Judge Rules Railroad Can Take Black Family’s Land After 100+ Years

A Georgia superior court judge has ruled that a railroad company can seize the land of a Black farming couple.

Blaine and Diane Smith had previously filed a petition against Sandersville Railroad Company after the Georgia Public Commission approved the company’s request to seize their land for a rail line project in Hancock County. The new project, known as Hanson Spur, aims to create an industrial rail line to transport construction materials and agricultural products.

Proponents of the project argue the rail line will reduce truck traffic on local roads and produce economic benefits for the county. The Smiths’ land was seized under eminent domain, a legal principle that allows government entities to take private property for public use. The farming couple argued that their land wasn’t being used for the public but rather for the benefit of private companies.

In a ruling earlier this month, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig L. Schwall Sr. upheld Georgia Public Commission’s previous decision, allowing Sandersville Railroad to seize the Smiths’ land, per Capital B News.

Blaine said his ancestors worked as enslaved individuals on the land, which his family has owned since the 1920s.

“My father farmed this land; my grandfather farmed it during most of his life. It’s still in the Smith family. Not one piece of it had gotten away.,” he said.

The family is planning to appeal the judge’s latest decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.

“We’re going to fight ‘til we can’t fight anymore,” Diane said. “I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. My grandmother used to say, ‘no stone unturned’, so you keep unturning and unturning.”

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