HR427: HR427 Dr. Esco Hall, Jr. Highway; Appling County; dedicate

This resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives recognizes the life and public service of Dr. Esco Hall, Jr., a veterinarian and longtime Baxley City Council member who died in 2019. It recounts his upbringing in a sharecropping family in Wheeler County, his path to becoming one of the first two Black graduates of the University of Georgia's veterinary medicine doctoral program, his 46 years running Appling Animal Hospital, and his 36 years on the Baxley City Council, including 12 years as mayor pro tem. The operative part of the resolution dedicates the portion of State Route 15 between mile point 76.17 and 76.716 in Appling County as the Dr. Esco Hall, Jr. Highway. It directs the Georgia Department of Transportation to erect and maintain signs marking the dedication, and it directs the Clerk of the House to send copies of the resolution to Dr. Hall's family and to the department.

• Dedicates the stretch of State Route 15 from mile point 76.17 to 76.716 in Appling County as the Dr. Esco Hall, Jr. Highway.
• Directs the Georgia Department of Transportation to erect and maintain signs marking the highway dedication.
• Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to distribute copies of the resolution to Dr. Hall's family and the Department of Transportation.

The resolution mainly affects the Georgia Department of Transportation, which must install and maintain signage, and Appling County residents and travelers on that segment of State Route 15. It also honors Dr. Esco Hall, Jr.'s family and the Baxley community.

If adopted, drivers on that stretch of State Route 15 would see new signage naming the road after Dr. Hall, giving a lasting public marker of his career as a veterinarian and Baxley city councilmember. The change is symbolic and does not alter traffic rules or funding.

• The whereas clauses describe Dr. Hall's background, veterinary career, and 36 years of service on the Baxley City Council, including 12 years as mayor pro tem.
• The first resolving clause dedicates State Route 15 from mile point 76.17 to 76.716 in Appling County as the Dr. Esco Hall, Jr. Highway.
• The second resolving clause directs the Department of Transportation to erect and maintain appropriate signs for the dedication.
• The final resolving clause directs the Clerk of the House to distribute copies of the resolution to Dr. Hall's family and the Department of Transportation.

1. 2025-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-27House Hopper (House)

• William Werkheiser (R, HD-157)Primary sponsor
• Steven Meeks (R, HD-178)

• highway dedication
• Appling County
• veterinary medicine history
• Georgia House resolution