Thomaston Division

The Thomaston Division was first founded and operated by the Thomaston & Barnesville Railroad Company in 1839. Through various mergers, the line became part of the Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern in 1982. CPR began operating this route in 2016 as CPR’s Thomaston Division.

CaterParrott Railnet

Located in nearly the center of the state in Upson County, The Rock, Georgia, has a unique history resulting in its unique name. The town is eight miles east of Thomaston, between Thomaston and Barnesville, on Ga. Hwy. 36 and basically one hour from everywhere (Macon, Columbus, Atlanta). Most days the population is slightly less than 200; however, on weekends thousands visit The Rock Ranch.

On the eastern edge of the town is a monument sitting on top of the remnant of a large granite boulder that had a cavern in which the early stage coach drivers and later trains traveling on the Thomaston-Barnesville highway left mail. The words of Dr. James Anderson to a stagecoach driver in 1816, named the town, “Put my mail in the hole in that rock.” It was enough to simply address mail to “The Rock” in Georgia and the mail would make it to its intended destination. People came by horse and buggy to “the rock” to get their mail. The original rock was dynamited to widen the muddy wagon trail – now Georgia State Highway 36. The historical marker denotes the stone’s service as the original "post office." It is located on the left, directly across from the first drive of The Rock Ranch. Without the granite rock and to ensure mail would reach the right people, a post office had to be built and a town that needed a name - the natural name was “The Rock.”

Explore Georgia

With the advent of the railroad, Barnesville continued to prosper. One of Barnesville's first citizens, Benjamin Mosley Milner, helped build the first railroad in Georgia. The Monroe Railroad and Banking Company was chartered December 23, 1833 by the Georgia Legislature to establish a line between Macon and Forsyth. The Macon and Western R. R. line to Barnesville was completed in 1841 connecting the village to the main line at Forsyth. The spur line between Barnesville and Thomaston was laid in 1847. The train to Thomaston was known as "the Tom Cat". In later years, the line to Thomaston was operated by the Central of Georgia R. R. The Central, when completed in 1843, was the longest line built and owned by one corporation in Georgia. Other trains which were associated with service through Barnesville were the "Nancy Hanks I and II" providing service between Atlanta and Savannah; the "Goober" providing service to Griffin and on to Atlanta beginning in the late 1880s; the "Dixie Flyer" providing service between Atlanta and Miami, Florida and the "Dummy", a spur line to Zebulon.

Both the Atlanta to Macon and the spur lines running through Barnesville are still being used today for freight shipping. The freight trains make several stops daily at various manufacturing plants to deliver supplies and transport finished goods to distributors. Both of these lines are located on their original beds.

The railroad brought new sources of growth: new merchants, new residents and new ideas. The population of Barnesville had grown to approximately 400 by the end of 1849 with 45 families. The center of the community was the depot. Everyone came to town or left town from the place which was the heart of the community. People came to town to see the trains arrive or to greet passengers. The business district grew up around the depot. As the village grew, a freight depot in addition to a passenger depot was built. The freight depot was later moved into the old Georgia Knitting Mills building which fronted the railroad tracks just east of the passenger depot. Today this building is used as a fertilizer warehouse by Akin's and Feed and Seed.

City of Barnesville

Artist Shannon Lake unveiled a building-wide mural celebrating the history of Barnesville in 2007. On one end is President Roosevelt, who visited the town in 1938. FDR has been painted at the wheel of his convertible, grinning and waving to the viewer. Unfortunately, he also appears to be unaware that he's driving straight into the path of an onrushing, steam-belching locomotive that's coming up behind him. It wasn't meant to be that way, but it sure looks as if FDR is about to get flatten1ed.

Roadside America.com