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What I mean by "Gone with the Wind"-esque simply means what the South was portrayed as looking like in the Antebellum period in the early (pre Civil War) part of the 1939 American film Gone with the Wind. Not all aspects, especially not the personality of the particular characters, would be what I am looking for, but rather the old sociological aspects of it, such as the prevalence of large-scale (500 acres or more) farming of staple crops (cotton, coffee, sugar, rice, indigo, tobacco) done historically by slaves (20 or more slaves specifically), historic prevalence of lavish Greek Revival or Colonial or Greco-Roman classical style mansions, especially on the large plantations; And The historical dependence of local industry on the trade or production of said staple crops; the prevalence of a landed planter-capitalist class in local spheres of influence, particularly as religious, political, or business leaders. Modern aspect of this said area would include the prevalence or higher than average concentration of antebellum mansions, an active movement for the historical preservation of Antebellum mansions, prevalence among college-graduate whites in being graduates of schools belonging to the Southeastern Conference, ACC, Big 12, American Athletic Conference, C-USA, Sun Belt Conference, Big South, Colonial Athletics Association, Ohio Valley Conference, Southern Conference, Pioneer Football League, or Southland Conference college athletics associations and conferences (but especially ACC, Big 10, C-USA, Sunbelt, and AAC, and doubly especially the SEC), the dependency on farming or natural resources, manufacturing, trade, retail, hospitality industries, or logistics as being the main economy today for said localities or other kinds of areas rather than advanced services industries, and the prevalence of a closed society dominated by a few rich people with a lot of old money originally made early on in the 19th century from planting or other industries found in the 19th Century in the South.
What I mean by the Southern United States is the whole of the state defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as being the "South" census region of the United States, Delaware, Maryland, The District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The reason for me asking this is because I've been interested in these kinds of areas, and would like to travel to more of them, trying to figure out what's next.
Let me know which areas are the most "Old South" to you. I say Natchez since it has the most antebellum mansions as a concentration per square mile. Especially old Antebellum mansions that are National Historic Landmarks.
None of the cities listed fit the bill, as they are all coastal cities and GWTW's setting was in the Piedmont South (Clayton County, GA, now suburban Atlanta). There was a large disparity between the two in terms of wealth concentration, topography and culture.
I would say that the middle Georgia area is the closest in feel to GWTW, particularly Hancock County. Rural, but in its day had a large measure of wealth from cotton production (Tara's cash crop). The town of Sparta has many beautiful plantation houses (many in Greek Revival style) in its vicinity.
A little small, but definitely the closest looking place to Gone with the Wind I'd imagine, and probably as an area with as little corruption as possible.
Not one hundred percent sure about how I'd get around (or even if it's possible) to tour all of those homes with historical insight.
I think I will visit that area the next time I'll have enough free time to travel out of state!
As far as topping off the exact location and setting in modern context in relation to the portrayal in actual movie, I think that area takes the cake. Architecture is splendid! so is the
Not so sure that the Piedmont was exactly the most fertile area in terms of soil and had the highest concentration of old South Planters. Seems like Natchez (with most of the planters living there owning massive plantations across the river in the extremely fertile Mississippi Alluvial Plain region of North Louisiana (Louisiana Delta) would fit that bill a little better. I could be wrong though. The part about the Louisiana Delta being more fertile really doesn't affect how interesting as a place to visit Sparta is though.
A little small, but definitely the closest looking place to Gone with the Wind I'd imagine, and probably as an area with as little corruption as possible.
Not one hundred percent sure about how I'd get around (or even if it's possible) to tour all of those homes with historical insight.
I think this is what you're looking for. Though not listed here, Sparta is within this historic swath of East Central Georgia that was pretty much the epicenter of cotton production and plantation life. There are some amazingly beautiful historic towns (Madison, Monticello, Greensboro, Washington) and popular resort / recreation sites like Lake Oconee and Reynolds Plantation.
I think this is what you're looking for. Though not listed here, Sparta is within this historic swath of East Central Georgia that was pretty much the epicenter of cotton production and plantation life. There are some amazingly beautiful historic towns (Madison, Monticello, Greensboro, Washington) and popular resort / recreation sites like Lake Oconee and Reynolds Plantation.
I will be very careful to stop by at least Madison, Milledgeville, and Sparta. I probably will be going next spring, visiting by driving from Jackson (MS) and stopping in Atlanta, then visiting all these towns, and then probably stopping in Savannah for a day or two, then drive straight back to Jackson with one overnight stop in Birmingham.
Maryland was a slave state -- and until the '60s a true Jim Crow state-- which is why it is often considered "old south." But it remained in the Union during the Civil war and did not join the Confederacy. It was also the most southern big city on the Atlantic Coast to take on the industry and many physical characteristics of the Mid Atlantic and Northeast cities. So in many ways even today Baltimore looks like a northern city and feels like a southern one.
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