Also see Specific Destinations, Travel and Location Humor.

Page Toppers

• Back to Georgia
• Driving to Georgia
• Fourteen Days in Georgia
• Georgia Moon
• Georgia on a Fast Train
• Georgia Peach
• Georgia Rain
• Georgia Sunshine
• Hills of Georgia
• Midnight Train to Georgia
• Rainy Night in Georgia
• Watermelon Time in Georgia
• Way Down in Macon, Georgia
• When it's Moonlight Down in Georgia

Quotes

• Coming from a small town it was tough to dream big. When I grew up in a small town in Georgia, my biggest dream was one day to be able to go to Atlanta. (Herschel Walker)
• Here is a city whose people, rich and poor, are so steeped in good manners--in the smile, the soft word, the easy humor of the Old South--that truck drivers wave at pedestrians as they pass. (R.W. Apple Jr. about Savannah)
• I believe Georgia should aspire to nothing less than greatness. And I believe greatness is within our grasp. (Sonny Perdue)
• ...a place of preeminent silence under big oaks. (John McPhee about Philomath)
• When you combine the men and women deployed from our military installations with activated reservists and members of the National Guard, Georgia is contributing more personnel to the theatre than any other State in our Union. (Sonny Perdue)

Symbols

• Nicknames: The Peach State; Empire State of the South; The Buzzard state
• Motto: Wisdom, Justice and Moderation
• Poet Laureate: David Bottoms
• Song: Georgia on My Mind
• Waltz: Our Georgia
• Folk Dance: Square Dance
• Marine Mammal: Right Whale
• Bird: Brown Thrasher
• Game Bird: Bobwhite Quail
• Fish: Largemouth Bass
• Reptile: Gopher Tortoise
• Shell: Knobbed Whelk
• Insect: Honeybee
• Butterfly: Tiger Swallowtail
• Tree: Live Oak
• Flower: Cherokee rose
• Wildflower: Azalea
• Crop: Peanut
• Fossil: Shark Tooth
• Gemstone: Quartz
• Mineral: Staurolite
• Fruit: Peach
• Vegetable: Vidalia Sweet Onion
• Prepared Food: Grits
• Pro Sports Teams: Atlanta Hawks (men's basketball), Atlanta Falcons (football), Atlanta Braves (baseball), Atlanta Glory (women's basketball)

Facts About Georgia

• Capital: Atlanta
• Residents: Georgians
• State Name Origin: named after King George II of England
• Admitted to Statehood: 2 Jan 1788
• Order of Admission: 4th state
• Coastline/Shoreline: 100/2,344 miles
• Length: 300 miles
• Width: 230 miles
• Area: 59,425 square miles
• Size Rank: 24
• Number of Counties: 159
• Streams and Rivers: 70,150 miles
• Geographic Center: 18 miles SE of Macon in Twiggs Co.
• Mean Elevation: 600 feet
• Highest Point: Brasstown Bald Mountain, 4,784 feet
• Lowest Point: Atlantic Coast, sea level
• Official Language: English (since 1996)
• Agricultural Products: chickens, other food products, number one producer of peanuts, pecans and peaches
• Commercial Products: clothing and textiles, transportation equipment, paper, clay
• Average Annual Rainfall: 48.6 inches
• Average Winter High Temperature: 45 degrees
• Record Low Temperature: -17 degrees (27 Jan 1940 North Floyd County)
• Average Summer High Temperature: 85 degrees
• Record High Temperature: 112 degrees (24 Jul 1952 Louisville)
• Official Language: English
• More information about Georgia

Georgia On My Mind

(words by Stuart Gorrell, music by Hoagy Carmichael)

Melodies bring memories
That linger in my heart
Make me think of Georgia
Why did we ever part?
Some sweet day when blossoms fall
And all the world's a song
I'll go back to Georgia
'Cause that's where I belong.

Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through
Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.

Georgia, Georgia, a song of you
Comes as sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines.
Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you.

Georgia, Georgia, no peace I find
Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.

