Once

a teeth-jarring reality in these parts, unpaved

roads are fast disappearing from Fayette County

and its cities, taking with them the flavor and

feel of a rural past.

It

has been only 63 years since the first road in

Fayette County was paved, and the pavement

extended only 7.5 miles, from the Old Courthouse

east along what we now call Ga. Highway 54 toward

Jonesboro.

According

to an article by Jim Minter (Atlanta Constitution

Feb. 22, 1996) that first paved road came about

only because Gov. Ellis Arnall, newly elected in

the early 1940s, had several changes he wanted to

bring about and the only way that could be done

was to create a new state constitution to replace

one written in 1877.

To

get this done, he needed the support of Col. J.

W. Culpepper, Fayette County's representative in

the Georgia House of Representatives.

Knowing

he couldn't get a new constitution over

Culpepper's opposition, Arnall drove to

Fayetteville.

Culpepper

made a compromise - if the governor would

pave those 7.5 miles of Hwy. 54, he would support

the new constitution. Arnall agreed.

But

the Atlanta Constitution got wind of the deal and

its owner and publisher, Clark Howell, was paid a

visit. The ending scenario is this: Fayette

County got its paved road, Georgia got a new

constitution and the publisher of the newspaper

got a road named for him.

The

next paved road came in 1945 when Hwy. 54 was

paved west to the Coweta County line. What is now

Ga. Highway 85 followed shortly after.

Currently

in Fayette County, there are 61.3 miles of

unpaved roads, according to assistant public

works director Zachary Taylor. "We will be

paving two roads this year," he said,

"Friendship Church Road and Swanson Road,

each of which is 1.8 miles long."

Since

that first paved road in 1936, 393 more miles

have been paved, bringing the current total to

400 miles paved in the county.

Public

works director for Fayetteville, Charles Stanley,

said there is only one unpaved road left in the

city, Whitney Street, which is just under a half

mile long.

Peachtree

City's public works director, Colin Haldeman,

said there are three unpaved roads left in that

city, but two of them are being paved this year:

Holly Grove Church Road and Sumner Road. Only Old

Stagecoach Road, (formerly known as Davis Road)

remains, which is a half mile long.

The

town of Tyrone has nine dirt roads, measuring a

total of seven miles, according to Barry Amos,

town manager.

Ever

wonder why Stonewall Avenue is designated

"Hwy. 54 Alternate"? That's because the

city of Fayetteville wanted to pave it about 40

years ago and didn't have the money. They

appealed to the state, which ruled that the

street had to have a state route designation for

state funds to be used. Very quickly it became

Hwy. 54 Alternate.

One

final story: when the time came about 40 years

ago to consider paving what is now Ga. Highway 92

north to Fairburn, one of the "coffee

clatch" gentlemen found each morning at a

local barbecue restaurant commented, "Now

why would they want to do that? Nobody needs to

go to Fairburn.