Barnesville is a city in Lamar County, Georgia, United States. The city is a part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,755. The city is the county seat of Lamar County.Barnesville was once dubbed the "Buggy Capital of the South" as the town produced about 9,000 buggies a year around the turn of the 20th century. Each year in the third week of September the town hosts an annual Buggy Days celebration.HistoryBarnesville was founded in 1826 and named for local tavern owner Gideon Barnes. In 1920, Barnesville was designated seat of the newly formed Lamar County.Barnesville served as a major hospital site for wounded southern troops during the Civil War. Local families took wounded soldiers into their homes and treated them, with highly successful recovery rates. Major General William B. Bate, CSA of Hardees Corps., wounded in Atlanta at Utoy Creek on August 10, 1864, was treated here. After the war, General Bate was elected Governor of Tennessee and served in the United States Senate until his death in 1912. He commented on his successful recovery as a result of the kindness of the local populace in Barnesville.Notable weather eventsIn the early morning hours of April 28, 2011, at 12:38 A.M., a tornado rated EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with 140 mph winds touched down in Pike County four miles south of Meansville. The tornado went on to destroy several homes in Barnesville. Two deaths occurred in Barnesville along Grove Street. The tornado also destroyed a Chevron gas station and a church in Barnesville. Three tractor trailers also blown off of Interstate 75 at approximately 1:02 A.M. This tornado was part of the April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak.
