Trail preserves history, attracts tourism

Columbia County school officials received a standing ovation Tuesday night when they reached back into the early 20th century to name the new Grovetown High School.

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Area tourism officials plan to reach back a little further to attract visitors' dollars.

The effort to create the 13th Colony Heritage Tourism Trail in Georgia has significant implications.

As the executive director of Columbia County's Convention and Visitors Bureau points out, heritage tourists are among the most sought-after visitors in the domestic travel business.

What does our community have to offer? Georgia's colonial history began with Savannah, with settlers navigating the Savannah River to Augusta and spreading by land into the "backcountry" - which included Columbia County.

Two Columbia County residents, William Few and Abraham Baldwin, later signed the U.S. Constitution.Few became a state lawmaker and U.S. senator; Baldwin founded the school that became the University of Georgia.

Columbia County is one of the fastest-growing counties in one of the nation's fastest-growing states. Without an effort to celebrate our history - and that includes such things as naming public buildings - we risk forgetting how we got here.

But with that effort, we can attract more visitors and help us all remember.