever price Cook was paying for various 

parts he used in his business. 

“Bill gave dad $100 and dad worked all 

night, making a full delivery the next morning,” 

McGouirk said. “From that day on, dad was the 

only manufacturer Bill used.” 

By 1955, Moscardelli was able to build and 

move his family into a new house right next 

door to their mobile home. 

“I’ll never forget the night we moved to 

our new home. It was raining cats and dogs,” 

McGouirk remembers. “My mom said she just 

couldn’t stand living in ‘that pill box’ any longer 

and instructed us to get our pillows and run. 

We slept in our new home that night and it was 

wonderful; rain and all.” 

In 1960, Moscardelli purchased a piece of 

property on 85 Circle for a new shop. B.C. 

Haynie laid the concrete blocks and Moscardelli 

“pretty much did the rest.” About the same time, 

he hired a teenage boy from Riverdale named 

Larry Camp. Camp became such an integral part 

of the company, he not only inherited part of 

it, but he also became like a brother to the 

Moscardelli children. Additionally, prior to his 

death in 2001, he served as the company’s vice 

president under the direction of Moscardelli’s 

son, Mike, who took over the reins as president 

when his father retired in 1978. Mike 

successfully guided the company for twentyseven 

years with the 

help of his sisters, Laurie 

McGouirk and Linda 

Wyatt. Mike and Linda 

have since retired 

Today, Mike’s son, 

Tony, serves as company 

president and works 

alongside his Aunt 

Laurie in running the 

company. The company 

employs eleven people 

and has a customer base 

of more than 500 

customers, including 

several major electrical 

companies, Delta Air 

Lines, Fresh Express, Sara Lee Bakery and 

Eastern Foods, just to name a few. 

“I am just so proud of our business and all of 

our employees that have made it so successful,” 

McGouirk said, adding that in 1989 the 

company purchased the building next door to 

their existing facility and doubled their 

manufacturing area. “We can do just about 

anything with sheet metal. In fact, our motto 

should be ‘If you can draw it, we can build it.’” 

For more information, call 404-766-6246 or 

email fpsm@bellsouth.net. 

❖ 

Above: Early days of FPSM (1957) 

before moving to current location on 

85 Circle. Left to Right: Mike 

Moscardelli (second generation), 

Mario Moscardelli (Founder) and 

Tony Moscardelli (third 

generation) right. 

Below: Our first job for a major 

supermarket chain in 1953. 


ACTION TIRE 

COMPANY 

When Rick Stewart took a summer job 

changing tires for a local transport company in 

1975, he did not realize he would be changing 

more than tires that summer. He did not dream 

he was actually embarking on a career that 

would change his life and make him the 

successful owner of his own business. 

“It all started that summer. At first, I just 

changed tires, but later I started doing other 

things from pick up and delivery and dispatch 

to assistant manager and finally outside sales,” 

Stewart reminisced. “In the sales job, I grew 

the business and became the company’s top 

sales person.” 

Then trouble came. The company’s owner 

began having financial difficulty and asked 

Stewart to take a substantial pay cut. Having 

just started his own family with a wife, two 

children and a new home, Stewart set out to 

find other employment. Some of his closest 

friends—many who also happened to be 

loyal customers—encouraged him to start his 

own business. 

“I was scared, but I found a financial backer 

and just decided to do it,” said Stewart, who still 

serves dual roles as owner and president of the 

company. “In July 1985, Action Tire Company 

opened its doors in Riverdale. Our facility was 

only 1,500 square feet and I had just two 

employees. We didn’t have a computer and kept 

our inventory in a card index and used threering 

binders for accounts and billing.” 

That was then. 

Today, Action Tire Company is headquartered 

in Forest Park and is one of the largest 

automotive and commercial tire dealers in the 

southeast with twelve different stores at nine 

convenient locations in Georgia and Alabama. 

The company employs 130 people, boasts 

annual sales in excess of $26 million, and has 

plans to open six to eight more stores in the next 

five years. 

One of the company’s current facilities is a 

retread center. Realizing retreads could save 

his customers money and also help the 

environment, Stewart teamed up with Oliver 

Rubber—a division of world leader Cooper 

Tire Company—to make, sell and service quality 

retreads. The facility is completely computerized, 

features state-of-the-art equipment, and is 

ranked one of the “Top 100 Retread Facilities in 

the United States” by national trade publication, 

Tire Business, Inc. 

Action Tire’s new tire inventory includes 

quality name brands such as Cooper, Toyo, 

Bridgestone, Akuret and Hercules and range in 

size from wheel barrow tires to tires for semitrucks. 

All locations are strategically located 

near highways for easy drive-through service. 

Additionally, the company has one of the area’s 


largest fleets of service trucks with more than 

forty-five trucks available to service tires up to 

twenty-five inches and two boom trucks for 

handling tires up to fifty inches. 

“Our goal is to provide the best service as 

well and the highest quality tires and parts 

to maximize our customers’ efficiency and 

profitability,” said Stewart. “Not only do we carry 

the best brands, but we also have highly-trained 

and knowledgeable professionals on staff to 

fully analyze our clients’ needs and provide 

them with solutions designed to fit their 

budgets without compromising safety. And, for 

those customers who need us to come to them, 

our fleet rolls around the clock and our service 

calls are always on time.” 

Although now a large company, Action Tire is 

still a family-owned business that strives to 

always give both customers and employees a 

positive experience. That is why, since the 

early years, Stewart has continued to sponsor 

activities to encourage and strengthen bonds 

with employees—activities such as a companywide 

tire rodeo, a competition to see which 

employee can dismount and remount a tire 

the quickest. It is also why he makes sure all 

of his technicians are able to attend training 

to become certified by the Tire Industry 

Association of America (TIA) and why he loves 

to reward his most exemplary employees with 

weekend vacations to the beach. 

Also an avid community supporter, Stewart 

faithfully pledges support to a multitude of area 

sports teams as well as numerous charitable 

causes such as the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital. 

He is a member of the Clayton County Chamber 

of Commerce as well as a host of other local, 

state and national associations and organizations. 

For more information, visit Action Tire 

Company online at www.actiontireco.com or 

call 404-767-3235. 


R. J. HAYNIE & 

ASSOCIATES 

❖ 

Above: R. J. Haynie & Associates was 

originally founded in this 1940s-style 

house in Forest Park. 

Below: Current headquarters of R. J. 

Haynie & Associates at 1551 

Forest Parkway. 

The light turns green. Thank goodness, you 

think to yourself. You would sure hate to be late 

for the kick-off because of traffic. 

You turn into the stadium parking lot. It is 

evening, but thankfully, the parking lot lights 

are shining brightly as you quickly make 

your way to the entrance. You cannot wait to get 

inside and see your son take the field for the 

first time as a running back for his high school 

football team. 

Finally, you see your son on the field. The 

stadium lights are beaming and so is his smile. 

You smile back, knowing that this will be a 

night neither of you will ever forget. 

What you might not realize is that one 

company, R. J. Haynie & Associates, an electrical 

contracting firm located in Lake City, was 

responsible for much of what made this night so 

perfect—from the traffic light that ushered you 

into the parking lot, to the lot lights that led you 

safely to the entrance, to the stadium lights that 

shone on your son’s field of dreams. 

Indeed, each day millions of sports 

enthusiasts, shoppers, office workers and 

residents throughout Georgia are aided by 

lighting systems installed by R. J. Haynie & 

Associates. Others travel safely and confidently 

over the streets, highways and bridges on 

which the company has constructed and 

installed multitudes of traffic signals, video 

detection units, overhead signs, highway 

lighting, changeable message signs and other 

transportation system devices. 

Officially founded in 1978 by R. J. Haynie, 

Jr., R. J. Haynie & Associates started with just 

six employees working out of a small 1940sstyle 

house in Forest Park. They initially focused 

on projects for the water and sewer industry, 

mainly performing electrical work associated 

with large pumping stations, as well as waste 

and raw water treatment facilities. They wired 

buildings, standby generators, motor control 

centers, instrumentation and large motors, as 

well as constructed concrete encased duct banks 

and manholes. 

Around 1986 the company shifted its focus 

to outside lighting. Sports lighting, parking lot 


lighting and highway lighting began to 

dominate the majority of contracts sought after 

and acquired. The installation of transportation 

system devices soon followed. 