Georgia State Creed

(adopted in 1939)

Accepting, as I do, the principles upon which Georgia was founded, not for self but others;--its Democratic form of Government, based on 'Wisdom, Justice and Moderation';--its natural resources;--its Educational, Social and Religious advantages, making it a most desirable place to live--I will strive to be a pure upright Citizen, rejecting the evils--loving and emulating the good.

I further believe it is my duty to defend it against all enemies, to honor and obey its laws, to apply the Golden Rule in all my dealings with my fellow Citizens.

I feel a sense of pride in the history and heroic deeds accomplished by my forebears, and shall endeavor to so live that my State will be proud of me for doing my bit to make my State a better Commonwealth for future generations.

Items of Interest

• Okefenokee Swamp encompasses over 400,000 acres of canals; moss draped cypress trees, and lily pad prairies providing sanctuaries for hundreds of species of birds and wildlife including several endangered species. It's name was derived from an Indian word meaning the trembling earth.
• The Cherokee Phoenix, published in New Echota in 1828, was the first known newspaper to be printed in a Native American language.
• Saint Marys is the second oldest city in the nation.
• The First African Baptist Church, founded in Savannah in 1788, was the first African-American church in the U. S.
• The sweetest onion in the world, the Vidalia, can only be grown in the fields around Vidalia and Glennville
• In 1828 Auraria was the site of the first Gold Rush in America.
• Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta in May 1886 by Dr. John S. Pemberton. The name "Coca-Cola" was suggested by Dr. Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson. He penned the name Coca-Cola in the flowing script that is famous today. Coca-Cola was first sold at a soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta by Willis Venable.
• Marshall Forest in Rome is the only natural forest within a city limits in the U.S.
• The Six Flags Over Georgia theme-park, was named for six flags that flew over GA--England, Spain, Liberty, GA, Confederate States of America, and the U.S.
• Chickamuga National Park is the site of the bloodiest battle in American history.
• Stone Mountain near Atlanta is one of the largest single masses of exposed granite in the world. Located on the face of the mountain are the figures of Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee--the world's largest sculpture. Robert E. Lee's horse, Traveler, is also carved on the mountain.
• Berry College in Rome has the world's largest college campus.
• Wesleyan College in Macon was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women.
• Athens is the location of the first university chartered and supported by state funds.

Notable Natives

Some of these were born here, others just lived a while in the state.

