1830-1860
1860-1865
1865-1880
1880-1900
1900-1920
1920-1945
1945-Present

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Status Quo 1900-1920

After the bank failures and "general depression" of 1901, the local economy struggled to survive. In 1902, the banks reopened and found few opportunities to invest their assets. Many of the local businesses, including the cotton mills, closed, never to reopen. Some did re-organize and slowly began to recover. The most successful of these was the Barnesville Manufacturing Co. and the Oxford Knitting Mills.

By 1900, the population of Barnesville was 3,000. This figure remained the same throughout the 1920's. In 1909, the city aldermen were successful in obtaining a grant from the Carnegie Foundation for the erection of a public library. This facility operated at the site until a new library was opened across the street (at Thomaston and Holmes) in 1987. The Carnegie Library Building is currently the studio/residence of a local artist - Carol Wubbena. In 1918 the downtown streets were paved and a new post office was built on Forsyth Street. This building is still being used today as the post office.

Barnesville's population in the years after the turn of the century was about 3,200. This was a factor in the decision of the state legislature to grant the new Sixth Congressional District A and M School to Barnesville. Several of the towns in the district lobbied the legislature for the granting of a school, but Barnesville offered a central location, a great deal of free land, and a main line of the railroad. This district served Bibb, Butts, Clayton, Crawford, Fayette, Henry, Monroe, Pike, Spalding, and Upson counties. The Sixth District A and M School was part of a statewide school system introduced to teach mechanical and agricultural skills to high school students in rural areas. The main building was completed in Barnesville in 1906. The cornerstone was laid by the Pinta Lodge #88. The main building, although renovated, is used today as the administration building of Gordon College. The A and M campus became the Georgia Industrial College in 1929. In the later 1930s, when the industrial school was closed by the legislature, Gordon Institute moved from its original campus between Thomaston and Greenwood Streets to the A & M campus. This campus of nearly 400 acres was sold to the State of Georgia in 1972. At that point, Gordon became part of the University System of Georgia. Today, it boasts an enrollment of nearly 3,500 students annually.

World War I (1917-1918) brought a sense of unity through the Barnesville Blues. Once again the unit was called into service. Hardly a family in town was untouched by the demand for troops. At this time many long established businesses closed and few new firms were started. Times were changing and so was transportation. The auto was gaining favor with the public and the horse and buggy along with the train was going out of vogue. The local economy had been largely dependent on the buggy industry and its related businesses. The two largest buggy manufacturers decided that it was no longer profitable to make buggies, wagons, and carriages. Summers Buggy Company dissolved due to the advanced age of Mr. Summers. The Smith Buggy Company decided to convert to furniture manufacturing. The new firm would be known as Smith Incorporated.