Today, the firm’s client base primarily includes 

the Georgia Department of Transportation, 

counties, municipalities and private developers 

throughout the state. It operates out of a 

spacious facility completed in 1999 and is 

located at 1551 Forest Parkway. A major 

expansion project to add several additional 

buildings, a wash bay and a host of other 

improvements to the grounds will be completed 

by the middle of 2008. 

The company currently employs nearly 100 

people, many who have been with the company 

since the early days. Willie G. Willis is one of 

those first employees and is a good example of 

the type of employees working for R. J. Haynie. 

“One day right after we opened, I parked in 

back of our office,” Haynie recalls. “When I 

went back to the car, I noticed that the front of 

the car had sunk into a hole caused by what was 

later determined to be an abandoned septic 

tank. While it sounds awful, it actually turned 

out to be a blessing, as the person we hired on a 

temporary basis to fill the hole later became our 

first twenty year employee. When Willie Willis 

did the job in half the time we expected it to 

take, we knew he would be a valuable asset to 

the company. And, until his retirement, he was 

a major contributor to our success. That’s just 

the type of employees we have.” 

Though the elder Haynie was never actively 

involved in the procurement of work for the 

business, he contributed in many ways and in 

later years served as the resident handyman. His 

son, R. J. “Bobby” Haynie, has always performed 

the duties of president, and his daughter, Nobie 

“Bebe” Haynie, as secretary/treasurer. Other 

family members have worked both full-time and 

part-time for the company throughout the years. 

For more information on R. J. Haynie & 

Associates, visit www.rjhaynie.com or call 

404-361-0672. 

❖ 

Examples of how R. J. Haynie & 

Associates lights your world on a 

daily basis. 


GEORGIA 

INTERNATIONAL 

CONVENTION 

CENTER 

❖ 

Above: Georgia International 

Convention and Trade Center opened 

its doors in 1985. 

Below: GICC is the second largest 

convention center in Georgia. 

The most exciting chapter in the history of 

the Georgia International Convention Center 

has yet to be penned. In fact, it is still in the 

midst of being created. 

Having begun as the charge of the Business 

and Industrial Development Authority of 

College Park in the early 1980s, the Georgia 

International Convention and Trade Center 

first opened its doors in 1985. The initial center 

featured 136,000 total square feet of meeting 

and exhibition space. A phase-two expansion 

more than doubled the facility’s size to a massive 

329,000 square feet in 1993. 

With its size, amenities and service ranked 

highly by meeting and event planners the 

nation over, the GICTC quickly rose to top of its 

class and began to amass the awards to prove 

it—coveted honors such as Facilities Magazine 

1996 Prime Site Award granted for service 

and facility excellence and based on 

nominations by customers themselves. The 

facility also earned the coveted Planner’s Choice 

Award for excellence in meetings management 

that same year. 

And, yet, there were better things still 

to come. 

When neighboring Hartsfield-Jackson 

International—the world’s busiest airport— 

fashioned plans for a $5.4 billion expansion 

project which, among other things, included a 

fifth runway, the existing convention center 

facility was targeted for relocation. Still owned 

and operated by the forward-thinking City of 

College Park, a new facility was built at a cost 

of $95 million and officially opened 

in 2003. Though the center shortened 

its name to the Georgia International 

Convention Center (GICC), its offerings 

to the meeting and convention world 

grew exponentially. 

Now the second largest convention 

facility in the state with a total of 

400,000 square feet of space and 

featuring Georgia’s largest ballroom at 

40,000 square feet, the GICC has 

been called “a marvel of both form 

and function” and offers a completely 

“new standard of convention” in the 

areas of aesthetics, amenities and 

accommodations. It has received rave 

reviews from conference and event 


planners alike who continue to entrust the 

facility with their highest profile events—from 

addresses by the President of the United States 

to the televised auditions of the wildly-famous 

television show, American Idol, to international, 

national and regional conventions, conferences, 

trade and public shows. 

In addition to its bold architecture and 

contemporary design, the facility also features the 

latest technology with high-speed fiberoptic 

and telecommunications networks 

throughout the building as well as top-notch 

in-house audiovisual services. There is even a 

ninety-five-hundred-square-foot Culinary Arts 

Center that includes a VIP tasting room and serves 

as the headquarters for exclusive full-service 

caterer, Proof Of The Pudding, Atlanta’s premier 

catering company that has provided exclusive 

services to GICC since 1993. A professional and 

seasoned staff completes the picture. 

As of this writing, a second phase of 

development nears completion and the GICC 

is just months away from being catapulted 

from the major leagues of convention venues 

into a league of its very own. This phase—a 

$230 million, 29-acre mixed-use development 

commissioned by the City of College Park 

and dubbed the Gateway Center—includes 

more than a million square feet of office, 

retail and hotel and parking space and will 

feature two on-site hotels. Of the two new 

hotels, one will be a 400-room headquarters 

hotel and the other a 150-room suites hotel. 

Both will don the Marriott flag and both are 

expected to open in the middle 

of 2010. 

Shortly before the hotels 

open, the airport’s eagerly 

anticipated Automated People 

Mover (APM) is expected to 

begin transporting visitors from 

the airport to the GICC in 

2009. The trip from door to door 

will take just a couple of minutes 

and will further complement 

the center’s rising status as one 

of the most desirable and 

efficient convention complexes in 

the nation. 

For more information, please 

visit www.gicc.com. 

❖ 

Above: Georgia International 

Convention Center, 2008. 

Below: Georgia International 

Convention Center’s International 

Ballroom, Georgia’s largest. 


CLAYTON 

COUNTY 

BOARD OF 

COMMISSIONERS 

❖ 

Left: Natural beauty abounds in 


For those who live, work and play amid its 

143 square miles, Clayton County offers the 

best of both worlds—a world of big-city 

opportunities sweetly seasoned with a healthy 

helping of small-town charm. 

The county—a suburban community just 

minutes away from downtown Atlanta—is 

actually the fifth most populated county in 

Georgia with more than a quarter of a million 

people calling it home. It includes the cities of 

Jonesboro, Forest Park, College Park, Lake City, 

Lovejoy, Morrow and Riverdale as well as a 

number of unincorporated townships. 

features the lowest operating millage rate in 

metropolitan area. It also boasts a county-wide 

Class 3 fire insurance rating and is a certified 

storm-ready community. It has a state-of-theart 

landfill to meet the county’s solid waste 

needs well into the next century as well as a 

nationally acclaimed, self-sustaining wastewater 

treatment system. 

Additionally, Clayton County is Atlanta’s only 

designated Foreign Trade Zone, which provides 

tax advantages for companies dealing in foreign 

goods and has one of the best transportation 

systems in the region with U.S. Interstate 

Highways 75, 85, 285 and 675 as well as rail 

service by Norfolk-Southern and CSX. There is 

convenient air service at Hartsfield-Jackson 

Atlanta International Airport, one of the world’s 

busiest airports. 

Right: The National Archives and 

Records Administration opened this 

new Southeast region facility in 

Clayton in 2005. 

Some of its greatest amenities include its 

many business opportunities, a fine public 

education system including a four-year college— 

Clayton State University—and numerous 

excellent healthcare facilities. It is one of Metro 

Atlanta’s most affordable areas and actually 

Clayton is also home to the second largest 

convention and exhibition facility in the state— 

the Georgia International Convention Center 

in College Park—as well as one of the world’s 

largest farmers markets, the Atlanta State 

Farmers Market of Forest Park. Located in its 

county seat of Jonesboro and opened in 2000 is 

the Harold R. Banke Justice Center, one of the 

country’s most technologically secure facilities 

and the largest of its kind in Georgia with more 

than ten acres under one roof. 

In the areas of business and retail, Clayton 

continues to excel as well. In 1975, Southlake 

Mall opened in Morrow, establishing a retail 

complex of over 100 stores, and in the late 

1990s, the Mount Zion Corridor was developed 

bringing in many more retail stores and 

restaurants. There are twenty-five industrial parks, 

twenty of which house Fortune 500 companies. 

Major employers in the county include Delta 


Airlines, Inc., JCPenney Distribution Center, 

Southern Regional Medical Center, Southlake 

Mall, Northwest Airlines, Georgia Department 

of Revenue and the U.S. Army at Fort Gillem. 

