Crawfordville, Georgia

Crawfordville, a small town in east central Georgia, is just off Interstate 20, about 93 miles east of Atlanta and 57 miles west of Augusta. It is the county seat of Taliaferro County, one of the smallest and poorest counties in Georgia. In fact, Crawfordville is almost a ghost town, with most of the buildings in the downtown area now standing empty.

Less than an hour's drive to the east is Columbia County, Georgia, and slightly further to the west, Gwinnett County, Georgia - two of the fastest growing counties in the entire United States. But time seems to have completely forgotten poor little Crawfordville.

Still, Crawfordville is rich in historic interest and holds a dear place in my heart for many reasons.

When you arrive in Crawfordville you just might get a Deja-vu feeling as if you have been here before. Actually, you have very likely seen Crawfordville before at the movies but just didn't know where it was. The town is "picture perfect" for film makers who want to find a small Southern town which time has forgotten. Nothing much has changed here in a hundred years, except that lots of people have either died or moved away and now the downtown area is mostly empty.

Hollywood has discovered Crawfordville as a great set for movies and several popular motion pictures have been made here. These include:

Coward of the County (Kenny Rogers)

Summer of My German Soldier (Kristy McNichol)

Sweet Home Alabama (Reese Witherspoon)

Paris Trout (Dennis Hopper)

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, (Dennis Quaid, Kristy McNichol)

and several others.