| Official Name: | Lovejoy, Georgia |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Motto: | A great place to grow and prosper |
| Mapsize: | 250x200px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Georgia |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Clayton |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 7.61 |
| Area Land Km2: | 7.54 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.07 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 2.94 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 2.91 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.03 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 10122 |
| Population Density Km2: | 1342.38 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 3477.16 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 33.4442°N -84.315°W |
| Elevation M: | 290 |
| Elevation Ft: | 951 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 30250 |
| Area Code: | 770 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 13-47616[2] |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 0317440[3] |
Lovejoy is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. During the American Civil War, it was the site of the Battle of Lovejoy's Station during the Atlanta Campaign of 1864. Lovejoy was incorporated as a town on September 16, 1861.[4] As of 2020, its population was 10,122.
Lovejoy is proposed by the Georgia Department of Transportation and MARTA to be the endpoint of metro Atlanta's first commuter rail line.
Around 1850, the location just north of Fosterville, GA, was positioned along the new railway from Atlanta to Macon. The trainstop there was named for a prosperous local planter, James Lankford Lovejoy. On early maps, the location is called "Lovejoys."[5] It became known as Lovejoy's Station by 1864, where it was the setting of a civil war battle during Sherman's campaign through Georgia. James Lovejoy left the region and died in Clinch County, Georgia in 1877.
The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Lovejoy as a town in 1891.[6]
Lovejoy was also the site of a cotton gin until 1932.[7]
In 1979, Betty Talmadge, former first-lady of Georgia, purchased the remnants of the Hollywood set "Tara," the fictional plantation featured in Gone With the Wind, and brought them to Lovejoy.[8] The main road through Lovejoy today is named "Tara Blvd." The remnants of Tara are available to be toured at the Lovejoy Plantation through www.savingtara.com.
Lovejoy is located in southern Clayton County at 33.4442°N -84.315°W (33.444164, -84.315105).[9] It is bordered by Henry County to the south and the unincorporated community of Bonanza to the north. U.S. Routes 19 and 41 pass through the western part of Lovejoy, leading north to downtown Atlanta and south to Griffin.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.8km2, of which 0.06sqkm, or 0.91%, is water.[10]
| White (non-Hispanic) | 932 | 9.21% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 7,709 | 76.16% | |
| Native American | 21 | 0.21% | |
| Asian | 105 | 1.04% | |
| Pacific Islander | 5 | 0.05% | |
| Other/Mixed | 334 | 3.3% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,016 | 10.04% |
Clayton County Public Schools operates public schools. The schools in this area are: Lovejoy Middle School and Lovejoy High School.
In 1989, professional wrestler Jody Hamilton opened a school and training facility in Lovejoy. It was later moved to Atlanta and operated as the WCW Power Plant until 2001.[12]
MARTA serves the city. A planned commuter rail service is expected to terminate in the city.