Born and bred along the rail lines linking 

Macon to Atlanta and the port city of Savannah, 

Clayton was the 125th county created in 

Georgia and was formed out of Fayette County 

to the west and Henry County to the east. It was 

officially chartered on November 30, 1858, and 

was named after Augustine Smith Clayton 

(1783-1839), a judge and member of the U.S. 

House of Representatives. 

In addition to the railroads along which 

the county grew up, increasing transportation 

options—particularly the opening of the 

interstate highways which criss-cross Clayton 

turf—continue to spark an ever growing and 

widely-diversified industrial community in 


And, the promise of a bright future continues, 

according to County Commission Chairman 

Eldrin Bell. 

“Today our hearts continue to be full of hope 

and our future full of promise as we work 

diligently to implement programs that will 

generate more jobs for our citizens; as we utilize 

our libraries for tutorial learning centers; as 

we manage growth so that our schools can 

keep up with our population; as we provide 

quality programs for seniors; as we revitalize 

established businesses and shopping areas and 

create new ones; and as we establish stronger 

building and zoning codes and provide safer, 

cleaner communities for all,” Bell said. “All of 

these things and more are what we strive to 

accomplish and all is possible working together. 

Together, we continue to make Clayton County 

a better place for all!” 

For more information on Clayton County, 

please visit www.co.clayton.ga.us. 

❖ 

Left: Clayton County is a great place 

to rear children. 

Below: Stately Oaks Plantation, the 

legendary home of Gone with the 

Wind, is just one of the many 

historical structures found in 



CITY OF JONESBORO 

“Frankly, my dear, they do give a damn.” 

In fact, the people of Jonesboro care so much 

about their heritage—including their city’s 

unique ties to the epic Gone With The Wind— 

that they work diligently to preserve it. 

Incorporated in 1859 and located just fifteen 

minutes south of downtown Atlanta, the city 

not only served as an inspiration to Margaret 

Mitchell’s all-time best seller, but was actually— 

along with Clayton County—christened the 

“Official Home of Gone With The Wind” more 

than two decades ago by the Mitchell Trust and 

the Georgia State Legislature. 

Set in the Civil War South, this Pulitzer 

Prize-winning story is brought to life today at 

Jonesboro attractions such as The Road to Tara 

Museum, Stately Oaks Plantation and the city’s 

ever-popular Landmarks Through History Tour, 

just to name a few. 

For Gone With The Wind fans, The Road to 

Tara Museum is indeed a must-see. Located in 

the historic 1867 Jonesboro Train Depot on 

Main Street, this museum features an intriguing 

collection of book and movie memorabilia, an 

original oil mural depicting scenes from the 

film, rare behind-the-scenes photos, a costume 

gallery, authentic movie props, collectible plate 

and doll collections, a foreign edition library 

and Civil War artifacts. 

For a walk back in time, nothing beats a trip 

to Stately Oaks Plantation. Nestled in the woods 

of the Margaret Mitchell Memorial Park, this 

1839 white-columned plantation home is much 

like the homes described in Mitchell’s book. 

Still full of life more than a century and a half 

since its construction, visitors can enjoy tours of 

the home as well as the grounds which include 

a one-room school, an original log kitchen, 

a blacksmith shop and country store. 

Visitors to Stately Oaks in October will not 

only catch the annual Autumn Oaks Festival, 

but they will also have the opportunity to 

witness a realistic and moving reenactment of 

another major chapter in the city’s history—the 

Battle of Jonesboro. Designated the “Grand 

Finale” along the Atlanta Campaign Heritage 

Trail, this battle was not only significant to the 

fall of Atlanta in 1864, but ended up being 

a pivotal point in the nation’s history, 

propelling Abraham Lincoln to re-election two 

months later, and continuing the war until the 


❖ 

Opposite, top: Civil War Cemetery. 

Confederacy finally surrendered the following 

year. In addition to Stately Oaks and other 

battlefield areas in Jonesboro, visitors can pay 

homage to the war dead at the Patrick Cleburne 

Memorial Confederate Cemetery. 

And if all that is not enough to make 

Jonesboro, Georgia, an exciting place to live or 

visit, consider this. This city, which is about to 

celebrate its 150 th birthday, has over 170 historic 

sites in just two square miles, from the 

aforementioned to a whole host of other precivil 

war homes, plantations, mansions, and 

other historic buildings. For those who want to 

see it all, the Landmarks through History Tour 

is a narrated air-conditioned coach tour which 

takes visitors through history, including an up 

close and personal look at Jonesboro’s historic 

district and featured sites such as the 

Jonesboro’s 1898 Courthouse, Ashley Oaks, the 

Warren House and more. 

Indeed, the City of Jonesboro is very proud 

of its past, but it is by no means stuck there. It 

is a forward-looking city of approximately four 

thousand residents, the county seat of Clayton 

County and a part of the greater Atlanta 

Metropolitan area. It is home to the Harold R. 

Banke Justice Center, one of the United States’ 

most technologically secure facilities opened in 

2000, and the largest of its kind in the state with 

more than ten acres under one roof. 

In 2008 the city was led by Jonesboro native 

Luther Maddox as mayor and six council 

members—Clarence Mann, Roger Grider, 

Bobby Wiggins, Billy Powell, Rick Yonce, and 

Wallace Norrington. 

The city hosts or assists with a number of 

special events from Jonesboro Days each May and 

the Holiday at Home Parade and Street Festival 

each year the Saturday before Thanksgiving, to 

an annual Summer Concert Series. 

For additional information on the City of 

Jonesboro, please visit www.jonesboroga.com. 

Opposite, middle: The Historic 

Blaylock House. 

Opposite, bottom: The Jonesboro Train 

Museum with Courthouse. 

Above: Council Members; Standing 

(from left to right): Clarence Mann, 

Bobby Wiggins, Rick Yonce, and Roger 

Grider. Seated: Wallace Norrington, 

Mayor Luther Maddox, and 

Billy Powell. 

Below: The Justice Center. 


HARTSFIELD- 

JACKSON 

ATLANTA 

INTERNATIONAL 

AIRPORT 

❖ 

Above: Ben Decosta, Airport 

General Manager. 

Atlanta Mayor Walter Sims had an idea back 

in 1925—lease a tract of land in north Clayton 

County to construct a small airfield. More than 

eighty years later, the bond between Hartsfield- 

Jackson Atlanta International Airport, officially 

the busiest airport in the world, and Clayton 

County remains strong. 

The Airport, which sits on about 4,700 

acres in parts of Clayton and Fulton counties, 

contributes to the success of the metro Atlanta 

region with a gross economic impact of $23.5 

billion. The Airport also remains an economic 

force for the entire Southeast, with an impact of 

$53.6 billion annually to the state of Georgia. 

Furthermore, Clayton County accounts for 

about 6,000 direct jobs at Hartsfield-Jackson. 

So, we are proud of the partnership between 

Hartsfield-Jackson and the Clayton community 

and look forward to a bright future of continued 

growth and success together. 

A part of that teamwork can be seen through 

the Airport’s ongoing Partners in Education 

initiative. Since its implementation in 2002, 

Hartsfield-Jackson has teamed with, among 

other schools, M.D. Roberts Middle School 

in Jonesboro and North Clayton High School 

in College Park to create awareness about 

careers at Hartsfield-Jackson and nurture new 

generations of aviation leaders. It is a hugely 

successful program where aviation employees 

mentor and host students on-site. Also, the 

Airport’s annual Job Shadowing program brings 

in approximately 350 students to speak with 

Airport and airline officials and get a hands-on 

approach to life at Hartsfield-Jackson. It is the 

Airport’s way of staying connected and making a 

positive mark on surrounding communities. 

And speaking of positive impact, since 

Hartsfield-Jackson’s $1.1 billion fifth runway, 

called in these parts “the most important 

runway in America,” opened in 2006, it has 

been a major milestone in bringing greater 

efficiency and service to more than 89 million 

passengers. Following the opening of the 9,000- 

foot runway, the Airport’s on-time performance 

increased to 99.5 percent by the end of 2006. 

Construction of the new runway also 

necessitated a new air traffic control tower to 

handle nearly three thousand daily flights in and 

out of Atlanta. Built on a three-acre site north of 

the fifth runway, the new tower provides 

effective visibility to all runways. At the time of 

its completion in 2006, the 398-foot structure, 


which includes a three-story office building, an 

emergency generator building and two-story 

parking deck, was the tallest in North America. 

