Jonesboro, Georgia: A Guide to Places in the Historical City

    The city of Jonesboro, Georgia has a history that began in 1821 when the Creek Indians ceded a large portion of their land in the Treaty of Indian Springs. (A side note of interest to fellow Georgians is that this is the same Treaty that created Indian Springs state park, which is the oldest state park in the United States.) At that time the town that is now known as Jonesboro, was called Leaksville and it was part of both Henry and Fayette Counties. In the early 1840s the Monroe Railroad and Banking Company brought their railroad to the small rural community of Leaksville, but financial difficulties left the project unfinished until the formation of the Macon and Western Railroad. At that time one of the Civil Engineers working on the project took an interest in the small city of Leaksville and helped the village plan out their new streets. In 1845, some of the businesses of Leaksville got together and decided to rename their town in honor of that helpful Civil Engineer, Colonel Samuel Goode Jones. Jonesboro was incorporated 1856, and in 1859 it became the county seat of the newly formed county named for Augustin S. Clayton, a judge from the Western Circuit of the Georgia.