The original item was published from November 3, 2020 10:12 AM to November 3, 2020 12:21 PM
Highway 78 is Douglas County’s Main Street. It travels through the communities of Lithia Springs, Douglasville, Winston and Villa Rica as it moves east to west across the county.
The story of this corridor reflects key milestones in America’s history. In conjunction with the knowledge and memories of community stakeholders, Douglas County is using county records and local archives to document the evolution of key areas in support of a local community planning effort.
In August 2020, a presentation on the Highway 78 Corridor was made to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. This presentation is the starting point for a small area plan for the community of Lithia Springs. This has been a community center of Douglas County for about as long as any place has been. Salt Springs had a designated post office by 1849 and shows up on historical maps as early as 1863 when the area was still a part of old Campbell County.
An act to incorporate the Town of Salt Springs in Douglas County was approved by the Georgia Legislature in 1882. As with other Georgia cities, it was initially chartered to be one mile long and one mile wide adjacent to the railroad. By 1895, the area had come to be identified with Lithia Springs, and it can be seen on this 1899 map of Douglas County with many other community places.
The name of Salt Springs was amended to Lithia Springs by Act of the General Assembly in 1918. Lithia Springs emerged again as a city in the 1990s, and around that time Douglas County worked with the city to create a map delineating the boundary. This map is the starting point for the areas that will be included in this initial planning effort.
We hope that you will submit comments and feedback to the information on this blog so we can work to identify the special place that is Lithia Springs. Though it is no longer operating as a city, over the next few months, we will develop a broad outline of the development patterns that have resulted in the existing conditions in the area. We hope your stories, memories, photos, and anything else you would like to share become a part of this plan.
Special thanks to the Lithia Springs Library and the Douglas County Museum of History and Art for information contained in this post.