Bartow County, Georgia is the county seat of Cartersville, a town known for its three Smithsonian museums. We love the museums-read our story on the Savoy Automobile Museum here. But you will find so many interesting places with surprising ties to history in Bartow County that only the locals will know.

Bartow County, Georgia is home to the second-largest oak tree in the state

Spring Bank is one of those places we passed by hundreds of times but had no idea what was there. When discovered this greenspace is home to the second-largest tree in Georgia, we had to go! We visited in early March, so the tree had no leaves. But it is still massive. I hope to get a better picture in the spring or summer. It is located off of Hall Station Road near Kingston.

Spring Bank also has an underground spring and a Civil War cemetery. You must get a parking pass from the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department before you go. Keep this beautiful green space nice and only leave your footprints behind.

The ancestor of a First Lady is buried here

Melvinia Shields was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1844 and moved to Clayton County, Georgia. She lived to be 94 years old and was buried in Kingston, Georgia. Why is she important? Melvinia is the ancestor of former First Lady Michelle Obama.

You can find the monument in the Queens Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery.

A Cartersville preacher inspired the Ryman Auditorium

The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is called the “Mother Church of Country Music,” and ironically, it was built to hold church services. Rev. Sam Jones was preaching in Northwest Georgia when he inspired Tom Ryman, a riverboat captain, to build what was then called the Union Gospel Tabernacle. That tabernacle became the Ryman Auditorium, which housed the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. You can read more about Jones and the Ryman’s beginning at the Ryman, which I toured a few years ago.

Jones continued to preach in Northwest Georgia until he died in 1906. Downtown Cartersville is home to a church that bears his name: Sam Jones Methodist Church.

The oldest Coca-Cola mural is in Bartow County, Georgia

You can’t miss the Coca-Cola mural when driving down Main Street in Cartersville. It has the distinction of being the first mural painted. Coca-Cola calls the mural a “living legend” on its website, citing the first painting in 1994.

The soft drink company kept fresh coats of paint on the Bartow County, Georgia mural until the late 1970s. The mural was updated in 1989. You will find it on the side of Young Brothers Pharmacy, which also sells Coca-Cola memorabilia.

A monument to friendship

What looks like just a marble slab in downtown Cartersville is actually a testament to friendship. Times were hard in 1857, and Mark Cooper, owner of Etowah Iron Works, was struggling. Thirty-eight friends saved Cooper’s company by signing notes that were more than the $100,000 Cooper planned to sell his property for to satisfy his debtors. Cooper erected the monument to honor the friends who saved his company and listed their names on it.

A monument to a Native American town

If you look past the Pine Log Walking Trails on Ga. 140, you will find a monument honoring the Old Pine Log Indian Town. This is one of the newer historical monuments in Georgia, first erected in 2004.

Major Ridge was a Cherokee leader and his presence in other Northwest Georgia towns is well-documented. It was here in Pine Log that he brought his parents because “of the tranquility of the place,” according to the monument. He also signed the Treaty of Hopewell here in 1785.

Major Ridge is not the only famous person to visit the Pine Log area, according to the monument. Famed explorer Hernando De Soto visited in the late 1570s. Benjamin Hawkins, a former Indian agent, explored the area. He told President George Washington he was amazed by how the Native American women ran the village.

Bartow County, Georgia was home to a famous gangster

Charles Arthur, “Pretty Boy’” Floyd is known for his bank robberies in the 1930s. He spent the first seven years of his life in downtown Adairsville. His birthplace is a private residence and not available for tours.

Floyd only lived to be 30 years old before he was shot by law enforcement officers in 1934. But his fame lives on in Hollywood portrayals by actors that include Martin Sheen and Channing Tatum.

Some “peachy” Adairsville history

Georgia is known as the peach state, but did you know Adairsville was once the center of the state’s peach crops? According to the Bartow History Museum, about 600 train cars day transported peaches out of Adairsville daily in the early 1900s.

These are just a few of the interesting facts about Bartow County, Ga. You will find more by visiting the area. It’s a short drive from Atlanta or Chattanooga. Don’t forget to visit the museums while you are here.