No matter how many historic buildings I uncover in my travels, finding an old farmhouse like this is still what motivates my work more than anything else. This is located about midway between Folkston and St. George.
Tag Archives: –CHARLTON COUNTY GA–
Prospect Methodist Church, Charlton County
This church was founded in 1869. The present structure was built much later.
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--
Emmaus Church, Charlton County
Located just south of St. George is this iconic primitive style church. I can’t locate anything about its history or construction, but it’s well-maintained.
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Two things you rarely see anymore: the artesian well-fed pump pictured above works! The privy seen below 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.
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The cemetery is nicely kept; the earliest graves date to the late 1800s, so perhaps that’s a clue to the origins of the church building.
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Private Henry Gainey, Jr. Company G, 26th Georgia Infantry (1840 – 1864)
Private Gainey was likely killed in action, 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.
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--
St. George, Georgia
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.
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.
The historic background is from Charlton County’s best-known historian, Lois Barefoot Mays.
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--, St. George GA
First Baptist Church, St. George
The granitoid used in the construction of this church was likely supplied by the Fitzgerald Granitoid Works, considering the connection with P. H. Fitzgerald.
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--, St. George GA
Cracker Style House, St. George
Though it’s been slightly modified over the years, this house is a great example of Cracker style architecture once so common throughout South Georgia.
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--, St. George GA
U. S. Post Office, St. George
This is Georgia’s southernmost post office.
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--, St. George GA
St. George Elementary School, 1938
Built to replace the original St. George School (1910) which was destroyed by fire, I think this school’s motto is most appropriate today, and I think it’s a great idea to pass on to young people. I’m unsure if it was of WPA construction, though the date would suggest that as a possibility. Either way, it’s the southernmost school in Georgia.
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--, St. George GA
St. Marys River, Charlton County
Originating near 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 so 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. Perhaps we should revive the name given it by the Native Americans, Thlathlothlaguphka, in honor of the misdeeds and inaction of our state government which seems to care nothing about the health of any of our rivers or natural ecosystems.
http://www.saintmarysriver.org/history.html
Filed under --CHARLTON COUNTY GA--, St. George GA
