If you’ve been wondering about something in your community, Ask The Times is your place to get answers. The following question was submitted by a reader and answered through the efforts of our news staff.
What’s the history of Jim Crow Road?
Despite the name Jim Crow Road, the Flowery Branch street’s origins have no relation to the Jim Crow laws that targeted African Americans by enforcing racial segregation throughout the South.
Randy Crow of Flowery Branch said in the late 1980s the Hall County Commission named the road in honor of his grandfather, Glennon “Jim” Crow, who once owned the property along its path.
Randy Crow said his grandfather was raised by his aunt who didn’t like the name Glennon nor Glenn. “She called him Jimmy,” he said. “And from Jimmy, came Jim.”
He said Jim Crow moved from Lawrenceville to Flowery Branch in the early 1930s to start a farm. Randy Crow spent his childhood on the farm, which grew corn and cotton, and raised livestock.
He describes his grandfather as a man who “wasn’t rich by no means, but he would help some of the poor people who had less than him.”
Randy Crow said his grandfather offered a hand to both white and African American families who lived near the farm.
“There was no racial bone in his body,” he said. “He would take milk and ham to see them through the winter. He expected anybody he helped out to come work in the spring, but he paid them at the end of the day.”
Randy Crow said Jim Crow would also build caskets for those who couldn’t afford it for their loved ones, to make sure they had a proper burial.
“He was thought of very highly for all the things he did for the city of Flowery Branch,” he said. “They (Hall County Commission) approached him in the later years of his life and they asked to name the road after him.”
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