Areas as remote as Clinch County have proven to be mostly inhospitable to much development. Located too far from interstates and among too many swamps for much development, this area is traversed by S.R. 89, which is overlapped along its entire length by U.S. 441 and is mostly located in this county. In fact, the entire 45-mile long highway has only two incorporated towns along its length, the county seat of Homerville (Pop. 2803, 2000 est.) and Fargo (Pop. 380, 2000 est.). Clinch County itself has less than 7,000 people making this one of the most desolate areas of the state.

S.R. 89 begins at U.S. 221/S.R. 31 south of Pearson in Atkinson County. 5.9 miles to the south, the roadway traverses the length of Clinch County before entering Florida. In Fargo, it has an 0.6 mile overlap with S.R. 94. It is also legislatively named Iris Faircloth Blitch Memorial Highway.

Currently, the State of Georgia is attempting to bring progress to this remote area of Georgia by widening S.R. 89 as part of its ongoing project to four-lane U.S. 441 across the state. Right-of-way acquisition began in 2007 to widen the road, including part of U.S. 221, from Pearson south to Fargo. When complete, the new four-lane will stretch from the beginning of the highway in Atkinson County to the end of the overlap with S.R. 94 where it will remain two lanes along the remainder of the highway into Florida. The reason for the road to the south remaining two lanes is because Florida has no plans to four-lane their side of U.S. 441 (1).

HISTORY

S.R. 89 originally began as only a state highway. U.S. 441 was later added to this highway, which otherwise saw very few changes in its existence. The highway was unpaved upon commissioning and was only paved in two locations, one from S.R. 94 in Fargo north about 10 miles and another south of Homerville by 1938. Paving was completed between Homerville and Fargo the following year. By the early 1940's, paving was completed along the highway.

It was not until 1949 that U.S. 441 was extended north out of Florida along the route (2). While this negated the need for the continued existence of S.R. 89, Georgia never removed the state designations from any of its U.S. routes, including S.R. 89. Since 1949, no major improvements happened to the route until Summer 2006 when U.S. 441 was widened in Homerville as part of the U.S. 84 project (1).

PHOTO GALLERY

	End signage of S.R. 177 at showing S.R. 89 (U.S. 441) where it overlaps with S.R. 94. Photo taken by Dave Johnsen on December 13, 2003.
	This historic 1984 photo is of the state line sign entering Georgia from Columbia County, Florida on U.S. 441. This is the southern terminus of S.R. 89 as well. Photo by Michael Summa.
	Also in 1984 is this photo of the first northbound reassurance shields of U.S. 441 and S.R. 89. Photo also by Michael Summa.

SOURCES

1. Georgia Department of Transportation. U.S. 441 Fact Sheet. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
2. U.S. Highways From U.S. 1 to 830. North - South US Highways with daughter routes from US 1 to US 101. Retrieved August 5, 2007.