Actual Factual Georgia

Q: Can you tell me about the town of Fitzgerald and its unusual history?

A: Union veterans -- who perhaps wished they were in the land of cotton -- founded the South Georgia town just 30 years after the Civil War and named it for Indianapolis newspaper editor Philander H. Fitzgerald, who also had served in the war. They honored both sides by naming the streets on the west side of town after Confederate generals and the ones on the east side after Union generals. They didn't stop there. The streets on the north side are named after rivers and the ones on the south side are named after trees. Main Street separates Lee Street from Grant Street, like a modern day Mason-Dixon Line. They then demonstrated their sense of humor by building the original firehouse on Sherman Street, said Alesia Biggers, the city's tourism director. "When people stop here while passing through or whether they're here for the history, it usually doesn't dawn on them [about the street names] until they watch our video in the [Blue and Gray] Museum," she said. History is being replaced by hens in Fitzgerald's pecking order, however, Biggers said. Sometime in the 1960s, Burmese chickens were released in the woods along the Ocmulgee River, which is about 7 miles from downtown. Legend has it they made their way back to town, but Biggers said she thinks locals brought the eggs back and they hatched in town, which is now home to these wild birds. "They make themselves at home and walk up and down the sidewalks," she said. So if you visit Fitzgerald to brush up on the Civil War, make sure you watch your step while walking on its uniquely named streets.

Q: What was the name of the stadium where the old Atlanta Crackers played? Where was it located?