January, 1902 - Last Spike Driven for MD&S

Looking for something this afternoon and opened a box I hadn't looked at for  at least nine years and found this clipping. I'm guessing it was published about January 30, 1987, as the regular feature in the Courier Herald was about "85 Years Ago". It was written by W. H. Champion, who had been editor of the newspaper many years

The Dublin Courier-Dispatch, January 30, 1902

Tuesday afternoon about 3 o'clock the last spike was driven, and the extension of the Macon, Dublin & Savannah railroad to Vidalia was completed. Nothing now remains to be done except to surface up about four miles of track. This should be finished this week and a schedule between Dublin and Vidalia can be put on.
In an editorial pointing to the railroads that Dublin had in 1902, the Courier-Dispatch told of the growth of Dublin during the prior ten years, and stated in true civic pride: "During the next ten years it is believed that the growth of Dublin and Laurens County will be more marked than in the last ten. It would not be surprising if Laurens ranked as one of the six largest in the state ten years hence and that Dublin at that time would have population of 10,000."

Very prophetic: Laurens County did become one of the top counties in the state in population.

Class, here is your assignment:
1- What was the date of that Tuesday afternoon when the last spike was driven?  We may need to celebrate the occasion during the coming January, right here in Soperton.
2- What was the population of Laurens County in the 1920 census, and what was it's state rank?  While you're looking, what was the new county Treutlen's population in the 1920 census?

William A. Ricks

http://billricksofsoperton.blogspot.com 

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