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Learn About Georgia
First Inhabitants	Early History	Geography & Landforms	Economy
Capital: Atlanta	Entered the Union: 1/2/1788	Population: 8,186,453	Area (square miles) 59,425
State Bird: Brown Thrasher	State Flower: Cherokee Rose	Nickname: Peach State	Governor: Sonny Perdue
Web Links: State Home Page	Home Page for Students	Members of Congress

Places to Visit in Georgia: (Click the links to learn more.)

Etowah Mounds - Cartersville
Built by the prehistoric Mound Builder Indians, these mounds rise 65 feet and cover 3 acres. This is the most intact Mississippian Culture site in the Southeastern United States. A museum displays artifacts that reveal much about the people who lived here more than 500 years ago.

Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation - Brunswick
Discover the culture of an historic rice plantation along the Altamaha River. Walk beneath live oaks to the antebellum home furnished with fine antiques. Learn about the everyday lives of planters and slaves who worked in the marshes surrounding this plantation.

Wren’s Nest House Museum - Atlanta
Atlanta's oldest house museum and a National Historic Landmark, the Wren's Nest takes you back to the Victorian world of author Joel Chandler Harris. Experience life as it was in Atlanta’s West End at the turn of the 20th century.

Dahlonega Gold Museum - Dahlonega
The Museum, once the old Lumpkin County Court House, is the oldest public building in North Georgia. After Benjamin Parks discovered gold in this area while deer hunting in 1828, thousands of gold seekers flocked to this part of Georgia, beginning the nation’s first major gold rush. The museum houses old mining equipment, artifacts, and historical information. Look closely for the flecks of gold in the building’s bricks!

Andersonville National Historic Site - Andersonville
Andersonville was one of the largest of the Confederate military prisons established during the Civil War. It was built early in 1864. More than 45,000 Union soldiers were confined here. Almost 13,000 men died from disease, malnutrition, overcrowding, or exposure to the elements. Today, it serves as a memorial to all American prisoners of war.

Famous Citizens:

James Earl Carter
The thirty-ninth president of the United States, James Earl Carter, was born in Plains, GA in 1924. His presidency produced the Panama Treaty and the historic Camp David agreements between Israel and Egypt. In the years after his presidency, Carter has become active in many social concerns including building homes for the poor.

Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris was born near Eatonton, Ga. in 1848. He was a humorist, short-story writer, journalist and children's writer who is best known for his Uncle Remus stories. In recognition of his contributions to American Literature, Harris was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. (Library of Congress photo.)

Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights leader, was one of the most important forces in America’s civil rights struggle during the 1960s. Born in Atlanta in 1929, King used a non-violent approach in his effort to stop segregation and discrimination. He is best known for his "I Have A Dream" speech which he delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. King was assassinated in 1968. (Library of Congress photo.)

Juliette Gordon Low
Juliette Gordon Low was born in 1860 in Savannah, Georgia. She established the Girl Scouts of America in 1912 with a group of 18 girls in Savannah. By the time of her death in 1927, there were more than 167,000 Girl Scouts in the United States. On the eightieth anniversary of the organization, the Girl Scouts had served an estimated fifty million members worldwide.

Margaret Mitchell
Author Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta in 1900. She is best known for her novel Gone with the Wind (1936). It became an instant best seller and Mitchell was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for it in 1937. The novel was made into a motion picture in 1939 and has become a film classic. (Library of Congress photo.)

Flannery O'Conner
Flannery O'Conner was born in Savannah, Ga. in 1925. She is considered one of the greatest short-story writers of the 20th century. Her works won three O. Henry Awards for short fiction, the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.