HR 427: Dr. Esco Hall, Jr. Highway; Appling County; dedicate

This resolution honors Dr. Esco Hall, Jr., who grew up in a sharecropping family in Wheeler County, Georgia and became one of the first two Black students to earn a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Georgia. He practiced as a veterinarian in southeast Georgia for over 46 years and served 36 years on the Baxley City Council, including 12 years as mayor pro tem, before his death in 2019. The resolution dedicates the section 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 put up 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 of Transportation.

• 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 to the Department of Transportation.

The resolution most directly affects the Georgia Department of Transportation, which must install and maintain signage, and the family of Dr. Esco Hall, Jr. It also affects residents and travelers on this stretch of State Route 15 in Appling County, whose road will now bear his name.

While the resolution does not change any law or funding beyond signage, it gives lasting public recognition to a local figure who broke racial barriers in veterinary medicine and city government, permanently marking a Georgia highway in his memory.

• The resolved clause dedicates the named segment of State Route 15 (mile points 76.17 to 76.716) in Appling County as the Dr. Esco Hall, Jr. Highway.
• A further resolved clause authorizes and directs the Department of Transportation to erect and maintain appropriate signs for the dedication.
• A final 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)

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

• highway dedication
• Appling County
• Georgia veterans of public service
• road naming
• Baxley