There are many other ways Hartsfield- 

Jackson is keeping up with the times and 

meeting ever-changing customer needs. The $1.68 

billion Maynard H. Jackson, Jr. International 

Terminal currently under construction will add 

twelve new international gates and is expected 

to be completed in 2011. The Consolidated 

Rental Car Facility (CONRAC), expected to be 

up and running by 2009, will centralize all 

rental car operations off-site and include two 

garages with 8,700 vehicle spaces. It will also 

feature a sixty-thosuand-square-foot customer 

service center and a new automated people 

mover train system. 

Many wonderful strides have been made 

since 1925 that continue to keep Hartsfield- 

Jackson at the forefront of innovation, efficiency 

and growth. In 2007, Airport General Manager 

Ben DeCosta was named “Best Airport Director” 

in the nation by leading industry publication 

Airport Revenue News. Also, in 2008, 

Forbes.com named Hartsfield-Jackson the best 

airport nationally for Wi-Fi connectivity. 

As the Airport moves forward with exceeding 

customer expectations and inching closer to 

being the best airport in the world, it is with the 

understanding that greatness begins on the 

home front. That is why we are proud that 

a large part of our success on a global level is 

a direct result of the achievements happening 

right here in Clayton County. 


BHW SHEET 

METAL 

COMPANY 

❖ 

Top right: A 2007 aerial view of BHW 

Sheet Metal. 

Above: Robert A. Harris, founder. 

Below: A 1974 aerial view of BHW. 

One does not have to look far to find the 

handiwork of BHW Sheet Metal Company. As 

a matter of fact, it is BHW ductwork that so 

efficiently delivers heating and cooling to many 

of the buildings along Atlanta’s skyline and 

throughout the southeast. 

Established in 1959, BHW has been a family 

business from practically the beginning. Except 

for the first year in which founder Robert A. 

Harris, Sr., had two other sheet metal craftsmen as 

partners, the company has been owned and 

operated by Harris or one of his sons. After thirtyseven 

years at the helm, the now late Bob Harris 

turned the company over in 1996 to his stepson, 

Larry McLain. Just before his death in 2003, 

McLain, in turn, passed the torch to his brother, 

Keith Harris, who remains president today. 

All three men have been instrumental in 

BHW’s ascent to one of the largest sheet metal 

contractors in the southeast. A far cry from the 

small shop that operated with little more 

than a couple pieces of equipment and eight 

employees in a leased basement, the BHW of 

today operates from an 86,000-square-foot 

complex that takes up three buildings and nine 

acres in Clayton County. The company employs 

over 200 people who work together to fabricate 

and install nearly 8 million pounds of sheet 

metal every year for ductwork and a host of 

other specialized products and applications. 

In addition to fabrication, BHW installs most 

of what it produces. The company has a full fleet 

of tractor trailer rigs to make its own deliveries. 

For jobs at multistory complexes—such as One 

Symphony Center in Atlanta—the company 

delivers the product in cages which are lifted by 

crane and save countless manpower hours. 

Inside the shop, BHW has always prided itself 

on using the most modern equipment available, 

which today includes computerized plasma 

cutters, spiral duct machines and duct coil lines. 

The company even employs a full staff of drafting 

personnel with six AutoCAD systems that can 

electronically send drawings to the machinery 

responsible for fabrication of the products. 

For more information on BHM Sheet Metal, 

visit www.bhwsm.com. 


J. J. JARDINA 

COMPANY, INC. 

Money may not grow on trees, but the 

business of J. J. Jardina Company, Inc., sure does. 

Actually this eighty-three year-old familyowned 

and -operated business grows on the 

branches, roots, and leaves of all sorts of fruitbearing 

vegetation. 

Founded in 1925 by the late James Joseph 

Jardina, Sr., J. J. Jardina Company, Inc., is one of 

the oldest and largest wholesale fruit dealers 

in the area with a yearround roster of 

approximately thirty employees and annual 

sales of more than $35 million. Currently 

headed by the founder’s grandson, Mike Jardina, 

the company is located at the Georgia State 

Farmer’s Market in Forest Park. 

According to Jardina, his family’s company 

carries just about any kind of fruit that does not 

have to be processed. This includes apples, 

peaches, grapes, all types of citrus, strawberries, 

plums and mangos, just to name a few. And, 

because they receive shipments from all over 

the world, most products are available yearround—a 

feature of great importance to their 

clients who are located throughout the 

southeast and range in size from mom and pop 

roadside fruit stands to major supermarket 

chains such as Quality Food Depot, Harry’s 

Whole Foods Market and Publix. 

A true family business since his grandfather 

hauled his first load of local fruit to markets as 

far away as Chicago, Mike points out that he is 

not the only Jardina to keep the company going 

throughout the years. His grandfather himself 

worked well into his eighties as did Mike’s 

uncle, the late Jimmy J. Jardina, Jr., who 

joined his father in the 1940s. Mike took over 

the company as president and chief executive 

officer in 1986 and his brother, Larry, has been 

with the company since 1992 and serves as 

secretary and treasurer. Another brother, Mark, 

joined them in April 2008. Their hope is to keep 

the business in the family for another eightyplus 

years. 

“We would like nothing more than to keep 

it in the family,” Mike said during a recent 

interview. “Fortunately, both Larry and Mark 

have sons that we will be able to pass the torch 

to in years to come.” 

❖ 

Above: J. J. Jardina Company, Inc., 

staff. Back row (from left to right): 

Jimmy Jardina, Jr., founder Jimmy 

Jardina, Sr., Mike Jardina, and G. C. 

Anglin. Front row: Larry Jardina and 

Bobby Smith. 

Below: From left to right: Mark 

Jardina, Mike Jardina, Larry Jardina, 

and Bob Goins. 


GEORGIA 

ARCHIVES 

❖ 

Above: Miss America Spinach 

trademark from 1942. The Virtual 

Vault holds images of the recorded 

copy of official trademarks and union 

labels of goods sold or distributed 

within the state of Georgia, 

1894-1959. 

Below: Night view of the southwest 

façade of the Georgia Archives. 

Founded in 1918, the Georgia Archives is 

the state’s repository of official documents from 

1732 to the present. Visitors may conduct 

research, take a tour of the state-of-the-art 

facility, and see periodic exhibits of original 

documents. The Archives building won the 

American Institute of Architects’ National 

Design Award in 2005. 

The Georgia Archives primarily houses 

official state government records and a 

significant collection of local government 

records. Most of these are unpublished, original 

source materials maintained in their original 

format or on microfilm, all stored in a climatecontrolled 

environment. The Archives also 

houses a large collection of non-governmental 

documents of cultural and historical value. 

Included in these manuscript collections 

are family letters and papers, business records 

and account books, and materials such as 

minutes and reports of social, professional, and 

other organizations. 

The Archives’ microfilm library contains 

nearly thirty thousand reels available for public 

use including Georgia governmental records, 

selected U.S. records, Georgia county records, 

tax digests, private papers, church records, 

cemetery records, newspapers, genealogical 

records, Bible records, books and periodicals, 

selected out-of-state and foreign records, and a 

few municipal records. Some of the most 

frequently referenced materials include the 

Federal census schedules; Georgia Confederate 

Service and Pension Records; Colonial and 

Headright and Bounty land grants; Land Lottery 

and Georgia county records. 

Georgia’s official land and cartographic 

records are a significant part of the Georgia 

Archives’ holdings. Official copies of county 

boundary changes and municipal annexations 

are filed in the Archives. In addition, 

holdings include the State’s original Surveyor 

General collection, which includes over 

10,000 county and state maps as well as 

1.5 million land grants and plats from 1755 

to 1909. 

In addition to holding original historical 

records, the Georgia Archives collects books 

that supplement the original records. The 

extensive collection includes Georgia county 

histories and record abstracts, compiled 

bibliographies, various indexes, genealogy 

guidebooks, guides to the collections of 

other institutions, and patriotic lineage 

society publications. 

Visitors to the Archives’ website at 

www.GeorgiaArchives.org will find hundreds 

of thousands of documents and images in 

the site’s Virtual Vault. The Virtual Vault 

provides access to collections of historic 

photographs and postcards, selected vital 

records, maps, and images of particular 

interest to students and teachers. Visitors may 

even contribute their own images to the 

Archives through the “Virtual Georgia” section 

of the Virtual Vault. 

