Jonesboro is a city in the county of Clayton County, Georgia. The city’s name was originally spelled Jonesborough. During the American Civil War, the final skirmish in the Atlanta campaign was fought here south of Atlanta, cutting off the city and forcing the mayor of Atlanta to surrender at Marietta in early September 1864. The final fall of Atlanta in the Battle of Jonesborough ended up being a decisive point in the nation’s history, propelling Abraham Lincoln to re-election two months later, and continuing the war until the Confederacy finally surrendered the following year.
Many of the scenes from the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit were filmed in Jonesboro. Another 1977 movie, the obscure ‘In Hot Pursuit (aka The Polk County Pot Plane), was filmed in and around Jonesboro.
Old Downtown Jonesboro (from Mill Street to Church Street). Many of these old buildings appear as they did before the Civil War, as the brick exteriors withstood fire while the interiors burned. In the late 1800’s this rowdy downtown street housed 13 different saloons! A prominent citizen of the time complained that he had to move out of town to keep his adolescent sons out of the bad environment on Main Street. Now business and government offices alternate with several antique and gift shops along North and South Main Street.
1867 Train Depot – (104 N.Main Street) This Georgia granite building replaced the original wooden depot which stood near the Confederate Cemetery and was burned in 1864. At the peak of railroad travel, passenger and freight trains passed through day and night, and the Jonesboro-to-Atlanta commuter train, the Dummy, made five round trips a day. Today it serves as the Jonesboro Welcome Center.
