Lovejoy, Georgia

Lovejoy is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. During the American Civil War, it was the site of the Battle of Lovejoy's Station during the Atlanta campaign of 1864. Lovejoy was incorporated as a town on September 16, 1861. As of 2020, its population was 10,122. It has an African American majority.

Lovejoy is proposed by the Georgia Department of Transportation and MARTA to be the endpoint of metro Atlanta's first commuter rail line.

History

Around 1850, the location just north of Fosterville, Georgia was positioned along the new railway from Atlanta to Macon. The trainstop there was named for a prosperous local planter, James Lankford Lovejoy. On early maps, the location is called "Lovejoys." It became known as Lovejoy's Station by 1864, where it was the setting of a civil war battle during Sherman's campaign through Georgia. James Lovejoy left the region and died in Clinch County, Georgia in 1877.

The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Lovejoy as a town in 1891.

Lovejoy was the site of a cotton gin until 1932.

In 1979, Betty Talmadge, former first-lady of Georgia, purchased the remnants of the Hollywood set "Tara," the fictional plantation featured in Gone With the Wind, and brought them to Lovejoy. The main road through Lovejoy is named "Tara Blvd." The remnants of Tara are available to be toured at the Lovejoy Plantation.

Geography

Lovejoy is located in southern Clayton County at (33.444164, -84.315105). It is bordered by Henry County to the south and the unincorporated community of Bonanza to the north. U.S. Routes 19 and 41 pass through the western part of Lovejoy, leading north to downtown Atlanta and south to Griffin.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which , or 0.91%, is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 10,122 people, 3,303 households, and 1,272 families residing in the city. The median age was 32.1 years. 27.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 6.8% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.3 males age 18 and over.

99.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.4% lived in rural areas.

Of households in Lovejoy, 44.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 29.2% were married-couple households, 18.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 44.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Infrastructure

Transit systems

MARTA serves the city. A planned commuter rail service is expected to terminate in the city.