5 picturesque filming locales you can visit from ‘Sweet Home Alabama’
The 2002 film “Sweet Home Alabama” is known for some famous lines – “You can take the girl out of the honky-tonk but you can’t take the honky-tonk out of the girl” – and for its star-studded cast, including Reese Witherspoon, Patrick Dempsey, Candice Bergen, Josh Lucas, Jean Smart and Melanie Lynskey.
It’s also known for being filmed largely in Georgia rather than the titular state. There is one Alabama location seen in the film, however: the picturesque small town of Eufaula was seen in when Witherspoon’s character Melanie is driving back to her hometown. Another pivotal scene, where the young Melanie and young Jake (Lucas’ character) find beach glass known as fulgurite, was filmed on Captiva Island, Fla. It is where one of the most famous lines in the film is said. Young Melanie says, “Why would you want to marry me for anyhow?” and young Jake responds, “So I can kiss you anytime I want.” Read more here.
With the exception of the parts in New York, such as the engagement scene in Tiffany’s, the remainder of the movie was filmed in Georgia as a substitute for Alabama, likely because of Georgia’s film incentives at the time.
The film was set in the fictional town of Pigeon Creek, Ala. A side note: Alabama is home to the world’s only Coon Dog Cemetery, but it is located in northwestern Alabama, near Tuscumbia, and not near a beach. Read more about it here.
Below are some filming locales you can visit:
Historic Shorter Mansion in Eufaula, Ala., is seen in the sequence of “Sweet Home Alabama” where the character Melanie is driving back to her hometown from New York.Kelly Kazek
Shorter Mansion, Eufaula, Ala.
The historic Shorter Mansion, currently a wedding and event venue, is one of the historic Eufaula homes seen as “Melanie” is driving into her fictional hometown. It is located at 340 North Eufaula Avenue. The Eufaula Pilgrimage website says: “The Shorter Mansion, one of Eufaula’s most opulent homes, was constructed over a period of five years from 1901 to 1906 by Eli Sims Shorter II and his wife, Wileyna Lamar Shorter. Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and included in the Historic American Buildings Survey, the mansion is located in the Seth Lore and Irwinton Historic District of Eufaula.”

Starr’s Mill appeared in the film “Sweet Home Alabama” as Jake’s glass shop. The historic gristmill near Senoia, Ga., is a favorite stop for photographers.Kelly Kazek
Starr’s Mill near Senoia, Ga.
Starr’s Mill is one of the most picturesque settings in the South. Located at the corner of Georgia Highways 85 and 74 in Fayette County, the mill was used in the film as Deep South Glass, where Jake created glass art. The historic gristmill, located on Whitewater Creek, was constructed in 1825. It was later used as a cotton gin and to provided power to nearby Senoia, according to Explore Georgia.

Crawfordville, Ga., stood in for the fictional Alabama town of Pigeon Creek in the film “Sweet Home Alabama.”City of Crawfordville, Ga.
Downtown Crawfordville, Ga.
The quaint small town of Crawfordville, Ga., doubled as Pigeon Creek, where the Catfish Festival was held in the movie. The bar scenes were filmed at Heavy’s Barbecue at 2155 Sparta Road SE, Crawfordville.
Georgia International Horse Park
This park used for the equestrian events for the 1996 Olympic Games is located at 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE in Conyers, Ga. It was used to create the Civil War reenactment in the film. The facility includes a lakeside beach, children’s pool, slides, tennis courts and walking trails, according to Explore Georgia.

Patrick Dempsey; Reese Witherspoon; Josh Lucas in “Sweet home, Alabama”Birmingham News File Photo
Oak Hill & the Martha Berry Museum
Located on the campus of Berry College in Rome, Ga., Oak Hill was built in the 1880s as the home of school founder, Martha Berry. In “Sweet Home Alabama,” the mansion stands in for the Carmichael Plantation, the venue where Melanie was supposed to get married. “The Greek Revival manor housed Union soldiers during the Civil War,” according to Explore Georgia. It opened as a museum and gardens in 1972. See the home and get more information here.