Spanish Fort Renames Route 225 Corridor 'American Patriots Way' Ahead of Nation's 250th Anniversary
Resolution 1592 was adopted at the April 20 council meeting, honoring the highway's connection to a Revolutionary War veteran buried along its path and the site of the Civil War's final major battle.
The Spanish Fort City Council voted April 20, 2026, to designate the portions of Alabama State Route 225 within the city's corporate limits as "American Patriots Way," adopting Resolution 1592-2026 in connection with the 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4, 2026.
April 20, 2026 Spanish Fort City Council agenda, page 1.
The resolution's WHEREAS clauses cite two specific historical connections to the Route 225 corridor. Lieutenant Zachariah Godbold (1763–1832), who served under General Francis Marion — the Revolutionary War commander known as the "Swamp Fox" — is buried at Saluda Hill Cemetery on State Route 225 and is described in the resolution as the only known Revolutionary War veteran buried in Baldwin County. The Blakeley Battlefield, also along Route 225, was the site of the Battle of Fort Blakeley.
That battle has a notable place in American history. Fought over April 2–9, 1865, in Baldwin County as the climax of the Union campaign to capture Mobile, Fort Blakeley is widely regarded as the last major combined-arms battle of the Civil War. Its final assault began about 5:30 p.m. on April 9 — only hours after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox that afternoon. Some 16,000 federal troops, including roughly 5,000 U.S. Colored Troops, overwhelmed about 3,500 Confederate defenders; Mobile, the last major Confederate port, fell days later. The site is preserved today at Historic Blakeley State Park along Route 225, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama and the American Battlefield Trust.
The renaming applies only to the street-name designation for the portion of the highway within Spanish Fort's limits; it does not change the state route number. The resolution passed unanimously, according to the meeting minutes included in the May 4 meeting packet.