Category Archives: –LONG COUNTY GA–

Griffin Ridge Wildlife Management Area, Long County

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Entrance at Eastern Section

Griffin Ridge Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located between Jesup and Ludowici, includes vibrant examples of Atlantic coastal plain floodplain forests, oak hammocks, and river dunes. It encompasses areas historically known as Fountain Branch (Fountain Hole), Back Swamp, Griffin Lake, and Patterson Swamp. These are part of the larger Altamaha River floodplain.

Lichen, found in abundance on higher ground at Griffin Ridge WMA, Eastern Section

The site is open to everyone, but you’ll need a lands pass or hunting/fishing license from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) if you visit. If your interest is the natural environment, it’s best to avoid any WMA during hunting season, but that leaves a lot of time to wander the trails the rest of the year. A four-wheel drive vehicle is advisable and bug spray is a necessity.

Nature Trail, Eastern Section

A nature trail is located here and one of the highlights is the lupine, which usually blooms in April. DNR does a good job of keeping the sandy roads and trails cleared, and signs identifying various plants and wildlife can be found throughout the property.

Sky blue lupine (Lupinus diffusus), Eastern Section

Palmetto thickets are dominant in much of this xeric environment.

Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), Eastern Section

Primitive campsites with minimal amenities can be secured through the DNR if you want to spend the night.

Wooden Bridge, Western Section

A wooden bridge built by the DNR is a notable feature in the western section of the WMA, which can be accessed near the Tin Man on US 341. This area is closer to the Altamaha and generally lower and swampier than the eastern section.

Penstemon, Western Section. [I’m not sure what variety this is.]

Native plants are also common in this area of the WMA.

Road to Shelter, Eastern Section

Hall and Parlor Cottage, Tibet

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I was looking for the old Tibet voting precinct when I saw this. It’s a great old vernacular house of a style once very common near the coast but quickly vanishing. A post office at Tibet [prounounced tib-it, not tuh-bet] operated from 1900-1914. It was located in Liberty County until the establishment of Long County in 1920. The name may have originated with a plantation but by the time it had a post office, it was likely a turpentine village.

Portal Hunting Club: Georgia’s Oldest

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Though it’s most recently been in the news for the nearby discovery of human remains, Portal Hunting Club won’t be becoming a macabre tourist attraction anytime soon. In fact, it’s not easily located and the members like it that way. On the edge of the thick and foreboding Bulltown Swamp, where Long, McIntosh, and Liberty counties meet, this cinderblock clubhouse has been home to the Portal Hunting Club since 1956, but the club has much earlier origins. [The clubhouse itself is just inside Long County]. It was established by men from Portal, a little town west of Statesboro. According to a great article about the club by Angus McCleod in Georgia Outdoor News, it’s the oldest hunting club in Georgia.

He writes: …The club was established back in the late 1800s. There were few or no deer in Bulloch County back then, so a group of hunters from Portal learned they could lease land in the corner of McIntosh, Liberty and Long counties to deer hunt.

Twice a year the men would load up their wagons, saddle their horses and bring their hounds and bird dogs for the two-day trip to Bull Town Swamp. The hunters would camp one night en route. The bird dogs would hunt along the way, and if one pointed to a covey of quail, the hunters would shoot. If a hound jumped a rabbit and someone shot it, they would have quail and rabbit for supper.

The members of Portal have hunted the property for about 110 years. They are believed to be the oldest, still-functioning hunting club in Georgia. However, there were two years during World War II when the club was closed. The Army was using the woods in and around Bull Town Swamp as training grounds. Of course they were using much of Long and McIntosh counties to train our troops. During those two years, the Army blew up the old barn that used to house the hunters.

After World War II, the Portal Hunting Club members leased an old home off Sandy Run Road in Liberty County. It was an old farm house with newspaper on the wall for insulation. A potbelly stove provided the only heat. It was a proud day in 1956 when the hunters moved into the existing clubhouse.

