I grew up in Palmetto, GA, but then moved into the metro-Atlanta area in my teenage years. Palmetto is a small town in South Fulton County, about 22.75 miles away from Atlanta. It is closest to Newnan and Coweta counties. The Georgia Assembly incorporated Palmetto as a town in 1854. The town received its name after the Palmetto Regiment in the Mexican-American war. Approximately 4,888 people reside in Palmetto. The most iconic landmarks in Palmetto are Bradley's grocery store, owned by two brothers, the McDonalds, and the Veterans Park. Some scenes in the Netflix hit, "Stranger Things", were filmed in Palmetto. Two scenes that pop out the most are when the kids ride past the Palmetto office and when the kids arrive at Bradley's grocery store.

Palmetto has a similar small-town mentality to Middlemarch. Everyone knows everyone. There is a sense of connectedness, except the people in Palmetto are not defined by their lineage. The people in Palmetto can separate themselves from the town. I never felt stuck in the town, but I have some friends who have had that experience. There are no neighborhood "lunatics" like Eliot implies there are in Middlemarch.

MLA Citations:

“Palmetto, GA Profile: Facts & Data.” Georgia Gazetteer: Maps, Data, Photos for 2,070 Locations, georgia.hometownlocator.com/ga/fulton/palmetto.cfm.