Welcome to Snead, where town's vision doesn't include big-box stores

Editor:

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Welcome to Snead.

After living with an Evans address for more than nine years, my wife and I were surprised to learn we actually live in Snead, according to our new GPS-equipped car. The map clearly labels our area as Snead, as does the Mapblast web site. Sure enough, Snead is listed as one of the historical towns in Columbia County, according to the county's Wikipedia article.

The only reference I have been able to find to a famous Snead in the area is a Col. Claiborne Snead, of the 3rd Georgia Regiment which mustered in Augusta at the beginning of the Civil War.

For those unfamiliar with Snead, we are a sleepy bedroom community located just north of the bustling city of Evans. Our town center is at the intersection of North Belair and Furys Ferry Road. For a long time, our only store was Tracker Jack's, where we could buy all the buck urine and live crickets we needed.

Snead is a pleasant little town, but we are growing as people migrate here to get away from the overcrowding and traffic of Martinez and Evans. We already have two elementary schools and a middle school in town. Commerce has boomed in the past few years, and we now have a Shell gas station, a Wife-Saver, and soon will have a CVS Pharmacy.

But we want to carefully control our growth and maintain our small-town atmosphere. We plan to build a quaint downtown area with tree-lined sidewalks, small shops and restaurants, and a little park with a statue of Col. Snead. No big-box stores here!

We have a vision for how we want our town to grow. We are proud to live in Snead.

Joe Fausnight

Snead