The Georgia Archives is located at 5800 

Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Georgia. For additional 

information, please call 678-364-3700 or visit 

www.GeorgiaArchives.org. 


Always with a finger on the pulse of the 

latest in healthcare technology and the needs 

of the Southern Crescent community, Southern 

Regional Health System is one healthcare 

provider that refuses to rest on its laurels. 

Since its inception as Clayton General 

Hospital in 1971, Southern Regional has faithfully 

answered the growing demand for its 

services and is undeniably worthy of its position 

as the leading provider of healthcare south 

of Atlanta. 

Today, Southern Regional Health System 

is expanding services with the development 

of its new satellite campus, Spivey Station. 

The new campus offers the latest in medical 

technology and includes a medical office 

building, ambulatory surgery center and fully 

digital breast diagnostic center. Spivey Station 

serves as a “one stop” shop for healthcare. 

The not-for-profit community-based health 

system will continue to offer the same 

comprehensive health resources at its flagship 

facility, now known as Southern Regional 

Medical Center. A 376-bed, full-service hospital, 

the medical center features a long term acute 

care hospital, a Diabetes Resource Center, the 

Women’s Life Center, and one of the most 

advanced emergency departments in the state. 

The health system’s thirty bed Long Term 

Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) 

serves medically complex patients 

who require longer stays. The 

Women’s Life Center (WLC), one 

of Atlanta’s best women’s health 

providers, is a 107,530-square-foot, 

three-level facility that offers 

complete obstetrical, gynecological, 

diagnostic, and educational services 

in one convenient location. The 

WLC also features the only Level 

III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit 

NICU) in south metro Atlanta with 

the most advanced neonatal care 

available to infants in the community. 

Southern Regional’s Emergency Care 

department has dedicated trauma 

and cardiac rooms and serves more 

than eighty thousand patients 

annually. There is also a fully 

updated Critical Care Unit and a 

twenty-three hour Observation Unit. 

Southern Regional Health System is further 

comprised of the Center for Wound Care and 

Hyperbarics, a state-of-the-art outpatient center 

with the most technologically advanced 

therapies to treat problem wounds. 

As a leader in the healthcare industry, 

Southern Regional frequently receives honors 

and recognition. In 2006 the hospital was one 

of ten Georgia hospitals selected to participate 

in a study of community hospitals providing 

coronary angioplasty services with off-site 

surgical support. Today, the hospital provides 

the most angioplasty procedures on the 

Southside. Southern Regional’s Neonatal 

Intensive Care Unit was selected by the 

Southeast Region of ADVANCE for Nurses 

magazine as the “2006 Nursing Team of the 

Year” and graced the cover of the national 

magazine’s May issue. 

Southern Regional currently has 580 

physicians on its medical staff and employs 

over 2,260 people and approximately 325 

additional volunteers. Admissions in 2007 

topped 20,000, with more than 53,000 babies 

delivered. Emergency visits numbered 81,493 

emergency visits and almost 10,000 home 

health visits. 

For more information about Southern Regional 

Health System, visit www.southernregion.org. 

SOUTHERN 

REGIONAL 

HEALTH SYSTEM 

❖ 

Southern Regional Medical Center. 


CLAYTON STATE 

UNIVERSITY 

❖ 

Above: Clayton State’s School of 

Graduate Studies currently has four 

master’s level programs. Pictured, left 

to right, are program chairs Dr. 

Michael Deis (MBA), Dr. Sue Odom 

(Master of Nursing), Dr. Russell 

Porter (Master of Health 

Administration), Dean of the School 

of Graduate Studies Dr. Thomas 

Eaves, and Dr. Tom Barnett (Master 

of Arts in Liberal Studies). 

Below: The James M. Baker 

University Center, Clayton State’s 

signature building, was completed in 

August 2004 and named in honor of 

Clayton State alumnus James M. 

Baker in November 2005. The Baker 

Center provides the University with a 

true “center” for student life and 

contains food service areas, state-ofthe-art 

visual technology classrooms, 

offices and enhanced learning facilities 

including wireless capabilities and 

more than 2,000 data drops. 

As an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan 

university, Clayton State University has 

come a long way since its inception nearly four 

decades ago. 

It first opened in 1969 as Clayton Junior 

College with Dr. Harry S. Downs as founding 

president and an enrollment of 942 students. The 

Board of Regents of the University System of 

Georgia elevated it to baccalaureate status 

as Clayton State College in 1986 and to university 

status as Clayton College & State University in 

1996. The school’s current designation as Clayton 

State University was approved in 2005. 

Since Downs’ retirement in 1994, the 

University has had only two permanent 

presidents, Dr. Richard A. Skinner, and current 

president Dr. Thomas K. Harden, who took 

office in 2000. The current enrollment is in 

excess of 6,000 students and the school 

provides a multitude of degree credit programs 

that—in the words of the University’s mission 

statement—provides "career-oriented education 

with a solid liberal arts foundation." 

In addition to a host of undergraduate 

degrees, Clayton State also has several graduate 

programs. The first, the Master of Arts in 

Liberal Studies, was approved by the Board of 

Regents in 2005 and began in 2006. The 

second, the Master of Science in Nursing, was 

approved in June 2006, followed by the Master 

of Health Administration in August 2006 

and the Master of Business Administration in 

2007. The latter three programs all began in 

2007. Proposals for additional degree programs 

are under development. 

Clayton State is also home to Spivey Hall, 

the finest small performance facility in the 

Southeast. First opened in 1991, Spivey Hall is 

known locally, nationally and internationally for 

presenting the best in jazz and classical music as 

well as an education outreach program that 

serves tens of thousands of school children from 

throughout metro Atlanta annually. 

One of the University’s newest buildings is 

the James M. Baker University Center, which 

opened in 2004 and provides the university 

with a true "Center" for student life. Three 

additional buildings will open in August 

2008—the University’s first student housing, a 

student activities center and a new building 

for the AACSB-accredited School of Business. 

For more information, you can visit Clayton 

State University at www.clayton.edu. 


ARKO VEAL 

COMPANY, INC. 

When Russian native Arkady Miretsky 

immigrated to the United States in 1989, he 

came packing little more than a heart filled with 

big hopes and dreams. 

Today, as the owner of a multimillion dollar 

business, and a devoted husband and father, 

Miretsky says he is living all of those dreams— 

and then some. 

“Arko Veal Company, Inc., was born in 1998 

from a simple product idea and grew up from 

a small office, one truck and $2,000 to what we 

are today—a manufacturer and distributor of 

an original line of Tex Mex, Hispanic and 

Caribbean products with a 35,000-square-foot 

plant in Forest Park, 70 employees, 26 delivery 

trucks, and five 18-wheelers serving restaurants 

and markets throughout the Southeastern 

United States,” Miretsky said in a recent 

interview. “Our sales last year were more than 

$35 million.” 

With such explosive growth, it is no wonder 

Inc. Magazine listed the company as one of 

the “5,000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies” 

and “Top 100 Food and Beverage Companies” 

in the US in 2007. It is also no surprise 

that Miretsky himself has been touted in 

the Wall Street Journal as Businessman of the 

Year for Georgia—enormous kudos made 

even more impressive by the fact that less 

than two decades ago he was a penniless 

immigrant struggling to find a minimum 

wage job. 

Though a trained chef, Miretsky could not 

speak English when he first arrived in America 

and wound up a dishwasher at La Strada 

Restaurant in Dunwoody. Within six months, 

however, he had worked his way up to the 

cooking staff and finally chef. He also served as 

chef at local five-star hotel restaurant before 

coming up with the idea for a new portioncontrolled 

veal product that gave birth to his 

bustling company. 

“I can remember driving to my $4.75-anhour 

dishwashing job in my old VW Bug 

and dreaming about living in one of the really 

nice homes that I would pass,” Miretsky said. 

“Today, I have the dream job, I live in my 

dream home and I drive my dream car. And, 

most importantly, I have my dream family—a 

supportive wife, Angela, and two wonderful 

children, eight-year-old Alex and two-monthold 

Natalie.” 

For more information about Arko Veal 

Company, Inc., please call 404-534-9337. 


DOVETAIL 

CONSULTING 

❖ 

Above: Founder and Owner of 

Dovetail Consulting, Mignon Allen. 

