Roy Barnes 2010

Georgia's original settlement, Savannah, was America's first ever planned city. Designed as a series of easily navigable grids with shady public squares by James Oglethorpe, Savannah remains an architectural feat in the 21st century, and has been called "one of the finest diagrams for city organization and growth in existence," by Philadelphia planner and author, Edmund Bacon.

Georgia's 159 counties ranks as the second most of any state in the country (behind Texas' 254).

Berry College in Rome has the world's largest college campus (over 26,000 acres!).

In 1828 Auraria, near the city of Dahlongea, was the site of the first Gold Rush in America.

Wesleyan College in Macon was the first college in the world chartered to grant degrees to women.

The marble used to build the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial was quarried in Tate, Georgia.

Georgia is the nations number one producer of the three Ps--peanuts, pecans, and peaches.

Stretching from Columbus to Augusta, the 20-mile wide "fall line" marks Georgia's prehistoric Atlantic coastline. 

President Franklin Roosevelt's frequent visits to his Warm Springs vacation home lead it to be known as "the Little White House."

The University of Georgia was the nation's first state-chartered university, receiving it's charter in 1785.

DeForest Kelley, known for his role as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy on Star Trek, was born in Toccoa.

Historic Saint Mary’s Georgia is the second oldest city in the nation.

In 1945, Georgia became the first state to lower the legal voting age from 21 to 18.

Georgia once had three governors--simultaneously. In 1947, Ellis Arnall, M.E. Thompson, and Herman Talmadge all claimed that they were Georgia's governor after the death of Governor-elect Eugene Talmadge. This event later became known as the 'Three Governors Controversy' and was settled by the Georgia Supreme Court.

Dalton, Georgia is known as the Carpet Capital of the World. Lcated in the northwest corner of the state, Dalton produces nearly 70% of the nation's carpets, and has more than 100 carpet outlets to choose from.

Georgian Dr. James Hotz was the inspiration for the 1991 movie Doc Hollywood, starring Michael J. Fox. Dr. Hotz came to southwest Georgia in the 1970s, and opened a medical practice in Leesburg (pop. 2,633), becoming the first doctor in the county for several decades. In the movie, a big-city plastic surgeon is stranded in a small Southern town, and residents convince him to stay as their physician.

In 1828, Auraria, near the city of Dahlongea, became the site of the first Gold Rush in the United States.

The Varsity, located in Midtown Atlanta  is the world's largest drive-in fast food restaurant. Frosted Orange anyone?

Each year, Georgians celebrate the New Year with the Peach Drop. More than 100,000 visitors a year come to watch 800-pound fiberglass and foam peach descend 138 feet from a  light tower at Underground Atlanta.