Georgia Weather Forecast

Some Interesting Facts about Georgia

From Atlanta to the romantic Sea Islands, the belle of the South is a mosaic of mirrored skyscraper, white-sand beaches, pine-scented mountains, down-home food, and friendly folk.

Atlanta: Southern heart beats to a cosmopolitan pulse. A shining city built on the re-clay foothills of the Appalachians. Atlanta has come a long way since its tattered Reconstruction days, when Georgians named it state capital and the phoenix its symbol. Today the city offers a mix of sophistication and down-home tradition: on the one hand you can shop and dine in the chic part of town Buckhead, or take in the Atlanta Opera; on the other, you can cheer on the Braves and Falcons, raft the Chattahoochee River, or seek out the perfect barbecue shack.

Macon : In its time it was called the finest house in the South. The 1850s Hay House was outfitted with such cutting-edge technology as an intercom system, an elevator, and central heating. The elaborately adorned Italianate structure features stained-glass windows and trompe I'oeil marbleized walls.

Andersonville: Roughly a third of the Federal prisoners at the Confederacy's largest military prison died here from lack of food and water. At the Andersonville National Historic Site you'll see two of the more than 60 escape tunnels within the compound. The tragedy is underlined by the relentless line of graves at the National Cemetery, where Clara Barton was aided by a prisoner named Dorence Atwater, who kept the list of names of the 13,000 union casualties.

Plains: Jimmy Carter is a man steeped in his environment. In Plains, a small town set down in peanut country, everyone has a story to tell about the 39th president.

Providence Canyon: some 170 years ago settlers cleared these steep wooded hillside for farmland. Shallow ditches carved by water flowing unimpeded through plowed fields were transformed over time into 16 gaping " cayons'"--deeply hued erosion gulley's where wildflowers now prolierate.

Columbus: Remnants of pre-Civil War ironworks, gristmills, and cotton warehouses make up Columbus's National Historic landmark Industrial District. Cannons for the Southern cause were forged here.

Pine Mountain: In the 1930s industrialist Cason Callaway began revitalizing the region's spent, abandoned cotton fields. At Callaway Gardens, completed in 1952, the magnificent environs Callaway created compete only with the top-notch recreational options--from canoeing to golf to tennis.

Cartersville; Coca-Cola's first wall sign was painted in 1894 on the side of the Young Brothers Pharmacy on Main Street. Four miles west on Rte.113/61 is Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site. This is mostly Atlanta and the south Of Georgia. But don't forget to visit Savannah and the Colonial Coast!

Agriculture: Poultry and eggs, peanuts, cattle, hogs, dairy products, vegetables. Industry: Textiles and apparel, transportation equipment, food processing, paper products, chemical products, electric equipment, tourism.

Area: 59441 sq.mi, 24th Land 57919 sq. mi., 21st - Water 1522 sq.mi., 24th Coastline 100 mi., 16th - Shoreline 2,344mi.