Now listed for sale, the old Rountree Grocery was operated by Frank Rountree, whose wife Nita ran the post office. The Elam-Egypt Baptist Church can be seen in the background.
http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/category/egypt-ga/
I’ve finally solved the mystery (to me) of the origin of Egypt’s name. Confederate Major General Lafayette McLaws purchased 1572 acres in Effingham County in January 1870. His daughter, Virginia, wrote that the plantation was “named Egypt because of the fine corn raised there. The house was quite large, two stories and a very high attic–a nice porch downstairs and upstairs with columns…(there were) eight large rooms with high ceilings, large closets in each, and every one with a nice fireplace. In those days there were no toilet facilities, no electric lights. There was an outdoor kitchen, also one on the large back porch.”
Lafayette McLaws, Major General, CSA
(15 January 1821 – 24 Jul7 1897)
This material was found at John C. Oeffinger’s wonderful tribute site to General McLaws, based on his book, A Soldier’s General: Major General Lafayette McLaws, Chapel Hill, UNC Press, 2002.
http://asoldiersgeneral.com/index.html
