‘Known colloquially as ‘The Triple Dog Dare,’ the wooden ‘Dare and Welcome’ signs of southern Georgia’s Clinch County are likely the final relic of a ghost town that has otherwise fully slipped past the veil. There are seven confirmed ‘dare’ signs that form a rough circle with a three mile radius. Within that circle are four confirmed ‘welcomes’ around the center. Dozens of unconfirmed ‘dares’ and ‘welcomes’ have been photographed in the forests nearby, most sprouting from the ground but some hanging fancifully from trees or hammered into cliffsides where the assumed viewing experience seems to be ‘freefall.’
Stories suggest that it is near impossible to reach the center of this perimeter without finding at least three ‘dare’ signs along the way. The signs, for a ‘Clinchtown,’ depict simple illustrations of gruesome injuries and death and end with the words ‘Dare you?’ The ‘welcome’ signs, arranged after the ‘dares,’ are without illustration and say ‘Welcome to Clinchtown, Population Zero.’ The backs of the signs say ‘Thank you for visiting Clinchtown.’
‘Clinchtown’ does not exist in any official capacity, state, federal, or otherwise. There is nothing overtly dangerous or suspicious about the land that these signs seem to describe. Still, people go missing in ‘Clinchtown.’ Tourists, mainly- and the more missing tourists are reported, the more a certain subsection of traveler is drawn to the area.
The Georgia General Assembly has met half a dozen times over the last century to discuss Clinchtown and the transcripts of these meetings suggest a certain knowing caginess among participants. Every instance has devolved into two distinct sides, those that are in strict opposition to the founding of an official Clinchtown and those who feel it’s best to just ‘get it over with.’
-an excerpt, Autumn by the Wayside
