Sumter was a small crossroads community in Sumter County, just north of Smithville; it had a post office from 1884-1954. [It may have also been known as Sumter City]. It could just as well have been known as Webb, as the Webb family was in the area by circa 1825 and John Ronaldson Webb (1822-1881) was farming 125 acres east of Muckaloochee Creek by the 1850s. He and Amanda Melvinia Williams Webb had at least thirteen children. They eventually owned and cultivated 900 acres. According to the National Register of Historic Places, Amanda divided the land between her seven living sons in 1900. They all built homes along Highway 19 and farmed them separately.

This is one of the numerous farmhouses built by the Webb brothers. I believe three are extant, including the William A., and Emory C. Webb houses. This eclectic Queen Anne was owned by George Franklin Webb (1861-1936) and Ida Varina Goynes Webb (1875-1956). Together, these resources make up the historic Webb Family Farms.

The houses and historic farmland, along with the adjacent Liberty Primtive Baptist Church, are also significant as surviving structures of the nearly forgotten Sumter community.

National Register of Historic Places