Route Information, History, Photo and Termini Gallery

Located in the southeastern part of the state and passing through the town of Hinesville south of Fort Stewart, GA 196 extends from Glennville eastward to U.S. 17 west of Savannah. The route is located in Liberty, Long and Tattnall Counties and overlaps U.S. 84 for 5.8 miles between the McIntosh community and the split in Hinesville. GA 119 also follows the route for 3.4 miles west of Hinesville. The total mileage of the route is 38 miles, including the overlapped portions.

History

Highways located near large military bases tend to be highly prone to change, and GA 196 was no exception. In fact, it is likely that no part of the original route is included in the current route.

The original route in the 1940's included two parts: the highway itself and a proposed portion. The highway itself is the most interesting in that it appears to have taken a more direct route to Glennville than the current route, though this is not certain. If so, this was a relocation made at the request of the base.

Considering that the above is an accurate observation, further changes occured around 1950 when GA 196 was extended westward on a crooked route from U.S. 25/301 westward to then GA 64/144 (present-day GA 121/144/169). This 13-mile route today included Tattnall County Roads 508 (part) and 441. This route tied into the present-day GA 196 with a short overlap along U.S. 25/301 south of the present end.
At first, the entire route was unpaved and unimproved. By the early 1950's, the route was paved in Liberty County and by 1959 it was paved to Glennville. The last section to be paved was in 1967 when the 1950 extension was paved and realigned between U.S. 25/301 and GA 121/144/169. The last paving resulted in a relocation of the above mentioned route along what is all now Tattnall C.R. 508, shortening the length of the route from 13 to 10 miles and relocating the west end from three miles south of GA 178 to just north of it.
On the eastern end, the proposed road was an interesting chapter in the history of the route. In all, the route remained proposed for several decades as a bee-line cutoff from U.S. 17 to U.S. 82 (now U.S. 84). Some maps also show this continuing further southwest as a southern by-pass of Hinesville. Long proposed, but never built, the proposed road paralleled existing Fleming Station Road the entire time, and Fleming Station Road was also paved and more than an acceptable route for the highway. In regards to the by-pass portion of GA 196, this may have also possibly resulted in the relocation of U.S. 82 south of where it currenty goes through Hinesville and would have also run entirely even with the railroad beside it.

Various maps show GA 196 as a proposed route prior to 1973. A few show the route extending west of U.S. 82, such as this map. Note the gray line between U.S. 17 and McIntosh which later became part of GA 196 (1970 GHD Map).
By 1972, the prevailing wisdom in this project finally came to light and the Georgia Highway Department both removed the proposed road from consideration and respectively took over then county-maintained Fleming Station Road, which happened to also be seven miles shorter than the proposed 15-mile bee line.  

Ten years later, the Great Decommissioning of 1982 claimed part of GA 196. In this case, the westernmost portion of GA 196 that had been fully paved 15 years earlier was shortened back to Glennville. The westernmost portion is shown in the second map above.

The most recent change to occur with GA 196 involved the overlapping of an extended GA 119 during the mid-1980's along the route. This 3.6 mile overlap was the last major change to the route. No major changes have occured to the route since that time.
Georgia 196 Photo Gallery

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Georgia 196 Termini Gallery

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Western Terminus: U.S. 25/301/GA 23/73 south of Glennville
Western end signage and first eastbound reassurance shield. Both photos have been blown up to show detail. Photos by J.T. Legg taken August 2003.
Eastern Terminus: U.S. 17/GA 25 six miles north of Midway
No photos available
Historic Western Terminus: GA 121/144/169 southeast of Reidsville
No photos available
Related Links

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