Besides the large country kitchen and the comfortable main rooms, Portal has two bathrooms and four sleeping rooms — very much like an old Army barracks where everyone sleeps in an open room with bunk beds...

Make sure to read Angus’s article. He details a fascinating custom of the club you’ll find interesting, I believe.

Brickyard Branch, Long County

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Brickyard Branch is located on the edge of Ludowici, bordering both sides of US Highway 301. It’s part of the Altamaha River floodplain.

I first thought it was named for the brick and tile yard of the Ludowici Celadon Company which gave the town its name, early in the 20th century, but after discussion with a longtime resident believe there was a brickyard near the creek which was operational before the Celadon Company. It may have been what attracted them to the area.

Branch is another term for swamp [or creek]. A typical Southeast Georgia landscape, reminiscent of the Okefenokee Swamp, it’s characterized by brackish streams, ponds, and prairies.

Though not a publicly accessible area, it can be viewed from the highway right of way in several locations.

No other river in Georgia that I know has floodplains as extensive as the Altamaha, which reach over ten miles from Jesup to Ludowici.

It’s very important for wildlife and native plants, many of which are found in greater numbers here than almost anywhere else.

Most of the area is protected, be it by wildlife management areas or private ownership.

Praise House, Circa 1930, Long County

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Driving the back roads of Long County the other day, I came across this gem and soon met Mr. Worthy, the landowner. He explained that this was an original praise house and that it was at least 80 years old. [This particular area has a long history of Black farmers and in earlier times, there was a large turpentine operation nearby. This likely explains its remote presence here]. To my knowledge, it’s the only surviving praise house in Long County.

Praise houses were tiny shelters used by Geechee-Gullah, and other African-Americans, for worship and as community gathering places. They are the rarest examples of religious architecture in Georgia, with just a few surviving in the coastal region.

The sign, reading “Thee Body of Christ”, is what initially got my attention.

Mr. Worthy noted that the sign, and other work in the yard, was done by his wife, Shelly Worthy.

Mrs. Worthy also created this small chapel as a place of worship and reflection.

Her inspired handiwork can be seen all over the property.

It is a fascinating place and an important example of a passion for history and a passion for faith coming together to protect a resource of great significance.

Double Shotgun House, Long County

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This gable front farmhouse is of a variety sometimes referred to as a “double shotgun”, as it is divided by a common wall in the middle with two doors for separate access.

Central Hallway Farmhouse, Long County

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This is a nice example of the common central hallway form, likely dating to the late 19th century.

Double-Pen Farmhouse, Long County

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I believe this is now the clubhouse for the Jones Creek Fox Pen, a local hunting club.

There’s an amazing Live Oak in front of the house, even if it’s “young” by Live Oak standards.

Log Tobacco Barn, Long County

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This barn likely dates to the 1930s [perhaps 1920s], when tobacco production became a larger sector of the commercial agricultural economy in Georgia. Before that time, production was scattered and more specialized. An interesting feature of several tobacco barns I’ve documented in Long County is their height, which is notably shorter than most barns found elsewhere in Georgia. I’m unsure as to the reason for this.

Endangered Landmark in Ludowici

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In 2013, I shared a post about this house, and identified it as the Allen Johnston House. The identification was made by people in Ludowici and there is some debate as to whether that is correct; nonetheless, it’s likely the oldest house in Ludowici and a recent clearing of the property is concerning.

Though parts of the house appear to be structurally sound, the eastern section is collapsing from the second floor down. According to previous comments, the house was still occupied in the early 1990s.

I believe this was originally the rear of the house but the entrance may have been switched to this side at some point in its history. There is more Ludowici Tile on this structure than on any other, to my knowledge, in Long County. Since the tile factory was in operation in the earliest part of the 20th century, the roof would have been a later addition, like the porches.

The kitchen was also attached to the house, as seen here.