Barnesville is a city in Lamar County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,755, up from 5,972 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Lamar County and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Barnesville is located 37 miles northwest of Macon and 60 miles south of Atlanta. Barnesville was once dubbed the "Buggy Capital of the South", as the town produced about 9,000 buggies a year around the turn of the 20th century. Each year in the third week of September the town hosts an annual Buggy Days celebration. History Barnesville was founded in 1826 and named for Gideon Barnes, proprietor of a local tavern. In 1920, Barnesville was designated seat of the newly formed Lamar County. Barnesville served as a major hospital site for wounded southern troops during the Civil War. Local families took wounded soldiers into their homes and treated them, with highly successful recovery rates. Major General William B. Bate, CSA of Hardees Corps., wounded in Atlanta at Utoy Creek on August 10, 1864, was treated here. After the war, General Bate was elected governor of Tennessee and served in the United States Senate until his death in 1912. He commented on his successful recovery as a result of the kindness of the local populace in Barnesville. Notable weather events On the morning of April 28, 2011, at 12:38 A.M., a tornado rated EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds touched down in Pike County, south of Meansville. The tornado went on to destroy several homes in Barnesville. Two deaths occurred in Barnesville along Grove Street. The tornado also destroyed a Chevron gas station and a church in Barnesville. Three tractor trailers were blown off Interstate 75 at approximately 1:02 A.M. This tornado was part of the 2011 Super Outbreak. Geography Barnesville is located south of the center of Lamar County at (33.053090, -84.156217). U.S. Route 41 passes through the western, southern, and eastern outskirts of the city on a bypass; the highway leads northwest to Griffin and east to Forsyth. U.S. Route 341 branches off US 41 on the south side of Barnesville and leads southeast to Perry, where it rejoins US 41. Georgia State Route 18 follows US 41 around the southern and eastern sides of Barnesville but leads west to Zebulon. State Route 36 follows the western side of the