Ever lived in a place so small that it doesn’t appear on a map? The old joke is that the “you are now entering†and “you are now leaving†sign is the same sign.
I am talking about towns so small they don’t even have a flashing traffic light. Well the folks who make maps in Georgia have decided to do something about these little towns. And the solution? Drop them like a bad habit from the newly published maps. So towns like Between and Climax for all intents and purposes have disappeared from the face of the earth. Except of course they haven’t really gone anywhere, they just have been deleted from the map.
When the mapmakers in Georgia got together to work on a new state map this year they decided to clean things up a bit. In the process they axed 519 communities from the map that they hand out in gas stations and rest stops statewide.
Gone are Gum Branch and Ty Ty as well as Poetry Tulip (which sounds like a charming place) and Talking Rock. I think I would take a side trip to see Talking Rock and find out how it got its name.
The folks in these towns are understandably a little upset by their deletion. I think my main problem with the place I live in being removed from a map is the continued insistence that I pay taxes on my non existent place. Although if this idea creeps north and the mapmakers decide to axe some places out of the local area I can think of a few that we can live without.
Shickshinny comes to mind as does Warrior Run if for no reason other than I am never sure where those places are anyway. The good news here is that the major mapmaker Rand McNally has said they will not get into the business of taking towns off their maps. The solution they have said is simple. Just vary the size and style of the print so all the places can fit. So if you ever need to find Gay Georgia in a hurry, just consult your Rand McNally.
But don’t look for it using a Gas Station map. You can’t get there from here.
