Atlanta, Georgia is home to Gone With The Wind. A novel by Margaret Mitchell, Atlanta native, that has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. A novel turned award-winning movie. If you have not read the book or seen the movie, then I highly recommend you do so now!
The Gone With The Wind Trail consists of four main attractions and a couple of other recommendations! To get a full appreciation of each GWTW Trail attraction, it is recommended you plan to spend a couple of hours at each location, and then follow it up by watching the movie!
Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum: Scarlett on the Square
For those not familiar with Atlanta geography, Marietta is located about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta. The Marietta Gone with the Wind Museum is located in the old Old Thomas Warehouse Building right off of Marietta Square. It houses a private collection of memorabilia provided by Dr. Christopher Sullivan.
This exhibit is quite extensive! Some of the highlights of the exhibit are several first edition books in multiple languages, the locket worn by Ann Rutherford in her role as Carreen O’Hara, a case in memory of Margaret Mitchell that contains an invitation to her memorial service and a memorial edition of The Atlanta Journal Magazine, photos of Cammie King in her role as Bonnie Blue Butler, a replica of Bonnie Blue’s blue riding habit, and more. There is one part of the exhibit that is full of GWTW dolls, memorabilia and collectibles.
My favorite was an actual dress worn by Vivien Leigh! If you are familiar with the movie, it’s the Bengaline Honeymoon gown. It is exquisite, and the details are amazing! You can definitely see how amazing Walter Plunkett was as a costume designer!
Road to Tara Museum
If you drive 17 miles south of Atlanta you will come to Jonesboro, home of another stop on the GWTW Trail and home of the fictional Tara. The Road to Tara Museum is located in Jonesboro’s historic train station (built in 1867).
The museum starts by going over the history of the Battle of Atlanta and the Battle of Jonesboro. The Battle of Jonesboro has the biggest impact with the movie, because this is the battle that was fought around Tara and the loss is what led to the burning of Atlanta.
Sherman’s Hairpin or Bowtie
After a brief history lesson, we move to the fun stuff! This museum is full of fun facts about the movie! Like, did you know that David Selznick (GWTW Producer) bought the rights to the movie a month after the book was published?!? Or that GWTW was published in 42 countries and into 38 languages?!?
Some of the highlights of the museum are the replica dresses worn by Vivien Leigh, Ann Rutherford and Ona Munso, information about all the actors and actresses, awards won, and, of course, all about the set of Tara!
The museum also contains Vivien Leigh’s 24-inch waistline pantalettes worn during the film!
The pièce de résistance, though, are the 64-inch roundel portraits used at the film’s 1939 premiere in Atlanta!
