Welcome to the home of the International Cherry Blossom Festival. Griffin, GA is a charming small city that is known for its lively cherry blossom season celebration.
Located in the Northern Panhandle of Georgia, Griffin is a vibrant community with a multitude of other attractions, such as historical sites, colorful festivals, cozy restaurants, and fantastic shopping options. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at some of the things Griffin is famous for, and explore how to make the most of your visit!
Table of Contents
1. Griffin is the county seat of Spalding County and is home to the Spalding County Courthouse which is the oldest in Georgia.
2. One of Griffin’s most iconic landmarks is the 35-foot-tall goat sculpture named “Old Scratch” that stands in front of the Spalding County courthouse.
3. Griffin hosts the International Cherry Blossom Festival which celebrates the area’s 100+ year old cherry tree. It’s usually held in the spring.
4. Griffin was once home to a professional minor league baseball team in the early 1900s. It featured players like Babe Ruth, who played there in 1914.
5. Griffin is home to the world’s first cotton mill. The mill, built in 1839, originally processed cotton into cotton yarn.
6. The city is also home to the world’s largest cotton bale which is made from Griffin’s cotton industry as well.
7. Griffin is located along Interstate 75, one of the main routes for travelers who are traveling from Florida to the Midwest.
8. The Griffin area is known for its Civil War battlefields and Confederate strongholds throughout, ranging from Rough and Ready Gap all the way to Jonesboro.
9. The Georgia Hollywood Connection is a museum located in Griffin that displays memorabilia from all the movies that were filmed in the area.
10. Griffin is home to Berry College, a private college founded in 1902. It is the largest college campus in the world with an area of over 26,000 acres.
A fun fact about Griffin, GA is that it was home to the Zippy Chippy, a famous racehorse who set the record for the longest losing streak in horse racing history.
Zippy Chippy raced a total of 100 times and lost every single race. Despite his lack of success on the track, he became a beloved figure in the racing world and even had his own fan club.
Today, Zippy Chippy lives out his retirement at the Old Friends at Cabin Creek Farm horse sanctuary in New York.
Related post
Griffin is a city in Spalding County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 23,643. The city and county were named for Theodorick Griffin, who served in the American Revolutionary War.
Griffin was founded in 1840 and incorporated as a city in 1872. The city was awarded the All-America City Award in 1984. Today Griffin is home to many educational institutions, including the Griffin Judicial Circuit, Spalding County schools, a branch of Central Georgia Technical College, Southern Crescent Technical College, and the Georgia Sports Academy, which is home to several Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
In the mid-20th century, Griffin served as the launching-off point for the ill-fated Dixie Highway, which had the goal of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The highway never got further than Griffin, as the project collapsed due to cost overruns. Furthermore, the highway cost townships dearly and in the end resulted in almost all of the towns along the highway being bypassed.
Today, Griffin’s economy is largely based on education, manufacturing, and agriculture. The town and its surrounding area are known for growing peaches, watermelons and peanuts, while several local factories produce automotive supplies, aviation parts, and electric transformers. Griffin is also home to many beautiful antebellum homes and buildings, a hint at the city’s colorful past.
4 Mar, 2024
5 Mar, 2024
4 Mar, 2024
4 Mar, 2024