TIFTON —
Tift County is now officially -- Tift County.
The difference? Instead of being named after Nelson Tift, as indicated on the historical marker at the courthouse in downtown Tifton, the county has been renamed after a Tift who actually lived in the county, Henry H. Tift.
Nelson, who founded Albany, never actually lived in Tift County, but the county was named after him because in 1905 when Tift County was created, it was illegal in Georgia to name a county after a living person -- Henry was still alive, and Nelson was deceased.
Renaming the county after Henry, who is Nelson’s nephew, is only right, according to local Tift County historian Bill Wells, who proposed the idea for the name change in 2005.
“I thought it was appropriate, since the Tift family is still here, many of them. And I thought it would be nice to name the county after who founded it,” he said.
Local resident Edd Dorminey wrote a letter to the editor and submitted it to The Gazette several months ago regarding the name change. In an e-mail to The Gazette, he wrote that he contacted Rep. Jay Roberts (Dist. 154), suggesting the name change be made.
According to Dormi-ney, Roberts enthusiastically agreed.
Dorminey also drafted a resolution, which was presented to the city of Tifton, the Tift County Commissioners and the Chamber of Commerce. Both the city and county passed the resolutions.
While all this was happening, Roberts was working with Rep. Penny Houston and Rep. Sam Watson to get the ball rolling in the legislature.
The bill (HR 281) was passed by the House February 28.
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March 14, 2013
County name change is official
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