Assembly passes Tift namesake resolution

ATLANTA, Ga. — The Georgia Senate unanimously passed a House resolution Tuesday that sets the historical record straight as to which Tift the Southwest Georgia county is named for.

It’s an error that has gone unabated at the state level since 1905 when, by act of the Georgia General Assembly, Tift County was created.

According to that originating document, Tift County was named for Nelson Tift, the Connecticut-born businessman and jurist who founded Albany in 1836. Nelson Tift died in 1891, one year after the city of Tifton was incorporated as a part of Berrien County by his nephew, Henry Harding Tift.

A former Navy Veteran and Albany businessman, Henry Harding Tift bought a tract of land in 1872 in Berrien County that would ultimately become Tift County to build a sawmill.

The resolution adopted by the senate Tuesday establishes Henry Harding Tift as the namesake for the county, not Nelson Tift. That resolution passed 50-0.