Category Archives: –CHARLTON COUNTY GA–

Sardis Primitive Baptist Church, Folkston

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Sardis is the oldest congregation in Charlton County, founded 7 January 1821. It moved to its present location around 1840. Some sources incorrectly note that this church was built in 1821, but that is not the case, as it didn’t even locate here until 1840.

The pulpit is said to be from the original church (circa 1821) and to contain a bullet hole from an overexcited soldier defending the meeting house during the Indian Wars.

The interior is typically unadorned, as are all the Crawfordite churches. I love the worn floorboards seen in the photograph of the entrance below.

The next image shows a detail of one of the holes in the floor. These are found in some of the Crawfordite churches and are used for spitting tobacco.

The support buttresses below the beams are unique (in my travels so far) to Sardis.

As the weather was unsettled while I was photographing Sardis, I didn’t have time to fully explore the cemetery, which is quite large and the final resting place of many Charlton County pioneers. I was drawn, though, to the statuary of the Lowther plot.

To the left of the children’s memorials are the graves of Edwin P. Lowther (19 May 1867-19 August 1913) and Avey E. Robinson Lowther (4 September 1861-21 December 1903). I believe an infant and another wife, named Birdie, are buried here, as well.

 

Logging Camp Church & Schoolhouse, Toledo

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No matter how many historic buildings I uncover in my travels, finding a structure like this is still what motivates my work more than anything else. This is located between Folkston and St. George, near the old logging community of Toledo. (As of 2016, I’m told that this has been razed).  Wesley Williams writes: My understanding, from the old folks, is that this started out as a school /church when there was a logging camp in the area. It was later abandoned and turned into a home. For the record…that is how I understand the history from old timers in the area…This is in the Toledo area about a 1/3 of the way between Folkston and St George…

Prospect United Methodist Church, Circa 1897, Charlton County

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In 1870, twelve members organized this congregation and built a log church near Chesser’s Island on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. That structure was moved to this location but burned in 1896. The present church was built soon thereafter; the steeple was added in 1918. Central heat and air was added in 1997-98.

Emmaus Primitive Baptist Church, St. George

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Located just south of St. George is this iconic church. The congregation dates to 1858.

The artesian well-fed pump still works.

The privy is one of two on the grounds, as there’s obviously no plumbing. I believe the church must still be used for homecomings and funerals, at least.

The cemetery is nicely kept and is the final resting place of many pioneers of southernmost Georgia.

Many members of Emmaus were Confederate veterans.

Private Henry Gainey, Jr. Company G, 26th Georgia Infantry (1840 – 1864)

Private Gainey was likely killed in action at Spotsylvania, as his grave is marked with a Confederate Iron Cross. Beside his grave is that of another Gainey, probably his brother, who was in the Confederate service in nearby Florida.

St. George, Georgia

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Located near the banks of the St. Marys River, St. George is the southernmost town in Georgia, and being 24 miles south of Folkston, it remains quite isolated. It is sometimes spelled Saint George.

Established in 1904 as a “colony city” by P.H. Fitzgerald [who nine years earlier colonized the city of Fitzgerald] and his son John P. Fitzgerald, St. George was laid out near the forgotten village of Cutler. Some of the streets in the town today bear the same names as streets in Fitzgerald, notably those named for Civil War generals like Grant and Bragg. When St. George was not incorporated nor any improvements made, as Mr. Fitzgerald had promised, some of the colonists filed a lawsuit which led to the founder’s indictment.

 

First Baptist Church, Circa 1909, St. George

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This congregation was established in 1909 and the church built soon thereafter.

 

Norman House, St. George

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Though it’s likely had numerous owners over the years, and has been modified by the addition of the dormer, this central hallway cottage is one of the older houses in St. George. Kathy Miley Beverly writes: …My sister Marilyn said that our Aunt Sarah & Uncle Bill Norman lived in this house back in the 1940’s — Don’t know the exact dates–Bill Norman’s family ran the General Store in St. George back then...

U. S. Post Office, St. George

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This is Georgia’s southernmost post office.

 

St. George Elementary School, 1938

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Built to replace the original St. George School [1910] which was destroyed by fire, St. George Elementary is the southernmost school in Georgia.

St. Marys River, Charlton County

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Originating in the Okefenokee Swamp, the St. Marys River forms the boundary of Georgia and Florida from Charlton County to the Atlantic Ocean. It’s also the southernmost point of Georgia.

When “discovered” by Jean Ribault in 1562, it was first called the Seine River. It was later changed to St. Marys in honor of a nearby mission. The name given it by Native Americans was Thlathlothlaguphka, meaning rotten fish.

It’s a typical “blackwater” river, common throughout South Georgia and North Florida, and it bears close monitoring as the human population in its watershed expands exponentially.

Though pollution is an increasing problem [so bad that it’s advised to only eat one Largemouth Bass per month and only one Redbreast per week] I saw two fisherman testing their luck yesterday. Just seeing bank-fishing is getting to be a rare thing these days.