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Florida Lawmaker Proposes Renaming U.S. 441 In Honor Of Tom Petty

Takahiro Kyono
/
Wikimedia Commons
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are pictured at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2012.

A portion of U.S. 441 in Alachua County, a highway that drew a mention in the song “American Girl,” would be named after the late rock star Tom Petty, under a proposal filed Monday by state Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville.

 
The proposal (SB 684) would name a section of U.S. 441 between West University Avenue and SW 16th Avenue as “Tom Petty Memorial Highway.” 
 
Petty, a Gainesville native who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and reminisced that same year about his hometown in a song called “Dreamville,” died Oct. 2. He was 66. “American Girl” was an early hit for Petty.