• Conrad Aiken - poet (Savannah)
• James Bowie - soldier (Burke County)
• James Brown - singer, "the Godfather of Soul" (raised in Augusta)
• Jim Brown - football player
• Ralph Bunch - diplomat, first Georgian to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Erskine Caldwell - author (Moreland)
• Asa G. Candler - businessman, philanthropist
• Jimmy Carter (1929- ) - 39th U.S. president (born and still lives in Plains)
• Ray Charles - singer (Albany)
• Lucius D. Clay - banker, general (Marietta)
• Tyrus "Ty" Cobb (1886-1961) - first baseball player admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Charles Coburn - actor (Macon)
• Ossie Davis - actor, writer (Cogdell)
• James Dickey - poet (Atlanta)
• Mattiwilda Dobbs - opera singer (Atlanta)
• Melvyn Douglas - actor (Macon)
• Pete Drake - musician, record producer(Augusta)
• Rebecca Latimer Felton - first appointed female U.S. senator (Decatur)
• Lawrence Fishburne III - actor (Augusta)
• John Freeman - soldier, hero
• Henry W. Grady - journalist (Athens)
• Amy Grant - singer, Augusta
• Oliver Hardy - comedian, Harlem
• Joel Chandler Harris - journalist, author (Eatonton)
• Roland Hayes - singer (Curyville)
• Fletcher Henderson - musician, songwriter (Cuthbert)
• Hulk Hogan - professional wrestler (Augusta)
• John Henry Doc Holliday - western hero (Griffin)
• Larry Holmes - boxer (Cuthert)
• Miriam Hopkins - actress (Bainbridge)
• Jasper Johns - painter, sculptor (Augusta)
• Bobby Jones - golfer (Atlanta)
• Stacy Keach - actor (Savannah)
• DeForest Kelley - actor (Atlanta)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)- civil rights leader, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (Atlanta)
• Gladys Knight (1946- ) - singer (Atlanta)
• Joseph R. Lamar - supreme court justice (Elbert)
• Sidney Lanier - poet
• Brenda Lee - singer (Lithonia)
• Little Richard (1932- ) - rock and roll singer (Macon)
• Crawford W. Long - surgeon
• Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927) - founded the Girl Scouts in 1912 (Savannah)
• Carson McCullers - author (Columbus)
• Blind Willie McTell - blues singer (Thomson)
• Johnny Mercer - songwriter (Savannah)
• Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949) - Pulitzer Prize-winning author (Atlanta)
• John Robert "Johnny" Mize - baseball player (Demorest)
• Jessye Norman - singer (Augusta)
• Otis Redding - singer (Dawson)
• Jerry Reed - singer, songwriter, actor (Atlanta)
• Burt Reynolds - actor (Waycross)
• Jack "Jackie" Robinson (1919-1972) - first African American major league baseball player (Cairo)
• Tommy Roe - singer, songwriter, Alpharetta)
• Billy Joe Royal - singer (Valdosta)
• Dean Rusk - secretary of state (Cherokee City)
• Nipsey Russell - comedian (Atlanta)
• Sequoya (1770-1843) - devised a phonetic, written Cherokee alphabet, it was the first alphabet of any native American language (lived in New Echota)
• Hamilton Stephens - statesman
• Ray Stevens - singer,songwriter (Clarksdale)
• Janelle Taylor - romance novelist (Athens)
• Edward "Blackbeard" Teach - pirate (lived on Blackbeard Island)
• Clarence Thomas - supreme court justice
• Travis Tritt (1963- ) - county singer, songwriter (Marietta)
• Ted Turner (1938- ) owner of pro sports teams
• Alice Walker (1944- ) - Pulitzer Prize-winning author, wrote The Color Purple (Eatonton)
• Joanne Woodward - actress (Thomasville)
• Trisha Yearwood (1964- ) - country singer (Monticello)

The Georgia State Flag
Georgia adopted a new flag in 2003. The flag has two red stripes with white between. In the upper left corner is a gold representation of the state coat of arms on a blue background. The 13 stars surrounding the seal identify GA as one of the original 13 colonies. Three pillars supporting an arch represent the three branches of government. A man with a sword is defending the Constitution. The date 1776 represents the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

You know you are from Georgia if...

• Sweet tea is THE drink. No questions.
• When a waitress asks what you want to drink and you say Coke, she asks "What kind?"
• "Ya'll" is a word.
• Atlanta is known as "The City."
• You know the difference between a hillbilly, a redneck, and a Southerner.
• The one way to be killed in .5 seconds is to talk bad about somebody's mama or talk bad to somebody's mama.
• Krispy Kreme donuts are the only kind of donuts you eat.
• Fried chicken is a major part of your diet.
• When the Government started telling people to stock up on duck tape, you were waaaaaaaaaay ahead of them.
• You walk into someone's house and people are sitting around smoking what they call "the garden".
• On one side of the road there's Wal-Mart and on the other is a cotton field.
• You greet people with"Howdy, Whachu doin?"
• You know what a 'dawg' is.
• You know people who consider a six pack and a bug zapper quality entertainment.
• The directions to your house include "turn off the paved road."
• Your dog and your wallet are both on chains.
• You still call the refrigerator the "icebox".
• You call it a cold Christmas if you don't break out in a sweat in your new sweater.
• Your whole town completely shuts down for one inch of snow or just the threat of snow.
• You know at least three streets named "Peachtree".
• You don't know anyone who drinks Pepsi.
• It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy.
• People actually grow, eat and like okra!
• You have spray painted your girlfriend's name on an overpass.
• Someone asks to see your ID and you show them your belt buckle.
• You know at least one person who has lost a tooth opening a beer bottle.
• You bought a VCR so you could tape wrestling while you are at work.
• You prominently display the memento you got at Graceland.
• You have started a petition to change the National Anthem to "Georgia on My Mind."
• You call your boss "Dude."
• You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Georgia.

