Highway 178 is in definitely a place one wants to be passing through but not headed to. That is because it is the road to the Georgia State Prison. Wiggling its way southeast from Lyons to GA 121, the route is 30 miles long and located Toombs and Tattnall Counties in Southeast Georgia. Four of those miles are shared in an overlap with GA 147 through the property of the prison.

The original route of GA 178 consited only of the southernmost portion of the route, making it 12 miles long. When commissioned, the route was entirely unpaved. The first section to be paved was paved around 1960. That portion included the portion west of the Ohoopee River bridge. By 1964, the highway was completely paved.

For many years, the western end of the highway was where the route presently meets and overlaps with GA 147. Originally, GA 147 followed the rest of what is now GA 178 northwest into Lyons. The change to the current route occured in 1982 when the northern route of duplicated GA 107 was decommissioned and GA 147 was relocated along what had been 107, resulting in an extension of GA 178 to Lyons.

Georgia 178 Termini Gallery

Photos below by J.P. Nasiatka taken August 21, 2003 (western end) and J.T. Legg in November 2003 (eastern end). Click here to submit any photos.

Western Terminus: GA 147 south of Reidsville
Eastbound end signage on the first pic and looking northbound on U.S. 1 on the second pic.
Eastern Terminus: GA 121/144/169 west of Glennville
Photo 1: Eastbound end signage; Photo 2: Looking southbound on GA 121/144/169; Photo 3: First westbound reassurance shield

Here are links related to sites and information on or near GA 178.

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