Histories

• 1906 History of Clayton County
• Dummy Line

1906 History of Clayton County

Clayton County was created Nov. 30, 1858, from Fayette and Henry and was named for Augustine S. Clayton. It is in the central part of the state and is bounded on the north by Fulton and Dekalb counties, on the east by Henry, on the south by Henry, Fayette and Spaulding, and on the west by Fayette and Campbell. The surface is rolling and the soil is a fertile red clay, changing in some places to gray, gravelly lands. The leading productions are cotton, corn, wheat and oats. Peaches, apples and other fruits do well. The forests are composed of oak and hickory, with some ash, maple, walnut, poplar, gum and second growth pine, and the annual output of lumber and naval stores is considerable. Clayton county is quite extensively engaged in manufacturing, especially along the banks of the Flint river and some of its tributaries, where the waterpower is fine. Two lines of the Southern railway system and the Central of Georgia cross the county from north to south, centering at Atlanta. The railroad service is therefore especially good. There is a deposit of asbestos in the county, but it is not mined. Jonesboro is the county seat. Lovejoy Station, Morrow, and Rex are other towns. The population in 1900 was 9,598, an increase of 1,303 since 1890.

Contributed 2025 Mar 30 by Norma Hass, extracted from Georgia: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons arranged in cyclopedic form, edited by Allen D. Candler and Clement A. Evans, three volumes published in 1906, volume 1, page 401.

Dummy Line

Among the many other enterprises that we have recently spoken about in these columns, we would like urge it upon our people to push the Indian Springs Dummy Line to completion this year. There is no doubt of its paying handsomely. In conversation with quite a number of Florida tourists, from time to time, we learn that many of them would stay over here rather than go farther South, if we had the facilities to accommodate them. In connection with the dummy line a fine modern hotel should be erected. In winter it would be filled with people from the north who wish to escape the rigors of that climate, while during summer the people from the sultry Southern cities would be more than glad to come to our healthful, cooling breezes, where they could everyday take a ride to the ever flowing fountain of health, Indian Springs. Let no one think of Jackson stopping in her progress. The day will come when all these enterprises we have recently been mentioning, together with the Indian Springs Dummy Line and one or two hundred thousand dollar hotels will ornament our lovely little city. The Argus will be here to see them. --Middle GA Argus, Week of February 5, 1889

Note: The convenient railroad, which made Clayton County an early commuter community in the 20th century with Atlanta businessmen leaving their country estates each morning and returning in the evening on the train, was affectionately referred to as "The Dummy," for some long-obscured reason.

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