Dovetail Consulting is one of the few minority/ 

female-owned and operated professional 

consulting firms in the nation that specializes 

in safety and security, public participation, 

and multimodal planning for the public 

transportation industry. The firm was founded 

by Mignon Allen in December 2002. 

The fourth in her family to attend the 

distinguished Spelman College in Atlanta, Allen 

graduated summa cum laude in 1994 and 

was recruited by Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid 

Transit Authority (MARTA) months before she 

graduated. Allen branched into consulting 

after completing her Masters of Business 

Administration at Emory University and the 

knowledge gained from seven years of service 

in the core functional areas of Strategic 

Planning, Engineering and Construction, and 

Rail Transportation at MARTA. 

Headquartered in Clayton County with staff 

located in Chicago, Boston and Phoenix, 

Allen now employs eight professionals, all of 

whom are highly experienced in the public 

transportation industry and considered experts 

in their respective fields. The firm has doubled 

revenues each year since its inception and has 

assisted many agencies in planning, building, 

operating, expanding and maintaining public 

transit systems. The client list of state, regional, 

county, city, and public transit agencies 

has grown to include the Georgia Department 

of Transportation; Florida Department of 

Transportation; Arizona Department of 

Transportation; Georgia Regional Transportation 

Authority; Atlanta Regional Commission; 

Regional Transportation Authority in Chicago; 

Henry County, Georgia; Athens-Clarke County, 

Georgia; Cherokee County, Georgia; City of 

Atlanta; Hampton Roads Transit in Norfolk; Port 

Authority in Pittsburgh; Miami-Dade Transit 

Authority; and the Regional Planning Agency in 

Chattanooga, just to name few. 

Allen believes that successful organizations 

do not just happen; they are designed and 

managed to be that way. She attributes Dovetail 

Consulting’s success to a close-knit team that 

knows transit, uses minimal resources and 

produces high quality output. Her team prides 

itself in the knowledge, professionalism, 

and integrity of its exceptionally qualified 

and experienced staff. When asked what sets 

Dovetail Consulting apart, Allen responded, 

“We take personal interest in helping public 

agencies develop and implement plans that 

meet regulatory scrutiny and at the same time 

satisfy the needs of the riding public—that’s 

what we do.” 


There is only one thing better than winning 

an award and that is winning an award where 

your customers are the judges. 

Just ask Don Jackson, founder and owner of 

Spartan Lincoln Mercury, one of Ford Motor 

Company’s top hundred Lincoln-Mercury 

dealerships nationwide and eight-time winner of 

the company’s coveted President’s Award. 

“We are proud to be among Ford’s top 

dealerships and even more proud to have won— 

for eight consecutive years—the President’s 

Award, the company’s highest honor awarded to 

the dealerships that most consistently deliver 

exceptional customer service,” Jackson said. 

“Because selection is based on customer surveys 

solicited by Ford itself, this award essentially 

comes from our own customers, and that is the 

greatest award of all.” 

Located in Morrow and named after his 

children’s high school football team, Spartan 

Lincoln Mercury was founded by Jackson in 

1982. A graduate of Atlanta’s John Marshall 

University and a forty-three year veteran in the 

car industry, Jackson also owns Don Jackson 

Lincoln Mercury and Don Jackson Mitsubishi in 

Union City. The two Lincoln-Mercury dealerships 

alone employ 120 people, with combined sales 

routinely topping $50 million annually. 

While Jackson’s roots in the automotive 

industry run deep, his roots in Clayton County 

run even deeper. It is where his parents lived 

most of their lives and where he was born and 

reared. It is also the place he will always call home. 

In addition to being an astute businessman, 

Jackson is also a family man. He and his wife 

Saundra have been married forty-four years 

and have six children and eighteen 

grandchildren. Most of his children have 

worked with him at some point and two of 

them, as well as one son-in-law, are still in the 

business—Casey Jackson serving as general 

manager for Spartan Lincoln Mercury, Derek 

Jackson as general manager of Don Jackson 

Mitsubishi, and Paul Nestlehutt, general 

manager of Don Jackson Lincoln Mercury. 

“I expect we’ll have some grandchildren join 

us in the future as well,” Jackson said with a smile. 

“And, together, we will work diligently with the 

rest of our top-notch staff to continue being the 

premier Lincoln Mercury dealer in Atlanta.” 

For more information, please call 1-800-349- 

4703 or visit www.spartanlincolnmercury.com. 

SPARTAN 

LINCOLN 

MERCURY 

❖ 

In the early 1960s a broad, straight 

highway led directly to the airport 

terminal, which now is encircled by 

coils of entrance and exit ramps 

serving the three interstate highways 

that surround the airport. 




LOGGINS & 

ASSOCIATES, 

P.C. 

❖ 

Ben Loggins, founder of Loggins & 

Associates, P.C. 

Ben Loggins earned his BBA and MBA from 

Georgia State University. For several years he 

worked for the IRS and an international 

accounting firm, before he realized his true 

desire was to work with small businesses 

within his own community, providing quality 

accounting services to help growing companies 

reach profitability. 

Loggins & Associates, P.C. was established 

in 1988. In 1994 the firm moved into its current 

location in Jonesboro, a 5,000-square-foot 

office, which today houses 18 employees, six 

of whom have been with the company 

for more than fifteen years. 

Business revenues have increased 

ten percent compounded every year 

for the past ten years. 

Loggins & Associates, P.C. was 

named Clayton County Chamber’s 

2005 Small Business of the Year. 

The firm’s team of professionals 

includes a multistate tax reporting 

specialist, computer consultants, 

several QuickBooks Pro Advisors, 

and six CPAs who perform a complete 

menu of individually tailored 

accounting services. Together, they 

prepare a variety of reports, projections, 

and tax returns to provide 

clients with the most up-to-date 

financial data to assist in management 

decisions. 

A firm believer in community involvement, 

Loggins has served since 1981 as a Clayton 

County Rotary Club member and for seventeen 

years as a board member of the Southern 

Regional Medical Center Foundation. He also 

served as treasurer of the Clayton County 

Olympic Committee, and Georgia Figure 

Skating Club, and is a member of the United 

State’s Figure Skating Association’s finance 

committee and the Georgia Society of CPAs’ Tax 

Forum Training Committee. He is an active 

supporter of the Southside Theatre Guild, and 

helped develop and fund a scholarship at 

Clayton State University, where he spent several 

years as an instructor. He has been a member of 

the Community Foundation for Clayton County 

since 2003. 

He has also instilled in his team the 

importance of community. Four of his present 

and past employees have completed Leadership 

Clayton training. 

As for the future, Loggins’ firm is working to 

become completely paperless, while continuing 

to provide clients with the best quality and 

even easier access to their data. He plans to 

remain deeply involved in community activities 

by helping youth development through 

scholarships and sportsmanship, and through 

his commitment to Rotary International’s goals 

and the Community Foundation’s initiatives. 


visit the firm online at www.logginscpa.com. 


AKSTEIN EYE 

CENTER 

When it comes to eye care centers, the 

difference is visible at Akstein Eye Center. 

Founded more than a quarter of a century 

ago by Dr. Ricardo B. Akstein, M.D., Akstein 

Eye Center specializes in medical and surgical 

treatments of diseases of the eye and features 

three locations—a main office at 86 Upper 

Riverdale Road in Riverdale and a pair of 

satellite offices at 102 Atlanta Street in 

McDonough and 605 North Jeff Davis Drive in 

Fayetteville. The center also includes an onsite 

ambulatory surgical center as well as in-house 

store featuring a vast inventory of both glasses 

and contact lenses available for purchase. 

Among the list of eye diseases treated at 

the center are cataracts, corneal diseases, lid 

conditions, glaucoma, eye muscle disorders 

(strabismus), diabetic related problems, 

macular degeneration and other retina-vitreous 

disorders, nearsightedness and farsightedness 

visual corrections. Specialty procedures 

performed include glaucoma filtration surgery, 

corneal transplants, cosmetic surgery, and 

cataract surgery with standard and premium 

implants, laser refractive surgery and retinavitreous 

surgery. 

