What Happens When Your Town In Taken “Off the Map”?
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Georgia DOT officials were in the mood to pretty up the state map. So they decided to disappear 515 towns and hamlets across the state from the official map. While this may seem petty, for those that live and own homes in these towns it is very disconcerting.
And what does it do to property values? If you are looking to relocate to a rural county in Georgia and the county only has 2 towns showing up on the map, you most likely will head to those towns. Instead, as Floyd County is learning, only the biggest cities are shown and 9 of the 11 towns that were on the map are now gone.
What would you do if you town was disappeared?
In the Georgia DOT 2006 official state map – Hickory Level is missing. It’s not alone. Now if you look at an old state map of Georgia and look at Carroll County, you can see places like Tyus, Lowell, Clem, Bowdon, Junction, Hulett, Sand Hill, Kansas Jake and Hickory Level. But now?
“Gone. We’re still here but the state doesn’t recognize us anymore,” says Holt.The state map makers decided they had too many communities – they call them place-holders – squeezed into tiny little print.
“The map was too cluttered. We went ahead and took out all the place-holders that were under 2,500 people as defined by the census,” explained Karlene Barron with the Georgia DOT. Dennis Holt counted more than 300 communities gone. The actual number is 515. via WSBTV.com

