Saving Tara - Gone With the Wind Project | Eastern North Carolina Now

    This article is about a project to preserve and reconstruct the original Tara Facade House from Gone with The Wind right here in Georgia. It is a story of a love of history by a storyteller and dedicated GWTW buff, Peter Bonner. But, I could not help but add my two cents worth to the commentary.

    Lessons of History:

    Anyone who is interested in history tries to find out the truth about the events that occurred in the subject of their choice. Like all history, not all the memories are true, nor are they all pristine and pure. History is supposed to be a factual look at what actually happened. Taken in context or out of context, it is based on facts. Like Jack Webb of Dragnet used to say, "I just want to get the facts, ma'am" (there is a history behind this as well .Jack Webb's facts quote)

    Today we are on a quest to cleanse certain history of all the bad things that happened and often forget that there may have been some good things about times gone by. Like any human endeavor, life is a series of adjustments where we learn from the mistakes as well as the successes.

    The story is not about the legacy of slavery or the history of the Civil War, but about the preservation of the movie set of Tara. It is an interesting journey of a stack of lumber and imagery from Hollywood to Georgia. Resting comfortably in a barn in Georgia, the lumber of Tara awaits the reconstruction of the facade that many thought was an actual plantation house.

    "Tara was built as a three sided façade (meaning there were no rooms or furnishings inside) on the back lot of Selznick's Studio" (1)

    Saving Tara Project:

    This is not a nonprofit project, but a passion of one man who has a love of history and literature and has been trying to preserve and present the factual history of 'Gone With the Wind' as well as dispel some of the myths about the movie, the book and the writer, Margret Mitchell.

    Peter Bonner

    "Peter Bonner is a storyteller. Born into a family of southern folks who liked to share a good story, Peter learned early that to be a part of the conversation at the dinner table he had to be just as comfortable delivering a "twist of the tale" as his parents were. Over time Peter took their love of learning and added a bit of his Dads slow deliberate speech with his Moms quick, driving voice and found that he could make folks feel what he was telling them".

    Tara History:

• The book "GWTW" still ranks next to the Bible for the most sold book in history.
• Tara is the fictionalized version of Margaret Mitchell's country home called "The Rural Home" in Georgia.
• The facade of the original set is now stored in a barn in Jonesboro Georgia awaiting restoration for the past twenty years. Desilu studio's sold the Tara building in 1960 and it was transported to Georgia for storage. In 1979 Betty Talmage, wife of Herman Talmage, purchased the disassembled village and stored it on her farm.

    Tara Myths:

• Today there are houses in Georgia that claim a GWTW connection because they look like Tara (although they were built after the movie came out in 1939).
• The truth is that Tara was not used in other films or television shows (including but not limited to the Big Valley and Bonanza)
• Not one scene from the Movie Gone With The Wind was filmed in Georgia. In fact, no scenes were ever filmed in any of the original Confederate States. (3)

    Saving Tara project Video

    RESEARCH

    With apologies to the English majors, I have not followed the Manual of Style in this article.
    (1) Here is the true story of the restoration project "Saving Tara"
    (2) Here is a link to the Saving Tara Facebook page
    (3)Gone with the Wind Myths - real and imagined
    (4) Wiki Margaret Mitchell
    (5) Tara Wiki Link