FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Brian Williams, Communications Coordinator
912.651.2125, or Email
Georgia Historical Society Partners with GDOT on Dixie Highway Project
SAVANNAH, Ga., October 16, 2012 – The Georgia Historical Society is pleased to announce that it will be partnering with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration on a study of the Dixie Highway. The Society’s library and archives will be the repository of records collected during the project.
“The Georgia Historical Society is very pleased to be partnering with the Georgia Department of Transportation on this project as it provides us with an opportunity to highlight the importance of transportation networks in our state and broaden our collection resources on the Dixie Highway,” said Todd Groce, GHS President and CEO. “We encourage the public to bring their photographs, scrapbooks, diaries, letters, and personal accounts to the public meetings. The Dixie Highway was among the first highway systems in our region connecting cities with rural areas for the first time and we rely on you and your personal materials and memories to help us document and celebrate this significant milestone in Georgia history.”
The Dixie Highway was an important early road system that extended from Michigan to Florida. First planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the Southern United States, it was built in response to the growing number of motorists in the early decades of the twentieth century. The project will look at the cultural and historical impacts on the cities and towns the road passed through. Members of the public are invited open house events held around the state to learn more about the project, but also to bring photographs and other memorabilia relating to the Dixie Highway.
Meeting locations include: Macon, Sandersville, Albany, Waycross, Savannah and Rome.
Atlanta-based New South Associates, a women-owned small business providing cultural resource management services is consulting with GDOT on this statewide context study of the historic road and the development of an evaluative framework for the historic road system.
Public Meeting Schedule
Macon
October 16, 2012
4p.m. – 7 p.m.
Macon Auditorium at GDOT Office
4499 Riverside Drive
Macon, Georgia
Sandersville
October 18, 2012
4p.m. – 7 p.m.
Civic Room, Washington County EMC Building
258 North Harris St
Sandersville, Georgia
Albany
October 22, 2012
4p.m. – 7 p.m.
Bridge House
2nd Floor Conference Room
11. N. Front St
Albany, Georgia
Waycross
October 23, 2012
4p.m. – 7 p.m.
Downtown Waycross Development Authority Community Room
315 Plant Ave
Waycross, Georgia
Savannah
October 25, 2012
4p.m. – 7 p.m.
Hodgson Hall
501 Whitaker St
Savannah, Georgia
Rome
November 8, 2012
4p.m. – 7 p.m.
Chieftain’s Museum
501 Riverside Parkway
Rome, Georgia