I live in Pickens County which is really the foothills area of North Georgia. It’s about an hour north of Atlanta and it is truly a different world here than it is a few miles south in the suburbs. I often wondered how the city of Jasper Georgia got its name so I started looking around on the Internet. Come to find out it was the last name of a revolutionary war soldier. He died in the siege of Savannah. His name was Sergeant William Jasper.

My research uncovered some other facts about my town. Oddly, being a confederate area, the citizens of Jasper raised a Union Flag at the courthouse in 1890 to protest the succession of Georgia from the Union.

The county is known for its marble industry and you will find many government buildings that display a marble facade. An annual Marble Festival is held that includes arts and crafts, food, live music, a fine arts competition, a parade, tours of the marble quarry, and a road race. Some call it the gateway to the North Georgia Mountains, I call it home.