Town file
Barnesville, Georgia
Barnesville, Georgia (Lamar County, Georgia) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 202, "A Very Murderous Christmas" (17 December 2020). Donald Clark was 41 in 2008 and lived at Crane Road in Barnesville, Georgia, with his two sons, Joshua and Jacob, aged ten and eight.
- Town
- Barnesville
- County
- Lamar County
- State
- Georgia
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 202
- Approximate location
- 33.049, -84.149
Episode 202 / 17 December 2020 / 151 min / full
A Very Murderous Christmas
"Down to Barnesville, Georgia; this is in Lamar County, area code 770." about 0:05:23
The case: Murder of Donald Clark (November 2008). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2020
- Population
- 6,553
- Median age
- 25.6
- Median household income
- $26,158
- Median home value
- $79,900
- Two-bedroom rent
- $700 a month
- Cost of living
- 80
- Religious
- 63.5%
- Property crime
- ▲ almost twice the national average
- Violent crime
- ▼ a little bit under the average
History, in brief
- Barnesville was founded in 1826 and named for Gideon Barnes, who ran a tavern. about 0:07:40
- In 1920 Barnesville was designated the seat of the county. about 0:08:07
- During the Civil War the town served as a hospital site for wounded southern troops, who were housed and treated in local homes. about 0:08:13
- The area had higher successful recovery rates than most places used to treat wounded soldiers. about 0:08:43
- Until the turn of the 20th century the town produced about 9,000 buggies a year. about 0:08:54
- The town hosts an annual Buggy Days celebration in the third week of September. about 0:10:16
- On April 28th, 2011, at 12:38 a.m., an F3 tornado with 140 mile an hour winds came through Barnesville, killing two people and destroying homes and barns. about 0:10:26
- The tornado destroyed a Chevron gas station and blew three tractor trailers off Interstate 75 at one o'clock in the morning. about 0:11:46
- The tornado was part of the 2011 super outbreak, the largest and costliest tornado outbreak ever recorded, with 360 tornadoes confirmed in 21 states. about 0:14:33
- April 27th was the most active day, with a record 216 tornadoes touching down from midnight to midnight. about 0:14:47
- Four of the tornadoes were rated F5, the highest rating possible. about 0:14:56
- In total 348 people were killed: 324 by tornadoes and 24 by the thunderstorms around them. about 0:15:10
- Barnesville was the filming location for the 2018 HBO mini-series Sharp Objects, standing in for a fictional Missouri town. about 0:15:30
- The town's motto is the 'buggy capital of the South'. about 0:06:31
- A Wikipedia entry calls Barnesville the 'most racist city in Georgia'. about 0:07:10
- Gordon State College is in Barnesville and has about 3,000 students. about 0:16:16
The reviews read out
3 stars
"The options for food and drink are not awful if you are not picky; the only places open late are McDonald's and Huddle House, there is nothing to do at night and most people work out of town; employment is stable but not growing."about 0:16:27
2 stars
"Local businesses include restaurants and boutiques, a few big-name fast food places and some family-owned restaurants, one Dollar General, Walgreens and CVS; anything specific means driving at least 20 minutes out of town."about 0:17:40
"D. Mullis of Atlanta says it is the worst McDonald's ever: he travels 75,000 miles a year and had to drive only 65 miles from home to find it; the restaurant was dirty, the food bland and the service awful, and staff at the kiosk seemed clueless that he had ordered and paid."about 0:18:02
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Eatonton, Georgia48 miles
- Rutledge, Georgia51 miles
- Milledgeville, Georgia53 miles
- Clarkston, Georgia53 miles
- Vinings, Georgia59 miles
- Rome, Georgia103 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.