Dr. Akstein is a graduate of Emory University 

in Atlanta. In addition, he is a Fellow of the 

American College of Surgeons (F.A.C.S.) and 

the International College of Surgeons (F.I.C.S.), 

designations awarded only to those surgeons 

whose education and training, professional 

qualifications, surgical competence, and ethical 

conduct have passed a rigorous evaluation, 

and are consistent with the high standards of 

the colleges. 

As to why he founded the center, Dr. Akstein 

said that while moonlighting as an emergency 

room physician at Southern Regional Medical 

Center and finishing up his ophthalmic 

residency and fellowship at Emory, he simply 

realized that there was a need for a quality 

ophthalmic practice in the area. He opened the 

center in 1982. 

“Since the beginning, we have been 

committed to providing superior general and 

sub-specialty eye care for patients in our 

community without regard to sex, cultural or 

economic, educational or religious background, 

or source of payment for his or her care,” 

Dr. Akstein said, referring to his practice’s 

mission statement. “We constantly strive for 

excellence, always attempting to exceed the 

expectations of our patients, our referral 

sources and healthcare organizations.” 

For more information, call 770-996-4844. 

❖ 

Dr. Ricardo B. Akstein, M.D. 


ESTES HEATING 

& AIR 

CONDITIONING 

❖ 

Above: Brian Estes, N.B. Estes 

(founder, deceased), and Tommy Estes. 

Below: Estes Corporate headquarters 

is located at 3981 Tradeport 

Boulevard in Atlanta, Georgia 30354 

Founded in 1949 by the late N.B. Estes, Estes 

Heating & Air Conditioning was built on a 

strong foundation of honesty, integrity and 

quality service—traditions that not only 

continue today, but that have made this still 

family-owned business the number one HVAC 

service, sales, repair and installation company 

in Atlanta. 

“While it’s true we have grown in volume 

every year since we opened, we haven’t 

forgotten what made us successful to begin 

with,” said Tommy Estes, N.B. Estes’ son and 

current company president. 

“Dad always did whatever 

it took to satisfy the 

customer, because he knew 

that without them he 

would have no business. 

That strong emphasis on 

customer service was created 

as a core company value 

early on and is still the key 

to our success.” 

Ranked in the upper 

echelon of heating and 

air contractors in America 

and offering a 100 percent 

satisfaction guarantee, 

Estes today has a solid base 

of more than 250,000 

satisfied customers, almost 

100 employees, a fleet of 65 trucks, and a 

modern 27,000-square-foot building that houses 

all company operations and a showroom. The 

company has been featured in many nationallyrecognized 

trade publications and earned many 

awards, including the coveted “Residential 

Excellence Award” given to the top contractor 

in America by the Air Conditioning Contractors 

of America and “Best Contractor to 

Work For in the Southeast” award 

given by The News, a national air 

conditioning and refrigeration magazine. 

Additionally, the company 

has consistently earned Atlanta’s “Consumer’s 

Choice” Award; has achieved 

Kudzu.com’s highest rating; and is a 

repeat winner of Angie’s List’s “Super 

Service Award” as well as many other 

local, regional and national honors. 

Tommy, who does not remember a 

time he did not work at least part-time 

for his dad, joined the company fulltime 

after graduating college in 1971 

and has been at the helm since his 

dad stepped down in 1986. His own 

son, Brian, is working his way up 

through the ranks and is presently 

vice president and poised to take over 

the overall leadership of Estes. Estes has been 

based in Clayton County since its inception. 


visit www.estesair.com. 


Though Chick-fil-A ® officially made its debut 

in Fulton County, this famous national restaurant 

chain and its founder, S. Truett Cathy, are 

an integral part of Clayton County. 

In fact, the S. Truett Cathy family has called 

Hampton home for nearly a half a century. 

But, they do not just reside here. They are 

committed to serving the community. Not just 

donating money, but actually serving. 

A devout Christian, Cathy himself has led 

a Sunday School class for thirteen year-old boys 

at Jonesboro’s First Baptist Church for as long as 

he has been a resident. He has raised money for 

various local charities, supported education at 

every level and assisted needy children. 

He and wife Jeannette even started their own 

nonprofit, charitable foundation in 1984—the 

WinShape ® Foundation—through which they 

have donated millions of dollars to a family of 

growing ministries designed to help shape people 

of all ages and stages of life to be winners. 

In addition to being home to the Cathys, 

Clayton County actually played a role in the 

birth of Chick-fil-A ® . In fact, Forest Park was 

the location of Cathy’s second Dwarf House 

Restaurant that opened in 1951 and operated 

for nine years before being destroyed by fire. 

Though tragic at the time, that event 

served as a springboard for Cathy. 

Strongly believing that fast food was 

the next big thing, he first decided 

to try his hand at a fast-food establishment 

in Forest Park. Customers, 

however, decided that they preferred 

the "full service" of the Dwarf House 

and Cathy headed back to Hapeville, 

home of his initial Dwarf House. 

Feeling restless, he started experimenting 

with different ways to economically 

and quickly cook chicken. 

He finally hit on the perfect recipe 

and opened his first Chick-fil-A ® 

Restaurant in Atlanta’s Greenbriar 

Mall in 1967. 

Today, Chick-fil-A serves nutritious 

and freshly prepared food products 

in more than 1,400 mall locations, 

stand-alone restaurants, drivethru-only 

restaurants, Chick-fil-A 

Dwarf House ® and Truett’s Grill ® 

full-service restaurants, and through 

licensed outlets in college campuses, hospitals, 

airports, businesses and industrial sites in 

thirty-seven states and Washington, DC. It is the 

second largest quick-service chicken restaurant 

chain in the United States based on sales. 

For more information about Chick-fil-A, 

Inc., please visit www.chick-fil-a.com. 

❖ 

CHICK-FIL-A, 

INC. 

S. Truett Cathy. 


ALLAN VIGIL 

FORD 

❖ 

Above: Allan Vigil Ford in 

Morrow, Georgia. 

Below: Allan Vigil and wife Bonnie 

(center) with their two children, 

Dawn and Mike. 

When Allan Vigil took the wheel of the 

dealership that was one day to become his own, 

it was on the brink of extinction. 

Today, Allan Vigil Ford in Morrow is not only 

Georgia’s largest Ford dealer, but is one of the 

top 100 Ford dealerships in the country. 

The key to his success? “A loyal, dedicated 

team of employees and a commitment to excellent 

customer service and satisfaction,” says Vigil. 

A University of Florida graduate and decorated 

Army veteran, Vigil began his automotive career 

with Ford Motor Company in the early 1970s. 

After several years, he moved to the retail side 

of the business serving in various management 

positions. In 1982 he was asked to take over the 

failing Jonesboro dealership. 

Putting together a new management team 

and working diligently to increase sales while 

creating high levels of customer satisfaction, 

the dealership began to recover. When offered 

the opportunity to buy the company in 1990, 

Vigil did not hesitate and business has 

continued to flourish. 

In 2003, Vigil moved the dealership to 

Morrow. The new facility was designed for 

customer comfort and convenience and has 

large, open showrooms, multiple waiting rooms 

with digital televisions and Internet access, 

observation areas, a children’s play area, and 

a café. On the same campus is a separate 

distribution facility for the dealership’s brisk 

wholesale parts business, and next door is 

the Southeast’s largest collision center—a free 

standing, state-of-the-art facility with thirty-two 

repair bays and five downdraft paint booths. 

Allan Vigil Ford is privately owned and a true 

family business. Community-minded and the 

recipient of numerous professional honors, Vigil 

continues to serve as the company’s president. 

Son Mike also serves as president and general 

manager of Allan Vigil Ford Fayetteville and 

daughter Dawn serves as the company’s director 

of marketing and communications. All three 

proudly lead the Allan Vigil Ford team in 

upholding the company’s reputation for great 

service and customer satisfaction. 

For more information, visit Allan Vigil 

Ford on the web at www.vigilford.com or 

in person at 6790 Mount Zion Boulevard in 

Morrow, Georgia. You may also call toll-free at 

1-888-681-0159. 


CLAYTON 

COUNTY WATER 

AUTHORITY 

The Clayton County Water Authority 

(CCWA) has a simple, yet profound mission 

statement which best describes what it has 

been successfully doing for residents and 

businesses of Clayton County since 1955: “God 

made it; we clean it up; and serve H2O to go” 

for customers everyday. 

The CCWA was created by the Georgia 

General Assembly more than a half century ago 

and initially served less than 500 customers. 

