Jonesboro, Georgia

Jonesboro () is a city in and the county seat of Clayton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,235 in 2020.

The city's name was originally spelled Jonesborough. During the American Civil War, the final skirmish in the Atlanta campaign was fought here south of Atlanta, cutting off the city and forcing the mayor of Atlanta to surrender at Marietta in early September 1864. The final fall of Atlanta in the Battle of Jonesborough ended up being a decisive point in the nation's history, propelling Abraham Lincoln to re-election two months later, and continuing the war until the Confederacy finally surrendered the following year.

History

Jonesboro was inhabited by settlers as early as 1821, as a result of the Treaty of Indian Springs, and it was founded as Leaksville in 1823. In 1825, the Flint River Baptist Church was erected on a hill in Leaksville. After the Macon and Western Railroad arrived into the area in 1846, the town was renamed to Jonesboro, in order to honor railroad official Samuel Goode Jones (son of Thomas G. Jones), who was also honored by its citizens.

Jonesboro hosted the beach volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics with the artificial beach created at Clayton County International Park. Jonesboro elected its first Black Mayor, Dr. Sonya Sartor, in March 2023.

In 2024, an investigation by the "FOX 5 I-Team" in Atlanta discovered that hundreds of traffic tickets had been issued improperly by robotic traffic control cameras in school zones. The city was compelled to issue refunds and an apology.

Geography

Jonesboro is located at (33.524512, −84.354290).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (1.89%) is water.

The railroad through Jonesboro is built on the Eastern Continental Divide and there are no bridges for the tracks for many miles in either direction.

Climate

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Jonesboro city, Georgia – Racial composition

!Race (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!% 2010

!% 2000

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2000

|White alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |26.6%

|31.4%

|59.5%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,126

|1,483

|2,279

|Black alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |53.1%

|57.4%

|30.3%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,247

|2,712

|1,161

|American Indian alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.1%

|0%

|0.2%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6

|Asian alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.9%

|2.1%

|0.6%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |124

|101

|23

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.1%

|0%

|0.3%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3

|12

|Other race alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.1%

|0.1%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6

|Multiracial (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.3%

|1.7%

|1.4%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |140

|79

|52

|Hispanic/Latino (any race)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |13.8%

|7.2%

|7.5%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |583

|341

|289

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Jonesboro had a population of 4,235. There were 1,476 households and 771 families residing in the city.

Of the 1,476 households in Jonesboro, 39.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 25.3% were married-couple households, 21.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 47.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.