County residents and tourists would have passed by Americus City Hall along the Dixie Highway to do business or have fun. This elegant building was built in the early 1890s as a combined City Hall and Fire Department:
(
visit link)
"The former Fire Department/City Hall complex is located in Americus, Georgia. It was built between 1890-1891 in the Greek Revival architectural style with Italian Renaissance elements and designed by Gottfried L. Norman. The fire department moved into the building in 1893. The building was also in use as a courthouse and police department. In 1996, the building was sold to Citizen's Bank. This is a contributing building on the National Register of Historic Places (NRIS #76000648) and a part of the Americus Historic District."
The former Americus City Hall is located at 101 W Lamar Street/US 19/Western Division of the Dixie Hwy in downtown Americus.
From the Encyclopedia of Georgia: (
visit link)
"The Dixie Highway, a network of roads connecting Canada to Florida in the early decades of the twentieth century, was an ambitious undertaking to build the nation's first north–south paved interstate highway. As the largest state in terms of area east of the Mississippi River, Georgia proved critical to the project's success, mainly because the state's size and location controlled access to Florida for anyone driving by car.
Signs marked "Dixie Highway" still exist on roadways throughout Georgia, particularly on old U.S. Highway 41. References to the Dixie Highway no longer appear on Georgia's official state highway map, nor is it mentioned in most Georgia or U.S. history textbooks, yet this overlooked highway had a dramatic impact on Georgia and Florida before the arrival of interstate highways in the 1960s. Almost every Florida-bound tourist had to drive through Georgia—something that frequently proved impossible when rain turned Georgia's dirt roads into mud. Even in dry weather, the Peach State's terrible roads were a challenge—not just for tourists but also for local farmers and residents.
Launching of the Dixie Highway
On April 3, 1915, Georgia governor John M. Slaton and his counterparts (or their representatives) from five other states met in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the inaugural meeting of the Dixie Highway Association (DHA). While the new highway generated enthusiasm, selecting its route became a highly politicized task. Initially, Chicago, Illinois, was the northern terminus, but after Michigan joined the DHA in May, things became complicated. Fisher initially had conceived of a single route for the Dixie Highway from Chicago to Miami, but Michigan wanted Detroit included as well.
. . .
As a result, the Dixie Highway became a network with Sault Ste. Marie on the Canadian border as the northern terminus. From there, the highway extended southward through upper Michigan and then via ferry to Mackinaw, where the highway split into a Western Division that included Chicago and an Eastern Division that included Detroit. Following roughly parallel paths southward, the two divisions reunited at Chattanooga.
Envisioning an influx of tourists, different cities and counties competed to be part of the Dixie Highway. In Georgia, rivalries became intense—especially between Rome and Dalton, each sending hundreds of supporters to the DHA's initial meeting to argue the merits for including their city on the route. Dalton not only offered the shortest route from Chattanooga to Atlanta but also boasted that it was the "Battlefield Route" associated with Union general William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, which would attract Civil War tourism. Rome made a persuasive case that it had a larger population base and could build its portion more quickly than Dalton.
As a compromise, the DHA approved two routes south from Chattanooga—one through Dalton and one through Rome—with both routes converging near Cartersville, where they rejoined the Dixie Highway's Western Division. This division then followed a route south in Georgia to Atlanta, Macon, Americus, Albany, and then on to Tallahassee, Florida. In 1916 the DHA approved a new Eastern Division running southeast from Atlanta to Waynesboro to Savannah, before continuing on to Jacksonville, Florida. That same year, a new Central Dixie Highway was added linking the Georgia towns Perry, Waycross, and Folkston, and then heading southward to Jacksonville.
Two years later, the DHA authorized a new Carolina Division running from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Asheville, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; and Augusta and Waynesboro, Georgia, where it connected with Georgia's Eastern Division. Instead of being a single highway, the Dixie Highway developed as a network of major divisions and connecting routes.
. . .
The Dixie Highway ceased to exist by that name in 1926, when federal and state highway officials replaced named trails across America with numbered highways. Because the Dixie Highway was not a single highway, its various divisions became parts of the new U.S. numbered highway system (most notably U.S. 1, 17, 19, 25, 27, 41, and 129), plus a variety of state-numbered highways.
The Dixie Highway had a relatively short official life. But its roadbeds—now numbered highways—constituted important physical and cultural transportation corridors until the arrival of interstate highways. The highway brought tourists from other regions, spurring a host of entrepreneurial undertakings that made a dramatic impact on the culture and economy of the Georgia counties along its path. And, while driving through Georgia, many Florida-bound motorists discovered the Peach State's diverse assortment of historical and scenic attractions, eventually helping to make tourism one of Georgia's leading industries."