Friday March 29th, 2024 7:49AM

Hall County likely to join Flowery Branch in renaming of Jim Crow Road

GAINESVILLE – Hall County District 1 Commissioner Kathy Cooper says renaming the portion of Jim Crow Road under county jurisdiction is under consideration.

District 1 is where the controversially-named road connecting McEver Road with Old Federal Park on Lake Lanier runs for just over 12,000-feet.  Four hundred of those feet are under the control of the City of Flowery Branch and on Thursday the Flowery Branch City Council voted unanimously to change the name of the two-lane road under its control from Jim Crow Road to G.C. Crow Road.

(NOTE: The “Jim Crow” in whose honor the road was named is in no way connected with the segregationist laws of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.)

Flowery Branch Mayor Mike Miller suggested at that city council meeting that questions regarding whether or not the portion of the road (just over two miles) under Hall County control might also be renamed should be directed to Commissioner Cooper.

“I’ve had a few people that have reached out to me,” Cooper disclosed Monday afternoon following the Hall County Commission’s work session.

“The meetings with the Crow Family started five years ago,” she explained.  “Randy Crow (Jim Crow’s grandson), who represents the family, gave me the idea that ‘G.C. Crow’ would be acceptable to the family when they got ready to do it.”

Jim Crow’s legal first name was Glennon; Jim was a nickname by which he was known throughout his adult life.

Cooper then explained that before the county makes a move to rename the remainder of the road a couple of things needed to happen first. 

Cooper shared the fact that a death in the immediate family had just happened and she wanted to allow the Crow family sufficient time to grieve the loss.  Second, Cooper explained, the county was commissioning a monument to Glennon “Jim” Crow to commemorate the man’s life of service and dedication to the community.  Cooper said until the monument was finished and a dedication ceremony scheduled the county would delay any official renaming of the road.

“We are in the process right now of doing that monument for the family that will explain…who he was,” Cooper said.  “It will identify him…and what a wonderful man he was.”

“I feel like there will be a good transition at some point in time when everybody is comfortable with it,” Cooper said.

The monument will likely be located at nearby Alberta Banks Park according to Cooper.

“We are in the process right now of gathering the information; we have a donor for that monument,” Cooper added.  “And then if they (Crow Family) are okay with it, we’ll move forward.”

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News
  • Associated Tags: Flowery Branch City Council, hall county commission, Jim Crow Road, Hall County Commissioner Kathy Cooper
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