10 Interesting and Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About Georgia

Many know Georgia to be a hot southern state, as well as an important state for political voting. Country music fans will likely always remember Georgia as the place a hillbilly won an important fiddle contest. While those facts are true, they are only a few pieces of information that sum up the state. Here are 10 interesting and fun facts you didn’t know about Georgia.

1. Animal Facts

Georgia is home to over 4,000 species of vascular plants and vertebrate animals. Of these, more than 90 species of mammals reside within the Peach State. Additionally, there are 350 species of birds within the state and 46 different types of snakes.

There are 65 threatened and endangered animal and plant species in Georgia. A few that made the endangered list include the gray bat, loggerhead sea turtle, and the red-cockaded woodpecker.

2. Official State Animal(s)

This is another one of the interesting and fun facts about the state. Georgia is filled with so many great animal species, that they couldn’t choose just one to represent the state. There are 13 official state animals of Georgia.

Fish, along with the North Atlantic Right whale, the white-tailed deer, and the gopher tortoise are a few examples that represent the state.

4. Home to the Largest Wild Hog

Alapaha, GA is the location of the record for the largest hog ever discovered. With an impressive length of 12 feet and a weight of one thousand pounds, it’s no wonder the hog earned the nickname of ‘Hogzilla’.

5. First of Many ‘Firsts’

• Wesleyan College in Macon became the first college anywhere in the world to allow women to earn college degrees.  
• Furthermore, the first American woman to gain her bachelor’s degree graduated from Wesleyan College
• Georgia owns claim to the invention of the Cherokee written alphabet.
• America’s first gold rush took place in the Peach State, starting in 1828.
• Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta and the first glass was sold at Jacobs’ Pharmacy in 1886.
• The first cotton gin was invented in Savannah by Eli Whitney in 1793.
• In Savannah, in 1736, John Wesley founded the first protestant Sunday school in America. 
• Georgia was the first state to lower the legal voting age to 18. This was done in 1945.
• The first state to charter a state-supported University. The General Assembly incorporated the University of Georgia on January 27, 1785.
• The first European to explore Georgia was Hernando de Soto, back in 1540.

6. The Largest

• Stand back, Mount Rushmore! Stone Mountain’s wall of Confederates is the largest sculpture in the world. The figures of Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis are chiseled in the face of the mountain, along with Lee’s horse, Traveler. The sculpture is 90 feet tall, 190 feet wide and 11 feet deep.
• Stone Mountain is one of the largest single masses of exposed granite in the world.
• Georgia is the largest state that is east of the Mississippi River.
• The world’s largest drive-in restaurant is in Atlanta, and it covers two city blocks! With a space to accommodate 800 diners inside and 600 cars in the lot, this restaurant serves around 15,000 guests daily.
• Additionally, Georgia is the state that has the most counties of all states east of the Ole’ Miss.
• Okefenokee Swamp, located in southeastern Georgia is the largest swamp in North America.

7. The Tallest

• Georgia’s highest elevation point can be found at Brasstown Bald, with an impressive 4,784 feet in height. On a clear day from the viewing platform, four states are visible: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.
• The tallest cascading waterfall that is east of the Mississippi River can be found in Amicalola in the town of Dawsonville and it is located within Amicalola State Park. With seven cascades, it stands at 729 feet.
• The tallest building in the Southeast is the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta. It measures 1,023 feet tall and boasts 1.3 million square feet throughout its 55 stories.

8. The Biggest

One of the biggest archaeological digs in United States history took place at the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds in Macon, back in 1933. It recovered 2.5 million artifacts that spanned 17,000 years of continuous human habitation.

9. The Oldest

One of the oldest state parks in the nation is the Indian Springs State Park is located in Butts County, near Jackson, GA. Sprawling over 528 acres, the park houses numerous springs. The Creeks Indians used the waters for healing purposes for many centuries. In 1825, they signed a treaty, transferring ownership of the land. Today, guests use the springs to swim, boat, and fish, and to enjoy the nature trails.

10. The Oddest

Georiga has some strange laws that citizens must follow, no matter how absurd they might sound. Here are some more interesting and fun facts:

• For the Georgia residents who own donkeys, this law’s for you! State law dictates that it is illegal to keep a donkey in a bathtub.
• Those citizens residing in Acworth are required by law to own a rake.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Danica Jovanov