plum nelly, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

plum nelly n.

[‘plum out of the city and nelly out of the country’, popularised by the Plum Nelly Clothesline Art Show, at Lookout Mountain, which lies ‘plum out of Tennessee and nearly out of Georgia’]

(US black) a marginal, and often impoverished area; the border of Tennessee and Georgia; thus the US South in general.

1941		in DARE IV 214/1: Because he liked large places, & had to get them cheap, they were invariably located ‘plumnelly’ [...] plum out of the city and nelly out of the country.
1943		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam Star-News 20 Mar. 15: The kiddies from plum nelly (Southland, ole man) are strictly drags and they ain’t nowhwere.
1998		R, Wilder, Jr. You All Spoken Here 65: n Dade County, Georgia's northwesternmost county, is Plum Nelly — "plum' out of Tennessee and nelly out of Georgia" — a craft center noted for its annual "clothes line" art show.
2011		D. Bewley Fly Like an Angel 22: Plum Nelly is a well-known, poverty-stricken area where the descendants of second- and third-generation slaves had lived for decades. The community got its name because it was “plum” out yonder and “nelly” (nearly) out of Adams.