Wooster and Sharp Top and Dewy Rose and Hemp.
Santa's forgotten reindeer? Lip gloss flavors?
Nope, they're towns in Georgia that were unceremoniously wiped off the map earlier this year, when the Georgia Transportation Department redrew its map of the state.
These towns, most of which were very small, were removed from the map, along with communities such as Poetry Tulip, Due West, Po Biddy Crossroads, Cloudland, and Roosterville.
Transportation officials said the goal was to make the maps clearer and easier to read. So they did away with the towns that were either too tiny or had names that took up too much space on the map. In all, they deleted 488 communities from the map.
Unsurprisingly, this has elicited criticsm from the affected towns:
"This gets back to respect for rural areas," said Dennis Holt, who is leading a community group that wants to restore the good name of western Georgia's Hickory Level, population 1,000, which was founded in 1828 and recently put up five new welcome signs. "I'm not sure we're going to accomplish anything, but I would have felt bad about myself if I didn't say something about it."
Hickory Level, we hardly knew ye!
Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach has written about a range of topics, including social policy issues and urban planning and design. Originally from Tennessee, he joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
E-mail: zpatton@governing.com 
Written and compiled by staff writers and editors, GOVERNING View is an on-the-ground, and sometimes behind-the-scenes, look at the topics we're covering in print and online. From notes on what's up in statehouses, county courthouses and city halls, to encounters with people, places and things, GOVERNING View is a window into the side of state and local government you don't always see.
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