It employed a mere eight people, owned five 

pieces of equipment, and scarcely had the 

resources to operate its one water filter plant, 

which supplied just 250,000 gallons of finished 

drinking water to residents daily. 

Today, the CCWA has grown to employ more 

than 375 professionals trained and certified to 

operate over 500 pieces of equipment and six 

plants—three major water production plants 

and three major wastewater treatment plants— 

24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Together, the 

CCWA and its employees provide more than 42 

million gallons of water to 76,000 customer 

accounts and 270,000 citizens daily. It 

operates under the leadership of a sevenmember 

board of directors appointed by the 

Clayton County Board of Commissioners; is 

recognized as an industry leader; and boasts a 

list of accolades and awards almost too long to 

list and still growing. 

“But no reward can match that of a satisfied 

customer or a dedicated employee, for they 

provide real tangible evidence of the Authority’s 

historical success,” pens the writers of 50 Years 

of Foresight: The Story of the Clayton County Water 

Authority, a commemorative book written in 

celebration of the CCWA’s fiftieth birthday. “The 

best water utility in the state, region or nation? 

That is certainly debatable. However, what is 

not in question is whether or not the Clayton 

County Water Authority has positively impacted 

its community, providing much more than 

infrastructure; rather, providing the foundation 

for a better place to live, work, and play. As has 

been told with its history, this Authority has 

fifty years worth of evidence of doing that! And 

this journey will certainly continue…” 

For more information, visit www.ccwa.us. 

❖ 

Left: Seated (from left to right): Board 

Member Wesley E. Greene, Sr., 

Chairman Pete McQueen and Vice 

Chairman Lloyd Joiner. Standing, left 

to right: Board Member Doug Bonner, 

Secretary/Treasurer Marie Barber and 

Board Member John Westervelt. Not 

pictured: Board Member John Chafin. 

Below: The CCWA’s total water 

management system uses technologies 

that ensure a clean, safe, reliable 

water supply. The innovative use of 

constructed treatment wetlands allows 

the CCWA to return 10 million 

gallons a day of highly treated 

wastewater to its reservoirs—making 

Clayton County virtually drought 

proof. This photo shows an aerial view 

of the Huie Constructed Treatment 

Wetlands site. 


SPONSORS 

Action Tire Company ...................................................................................................................................................................76 

Akstein Eye Center.......................................................................................................................................................................97 

Allan Vigil Ford..........................................................................................................................................................................100 

Arko Veal Company, Inc. ..............................................................................................................................................................93 

Atlanta Orthopedic & Arthroscopy Center, PC .............................................................................................................................61 

Atlanta Produce Dealers Association .............................................................................................................................................71 

Atlanta State Farmers Market........................................................................................................................................................72 

BHW Sheet Metal Company .........................................................................................................................................................88 

Blalock Machinery & Equipment Company, Inc. ..........................................................................................................................66 

Chick-fil-A, Inc. ...........................................................................................................................................................................99 

City of Forest Park .......................................................................................................................................................................62 

City of Jonesboro..........................................................................................................................................................................84 

Clayton County Board of Commissioners .....................................................................................................................................82 

Clayton County Water Authority ..........................................................................................................................................61, 101 

Dovetail Consulting......................................................................................................................................................................94 

Estes Heating & Air Conditioning ................................................................................................................................................98 

Forest Park Sheet Metal Works, Inc. .............................................................................................................................................74 

Georgia Archives ..........................................................................................................................................................................90 

Georgia International Convention Center .....................................................................................................................................80 

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ...........................................................................................................................86 

Heritage Bank...............................................................................................................................................................................61 

Historical Jonesboro/Clayton County, Inc. ....................................................................................................................................65 

Hodges, McEachem & King, Attorneys at Law..............................................................................................................................69 

J. J. Jardina Company, Inc.............................................................................................................................................................89 

Loggins & Associates, P.C.......................................................................................................................................................61, 96 

Paragon Systems, Inc....................................................................................................................................................................73 

R. J. Haynie & Associates .............................................................................................................................................................78 

Southern Regional Health System .................................................................................................................................................91 

Spartan Lincoln Mercury ..............................................................................................................................................................95 

Sutherland’s Foodservice, Inc. ......................................................................................................................................................70 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

K ATHRYN 

K EMP, PH D 

A native of Pennsylvania, Kathryn Kemp has earned her PhD in history from Georgia State and her M.A. and B.A. from the 

University of New Orleans. Her studies have centered on the U.S. South but she also enjoys teaching ancient history survey classes 

when the opportunity arises. She usually teaches U.S. history surveys, courses on minorities in U.S. history, and on the U.S. in the 

Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and a historical research and writing course for senior history majors. 

In addition to teaching, she has worked as an archivist, a researcher for an archaeology lab, and as a writer. Her book, God’s 

Capitalist: Asa Candler of Coca-Cola, was published by Mercer University Press in 2002. She also serves as the executive secretarytreasurer 

of the Georgia Association of Historians. 

She resides in Clayton County, Georgia, with her husband, Jim. 

About the Author ✦ 103

For more information about the following publications or about publishing your own book, please call 

Historical Publishing Network at 800-749-9790 or visit www.lammertinc.com. 

Black Gold: The Story of Texas Oil & Gas 

Garland: A Contemporary History 

Historic Abilene: An Illustrated History 

Historic Alamance County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Albuquerque: An Illustrated History 

Historic Amarillo: An Illustrated History 

Historic Anchorage: An Illustrated History 

Historic Austin: An Illustrated History 

Historic Baldwin County: A Bicentennial History 

Historic Baton Rouge: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaufort County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Beaumont: An Illustrated History 

Historic Bexar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Birmingham: An Illustrated History 

Historic Brazoria County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Charlotte: 

An Illustrated History of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County 

Historic Cheyenne: A History of the Magic City 

Historic Comal County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Corpus Christi: An Illustrated History 

Historic DeKalb County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Denton County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Edmond: An Illustrated History 

Historic El Paso: An Illustrated History 

Historic Erie County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gainesville & Hall County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Gregg County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Hampton Roads: Where America Began 

Historic Hancock County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Henry County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Houston: An Illustrated History 

Historic Illinois: An Illustrated History 

Historic Kern County: 

An Illustrated History of Bakersfield and Kern County 

Historic Lafayette: 

An Illustrated History of Lafayette & Lafayette Parish 

Historic Laredo: 

An Illustrated History of Laredo & Webb County 

Historic Lee County: The Story of Fort Myers & Lee County 

Historic Louisiana: An Illustrated History 

Historic Midland: An Illustrated History 

Historic Montgomery County: 

An Illustrated History of Montgomery County, Texas 

Historic Ocala: The Story of Ocala & Marion County 

Historic Oklahoma: An Illustrated History 

Historic Oklahoma County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Omaha: 

An Illustrated History of Omaha and Douglas County 

Historic Orange County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Ouachita Parish: An Illustrated History 

Historic Paris and Lamar County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History 

Historic Passaic County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Pennsylvania An Illustrated History 

Historic Philadelphia: An Illustrated History 

Historic Prescott: 

An Illustrated History of Prescott & Yavapai County 

Historic Richardson: An Illustrated History 

Historic Rio Grande Valley: An Illustrated History 

Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land 

Historic Shelby County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Shreveport-Bossier: 

An Illustrated History of Shreveport & Bossier City 

Historic South Carolina: An Illustrated History 

Historic Smith County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Temple: An Illustrated History 

Historic Texas: An Illustrated History 

Historic Victoria: An Illustrated History 

Historic Tulsa: An Illustrated History 

Historic Williamson County: An Illustrated History 

Historic Wilmington & The Lower Cape Fear: 

An Illustrated History 

Historic York County: An Illustrated History 

Iron, Wood & Water: An Illustrated History of Lake Oswego 

Jefferson Parish: Rich Heritage, Promising Future 

Miami’s Historic Neighborhoods: A History of Community 

Old Orange County Courthouse: A Centennial History 

Plano: An Illustrated Chronicle 

The New Frontier: 

A Contemporary History of Fort Worth & Tarrant County 

The San Gabriel Valley: A 21st Century Portrait 

The Spirit of Collin County 

Valley Places, Valley Faces 

Water, Rails & Oil: Historic Mid & South Jefferson County 


ISBN 9781935377054

Historic Clayton County

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