In the legendary film Gone With the Wind, based on Margaret Mitchell's smash hit novel by the same name, Scarlett O'Hara and her father, Gerald, stood side-by-side in one of those classic blazing Georgia sunsets surveying Tara. Its legendary location was a town just outside of Atlanta, and now part of its metropolitan orb, called Jonesboro.


Tourists still come to Jonesboro looking for Tara, but of course it's the stuff of fiction. Or is it?


There's plenty of real Civil War-era material in Jonesboro. Irish-born CSA General Patrick Cleburne is buried in the Confederate Cemetery named for him. Jonesboro experienced its own Civil War battle August 31-September 1, 1864, shortly before the Battle of Atlanta. The Confederate loss led directly to the fall of Atlanta. A visit to the Greek Revival Stately Oaks, built in 1839, will illuminate not only what plantation homes really were like in that day, but also show some of the reality of daily life in the other buildings that are preserved on the site.


So you can get your fill of history in Jonesboro, even if you can't find Tara. (The set still exists, but under wraps at the home of the late Betty Talmadge, a former first lady of Georgia, in nearby Lovejoy.)


Modern life in Jonesboro, GA, population 3,000, doesn't dance to the tune of a lively Virginia Reel, as Rhett and the young widowed Scarlett did, scandalizing the entire assembly. But music does play an important role in Jonesboro's cultural life. World class is the only term to describe Spivey Hall, the 400-seat performance facility at Clayton College & State University in nearby Morrow. With its the September to May season, Spivey Hall has featured the world's finest performers, among them violinist Itzhak Perlman, Metropolitan Opera bass Samuel Ramey, and pianist Andr� Watts, who collaborated in the launch performance in 1992. Fratelli Ruffatti from Padua, Italy, built the splendid 4,413-pipe organ, dedicated in 1992 by Gillian Weir and the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers.


Enhancing the cultural scene in Jonesboro is the Clayton County Schools Performing Arts Center, easily the Clayton County school system's crown jewel. Completed in 1990, it holds three theaters. The smallest, the recital hall, is geared toward musical performances while the others focus on theatrical performances. But the space has functional flexibility so that all seating can open into the largest theater, giving the facility its total 1800 seats.


Scarlett wouldn't have played volleyball (or would she?), but in 1996 Jonesboro served as the official volleyball venue for the 1996 Olympic Games. Today known as The Beach at Clayton County International Park, the venue features a spring-fed lake ringed by a white sand beach. A thoroughly family-focused facility, it hosts not only a kiddie pool, but also still features world-class beach volleyball tournaments in the summer.


Since before the Civil War, Jonesboro has been the seat of government for Clayton County, today boasting a population of 252,000. One of the state's most densely populated counties, Clayton operates its own transit system, C-Tran. Lift-equipped buses make transportation easier for disabled citizens. Among the system's routine destinations are Southlake Mall, one of the county's most important shopping centers, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, most of which rests in Clayton County.


Among the largest employers in Clayton County, Delta Airlines, like many of the airline-based employers located there, was drawn by the county's convenience to the airport and to the interstate system.


Clayton County and Jonesboro share the affluence of the metro Atlanta area, and its cultural and recreational values. Yet the cost of living is lower than in the rest of the state. Median housing costs in 2000 were just under $93,000, a figure that compares favorably to the state's $111,000 for the same year. Household income, thanks to the well-paying jobs the county offers, paces just slightly ahead of the state figures.


With history and modern amenities well integrated, Jonesboro is well positioned to attract residents looking for a gracious way of life while providing for their families and themselves every possible quality-of-life requirement.