Georgia is known for many things, such as being home to a host of Fortune 500 companies and a burgeoning film industry that accounted for $4 billion in economic impact last year alone. But a few of Georgia’s achievements aren’t as widely recognized, though they are certainly Jeopardy-worthy facts.
Here are some of Georgia’s capital accolades.
100,000
tons of blue granite and 20,000 seats comprise the Granite Bowl Stadium in Elberton. Known as the Granite Capital of the World, Elberton produces more granite monuments than anywhere else.
350,000
Yoshino cherry trees in bloom each spring in Macon, the Cherry Blossom Capital of the World. The city has been hosting the annual International Cherry Blossom Festival since 1982.
53
percentage of the nation’s peanut crop grown in Georgia, where three southwest Georgia towns—Ashburn, Blakely, and Sylvester—lay claim to the title Peanut Capital of the World. Peanuts are a $2 billion industry, and Mitchell County alone boasts 42,000 acres devoted to farming the tasty legumes.
4,000,000
pounds of fruitcake each year produced by Claxton Bakery and Georgia Fruit Cake Company. With a population of just 2,600, that’s roughly 1,500 pounds of candied, fruit-studded cake per Claxton resident, earning the county seat of Evans County the sweet, self-proclaimed title of Fruitcake Capital of the World.
70
percentage of worldwide carpet output produced in Dalton, widely recognized as the Carpet Capital of the World. 30,000 area employees contribute to this $9 billion global industry.
145,000,000
dollars worth of economic upshot attributed to southwest Georgia’s hunting properties in 2019, making it the Quail Hunting Capital of the World.
26,000,000
pounds of chicken processed in Georgia daily, with Gainesville, the Poultry Capital of the World, at the top of the pecking order. Georgia turns out 9.2 million eggs on an average day, helping make poultry the state’s largest agricultural output.
418,000,000
dollars in 2020 kaolin exports that earn Sandersville the Kaolin Capital of the World title. A whopping 84 percent of domestic kaolin (the mineral used in paper, medicine, ceramics, and nozzles for firework rockets) is found in Georgia.