Twenty Years Ago Filming of Fried Green Tomatoes Turned Town Around

If you were living in Monroe County 20 years ago, you may remember that filming was wrapping up for the movie that put Juliette, Georgia on the map. Two decades after the making of Fried Green Tomatoes, and the residents of this tiny town are still reaping the benefits of the blockbuster hit.

“When we pulled up, I was like flipping out because we saw the Whistle Stop. And I was so excited,” says visitor Kathy Gray.

She traveled all the way from Alabama to eat fried green tomatoes for lunch.

“They are the best in the world,” says visitor Paula Fairchild, Tennessee.

Juliette’s got the record to prove it. For the past five years, Nancy Bridges has kept a running log of visitors. “A couple from Germany, a couple from Italy, a couple from England,” says Bridges, Whistle Stop Gift Shop.

Bridges says she never expected the film to change the town so dramatically. “The prediction at the time had been after the movie was filmed well it might last 6 months.”

Six months turned into twenty years of tourism. Juliette became ‘the most famous town saved by Hollywood.’ Before that, Bridges says it was, “Dead. It was dead.”

A little T.L.C. from the movie’s production team, and the streets of Juliette were given new life.

“You know one of the last scenes I guess where Jessica Tandy is sitting on the suitcase. When we were driving in I said I think this is where she was sitting,” says Fairchild.

It’s the simple complexity of the story that draws the masses to this tiny town.

“It’s a movie that’s got so much in it. It’s got comedy, and it’s got drama. You know, sadness, and joy. That’s what I love about it. It’s life,” says Gray.

The town of Juliette welcomes travelers from all over the world, any day of the week. Click here for more information on the Whistle Stop Cafe.