Lovejoy is a city in Clayton County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, it was the site of the

Battle of Lovejoy's Station The Battle of Lovejoy's Station was fought on August 20, 1864, near what is now Lovejoy, Georgia, in Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton County, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The two sides had arrived at something of a stal ...

during the Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Lovejoy was incorporated as a town on September 16, 1861. As of 2020, its population was 10,122. It has an African American majority. Lovejoy is proposed by the

Georgia Department of Transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the organization in charge of developing and maintaining all state and federal roadways in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. In addition to highways, the department also has a li ...

and

MARTA Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...

to be the endpoint of

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell metropolitan statistical area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the sixt ...

's first commuter rail line.

History

Around 1850, the location just north of Fosterville, Georgia was positioned along the new railway from Atlanta to Macon. The trainstop there was named for a prosperous local planter, James Lankford Lovejoy. On early maps, the location is called "Lovejoys." It became known as Lovejoy's Station by 1864, where it was the setting of a civil war battle during Sherman's campaign through Georgia. James Lovejoy left the region and died in Clinch County, Georgia in 1877. The

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

incorporated Lovejoy as a town in 1891. Lovejoy was the site of a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

until 1932. In 1979, Betty Talmadge, former first-lady of Georgia, purchased the remnants of the Hollywood set " Tara," the fictional plantation featured in

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

, and brought them to Lovejoy. The main road through Lovejoy is named "Tara Blvd." The remnants of Tara are available to be toured at the Lovejoy Plantation.

Geography

Lovejoy is located in southern Clayton County at (33.444164, -84.315105). It is bordered by Henry County to the south and the unincorporated community of

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

to the north. U.S. Routes 19 and 41 pass through the western part of Lovejoy, leading north to downtown

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and south to

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.91%, is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 10,122 people, 1,756 households, and 1,272 families residing in the city.

Education

Clayton County Public Schools The Clayton County Public School District (CCPS) is a public school district headquartered in Jonesboro, Georgia, U.S. It administers schools inside of Clayton County, Georgia. Serving more than 52,000 students, Clayton County Public Schools ...

operates public schools. The schools in this area are: Lovejoy Middle School and Lovejoy High School. In 1989,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

Jody Hamilton Joseph Hamilton (August 28, 1938 – August 3, 2021) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. He was best known as one half of the tag team The Assassins (professional wrestling), The Assassins where ...

opened a school and training facility in Lovejoy. It was later moved to Atlanta and operated as the

WCW Power Plant The WCW Power Plant was a professional wrestling school in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, owned and operated by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), a subsidairy of WarnerMedia, Time Warner. The school was founded by wrestler Jody Hamilton, who ope ...

until 2001.

Infrastructure

Transit systems

serves the city. A planned

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service is expected to terminate in the city.

Notable people

Kokomo Arnold James "Kokomo" Arnold (February 15, 1896 or 1901 – November 8, 1968) was an American blues musician. A left-handed slide guitarist, his intense style of playing and rapid-fire vocal delivery set him apart from his contemporaries. He got his ni ...

, Blues Singer and Guitarist *

Bub Means Jerrod "Bub" Means (born January 10, 2001) is an American professional football wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, Louisiana Tech Bu ...

, wide receiver in the NFLhttps://triblive.com/sports/high-school-coachs-memories-of-pitts-bub-means-go-beyond-football/ * Jocasta Odom, Reality TV show personality and Minister * Preston Williams, NFL Wide Receiver

References

External links

City of Lovejoy official websiteCavalry Action at Lovejoy's Station
historical marker
Georgia Militia at Lovejoy's Station
historical marker {{authority control Cities in Georgia (U.S. state) Cities in Clayton County, Georgia