Historical
Places
Also available for
tours, but not on the Stately Oaks property,
are the Old Jail and the Jonesboro Train Depot.
 Old Jail /
Clayton County History Museum
This was the building erected for a County Jail in Clayton County. In 1869 it was
erected in conjunction with the Courthouse. It was originally one-story; a second story
was added in 1880. The only man ever hanged in Clayton County was housed here
from 1880 to 1881. He had murdered Judge Hilliard Moore during a robbery. In
1972, Historical Jonesboro acquired the property and in 1995, established the
Clayton County History Museum.
 Jonesboro Train Depot
/ Clayton County
Welcome Center / Road To Tara Museum
With the construction
of the railroad in 1845, Jonesboro became a commercial center. During the fall countless
wagon loads of cotton lined the tracks through town. The first train into Jonesboro
arrived on a Sunday in July 1845, announcing its arrival by whistle. It's said the sound
emptied all the local churches of their congregations.
Originally the depot was located north of town. It was
destroyed in General Kilpatrick’s Cavalry raid August 1864. The Federals also removed
the tracks, heated them and wrapped the rails around trees so they could not be
reused. These are known as "Sherman’s Neckties". With the railroad supply
lines destroyed, the inhabitants and defenders of Atlanta were forced to surrender, and
Atlanta fell a few days later. In 1867 another depot was built. It was contained in what
is now the large warehouse room, but about 1914 waiting rooms
and an office were added to the north end of the building. The original Fairbanks cotton
scales and the last bale of cotton to be shipped from Jonesboro are still in the
warehouse. The depot was the first restoration project for Historical Jonesboro and
currently serves as the Welcome Center of the Clayton County Convention & Visitor's
Bureau and the Road To Tara Museum.   Stop by for more information on area attractions! |
