Town of the Week

Come with us to Gainesville, Georgia; just listen in.

Gainesville, Georgia
February 6, 1999

Tucked against the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Georgia, it's easy to see why she's called "the Queen City." While this town started out as Mule Camp Springs, she grew briskly after the Civil War as the railroad arrived from Atlanta, 75 miles to the southwest.

One of Gainesville's continuing traditions is the Mule Camp farmers market. The springs are still bubbling, in a park-like setting, which the Red Cross now occupies. Along with crop and cotton production, and making pine rockers, Gainesville has been and is still known by everyone outside Arkansas as the poultry capital of the world.

Roosevelt Square downtown is dedicated to the memory of President Roosevelt, after he pledged money to the city to rebuild its courthouse following a tornado in 1936.

Back in the 1920s, the high school teams had no nickname. While playing a game out of town, the public address announcer looked at the team coming on to the field and said they looked like a herd of red elephants, so that's what they are today...the "Red Elephants" and the "Lady Elephants"/"The Pink Pachyderms."

This is the home of Gainesville College, a two-year school, which is part of the University System of Georgia; and Brenau College, a private women's college.

The history of Gainesville is contained in the Georgia Mountains Museum and the Railroad Museum. You'll find them in our Town of the Week, Gainesville, Georgia.