Songs about Georgia

• Back to Georgia - Loggins and Messina (1971)
• Bringin' in the Georgia Mail - The Tennessee Cut-Ups (1960)
• Devil Went Down to Georgia, The - Charlie Daniels Band (1979)
• Driving to Georgia - Doug Hoekstra (1996)
• Fourteen Days in Georgia - Tommy Jackson (1959)
• Georgia Boys - John Hartford and Texas Shorty (1995)
• Georgia on a Fast Train - Shaver (1993)
• Georgia on My Mind - Willie Nelson (1978)
• Georgia Peaches - Lynyrd Skynyrd (1991)
• Georgia Pine - The Blue Ridge Playboys (1936)
• Georgia Piney Woods - The Osborne Brothers (1971)
• Georgia Pines - Tony Joe White (1967)
• Georgia Rain - Trisha Yearwood (2005)
• Georgia Rhythm - The Atlanta Rhythm Section (1976)
• Georgia Rose - Jimmie Dale Gilmore (2000)
• Georgia Stomp - Johnson Mountain Boys (1989)
• Georgia Sunshine - Jerry Reed (1970)
• Georgia Waltz - Mac Wiseman (1952)
• Goin' Back to Georgia - Nanci Griffith (1987)
• Guide Me Home, My Georgia Moon - Mel Tillis (1966)
• Hills of Georgia - Hylo Brown (1962)
• Hitchhike Back to Georgia - The Rhythm Orchids (1964)
• I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train - Billy Joe Shaver (1973)
• I'm Going Home to Georgia - Sally Rogers (1986)
• It's a Long, Long Way to Georgia - Don Gibson (1968)
• It's a Long Way Back to Georgia - Jack Barlow (1972)
• Little Georgia Rose - Seldom Scene (1973)
• Love You Back to Georgia - Freddy Weller (1975)
• Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Night and the Pips (1976)
• Never Going Back to Georgia - Blue Magoos (1969)
• My Little Georgia Rose - Bill Monroe (1966)
• Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, The - Vicki Lawrence (1973)
• Peach-Pickin' Time Down in Georgia - Willie Nelson (1997)
• Rainy Night in Georgia - Cleve Francis (2006)
• Send Me Back to Georgia - Si Kahn (1984)
• Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia - The Dinning Sisters (1950)
• Slow Train Through Georgia - Norman Blake (1993)
• Sweet-Eyed Georgia Girl - Atlanta (1984)
• Tall Trees in Georgia - Buffy Sainte Marie (1971)
• Up from Georgia - James Talley (1977)
• Walking Back to Georgia - Jim Croce (1971)
• Watermelon Time in Georgia - Vernon Oxford (1965)

Songs about Georgia Cities

• Atlanta Blue - The Statler Brothers (1984)
• Atlanta Lady (Something About You I Love) - Marty Balin (1981)
• Atlanta, Georgia Stray - Sonny Curtis (1968)
• Augusta - David Allan Coe (1980)
• Back Down to Atlanta - Roy Acuff, Jr. (1970)
• Belleville, Georgia - J.D. Crowe and the New South (1986)
• Burning of Atlanta, The - Claude King (1962)
• Cedartown, Georgia - Waylon Jennings (1971)
• Columbus, Georgia - Tommy Sosebee (1950)
• Destination: Atlanta, Georgia - Cal Smith (1968)
• Hard-Hearted Hannah, the Vamp of Savannah - Patti Austin (2002)
• La Grange - ZZ Top (1973)
• Little Girl From Greenwood, Georgia - Joanie Sommers (1970)
• Oh, Atlanta - Little Feat (1974)
• Savannah Nights - Tom Johnston (1979)
• Savannah Sunny Sunday - The Tymes (1976)
• Savannah, Georgia Vagrant - Red Sovine (1968)
• She's Waiting for Me (Fort Benning Blues) - Jimmie Tarlton (1967) (GA)
• Somewhere South of Macon - Rattlesnake Annie (1988)
• Vidalia - Sammy Kershaw (1996)