The central hallway cottage is largely original, though it was later modified with a screened-in front porch and dormer. I believe it dates to the 1870s-1880s. It’s possible that it was built by George Edward Ferrell (1854-1935) and later owned by one of his three sons.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This home has been expanded over time but is typical of the Georgian Cottage style so popular in Darien in the late 19th century. It is known as the Blount House and the old Methodist parsonage for a minister active in Darien over a century ago. Nearby Blount’s Crossing is named for earlier members of this family, denoting the intersection where their extensive holdings met old rail and dirt corridors heading north out of downtown Darien.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This is one of the older houses in The Ridge.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Built in 1890 by McDonald Dunwoody (1857-1935), this iconic Victorian home was sold in 1905 to Charles Milton Tyson (1862-1940), a prominent timber broker and president of the Darien Bank who also represented McIntosh County in the Georgia House and Senate and served as the Darien City Court judge. It was owned by the Tyson family for many years and was later acquired by the Deans. It is one of the finest houses extant in The Ridge.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
William Henry Patterson came to Darien after the Civil War and purchased the land on which he built this house from the Blount family. The neighborhood on the Old Shell Road (Georgia Highway 99), known as The Ridge, was an exclusive retreat for river pilots and timber brokers who worked in Darien, three miles to the south. Captain Patterson was a successful bar pilot who guided timber in and out of Darien.
The house was originally a Georgian cottage with a central hallway, two rooms deep, and featured a detached kitchen and shed veranda porch. Captain Patterson lived here for just two years before building a more formal house across the street.
The Redding family later owned the home and “modernized” it in 1938, adding the bay windows, an attached kitchen, front and rear foyers within the central hallway, and hardwood flooring over the heart pine. Hannah deSoto Brown and Andy Tostensen purchased it in 1973 and restored many of the original features, including the hallway, high ceilings, and rough plaster walls. It’s a very welcoming space and I’m grateful to Hannah for sharing the history.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Captain Frank Dean (c. 1863-1948) was one of the last of the river pilots to work in Sapelo Sound during the timber boom of late-19th-century Darien. He and his wife Minnie opened their home to Catholics in the area for Mass in the years between 1912 and 1945, when Nativity of Our Lady was consecrated in Darien.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
James Cromley (1809-1889), who was the keeper of the Sapelo Island lighthouse between 1873-1889, and the first of several Cromleys to hold that position, built this home in the mid-1870s. His son, William George Conley (1859-1940), was keeper during the 1898 Georgia Hurricane, the strongest ever recorded on the coast. It is also known as the Cromley-Waters-Brandt House, for later owners. Thanks to Missy Brandt Wilson for the historical background.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
William H Davis writes: “This is the Thompson family home. My great-great grandmother bought the lot behind this house from the Thompsons in the 1880s. The home is still in her estate but is abandoned. I spent many happy summers there on The Ridge.
“The first owner of our 1870 house, Moses H. Thompson, sold an adjoining lot to Mr. Davis’ great-great-grandmother (a friend of Mrs. Thompson’s) and also a few acres further back to James Cromley, who was Sapelo Island’s lighthouse keeper from 1873 -1889. Moses Thompson was a manager for Hilton Lumber Company’s sawmill on Union Island which was located near the site of Blue N Hall Marina. There are interesting stories about Thompson and 19 other men who were captured by Union soldiers while trying to run a Union blockade of Doboy Sound. Most were taken to a prison in Philadelphia and had to walk home to Georgia at the end of the Civil War.
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Blue N Hall Marina, located off Georgia Highway 99 just north of The Ridge, is a serious landmark for boaters and fishermen in McIntosh County.
And some of the most serious fishermen in the area are members of the McIntosh Rod and Gun Club, which has been located at Blue N Hall since the 1950s.
The marina is located on the North River, which is one of dozens of serpentine creeks that characterize the waters just off mainland McIntosh County. Missy Brandt notes that this area was the site of a skirmish between Union and Confederate troops in 1862.
The marina is a publicly accessible launch and has a store and fuel station.
This American Foursquare house is one of the landmarks of The Ridge. Thanks to Melissa Pope-Scott & Bryce Baumgartner for sharing a bit of its history. Melissa writes: “This home was built originally by a Mr. DeLorme, early Darien attorney. He built it for his daughter who lived in the home for many decades with her life partner, Annie. Miss DeLorme was a pharmacist and owned Darien’s first drug store. Annie was a school teacher for the Methodist church school at The Ridge. They are buried together in the De Lorme family plot at St. Andrews Cemetery at Ashantilly. The McQuaig family owned it much later on.“
The Ridge Historic District, National Register of Historic Places