Erected on 12 October 1934 by the Georgia Society and John Ball Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, this marker is located on the lawn of the beautiful Allentown Methodist Church. It glorifies early white settlers who helped run Native Americans off land that was rightfully theirs, so I’m glad that such a commemoration would likely not be considered today. Nonetheless, its integral to the history of the area. It reads: Intersection of Carolina, West Florida, and Savannah Lower Creek Trails. Traditional Indian Village Site and Burial Grounds. Early White Settlement and Haven for Refugee Families in 1812 Indian Alarms. Though I can’t find a reference to the “Indian Alarms” in a quick scan of the literature, I’m sure the term “haven for refugee families” suggests that Allentown was an early outpost in the westward expansion of Georgia.
Last Raft Monument, McRae’s Landing, Ocmulgee River (detail)
In 1982, Dr. Delma Presley, a professor at Georgia Southern organized Project R.A.F.T. as a way to honor the memories of the men who floated timber down the Ocmulgee and Altamaha Rivers in the early part of the 20th century. R.A.F.T. was an acronym for Restore Altamaha Folklife Traditions. The project, which was centered here at McRae’s Landing, was a huge success and was coordinated with folklife festivals along the river. Author Brainard Cheney, a native of Fitzgerald who had written several popular novels about life on the river was also active in the project and spoke at numerous locations along the route. I wrote to Dr. Presley about his book Okefinokee Album and his work with Project R.A.F.T. when I was still in high school and he sent me a video tape and souvenir program of the project, which was my first exposure to local documentary work.
I finally got to meet Dr. Presley in 2011 at a presentation to the Long County Chamber of Commerce and he still has fond memories of this project, especially of the last raft pilot, the late Bill Deen. Dr. Presley himself is quite an accomplished scholar and was one of Georgia Southern’s most popular professors, combining his passion for literature with a passion to preserve and document the rapidly vanishing folk culture of Southeast Georgia. In fact, he’s been compiling research on the human history of the Altamaha River for over thirty years. He was also instrumental in establishing the Georgia Southern University Museum. Sheriff Cecil Nobles was also in attendance to show his support for Dr. Presley’s work on the river.
McRae’s Landing, looking west, 2012
Text of Monument: On April 3, 1982, Piloted by Captain Bill Deen, Age 90, the Last Raft of Georgia Pine Timber Began a Journey of 140 Miles Down the Ocmulgee and Altamaha Rivers to the Coastal City of Darien, Georgia. Smaller than the Great Rafts of the 1880s, the Raft of 1982 was 85 by 30 Feet and Weighed Almost 50 Tons. Oar Sweeps of 35 Feet Were at Each End. After Stopping for Folk Festivals Near Baxley and Jesup, the Raft and a Crew of 8 Arrived in Darien on April 20. The Rafthands of 1982 and Today Honor All Who Know and Love Our Rivers, Land, and People.
Last Raft Monument, McRae’s Landing, Ocmulgee River
Update: As of 2023, the access road to McRae’s Landing has been closed and the monument is only accessible by boat.
This kitschy monument has been promoting Georgia’s largest cash crop to passersby on I-75 for nearly forty years. Designed by A. R. Smith, Jr., it was sponsored by the Georgia Peanut Commission as a tribute to the peanut industry and as a memorial to Nora Lawrence Smith, longtime editor and publisher of The Wiregrass Farmer. And while there are other monuments to America’s favorite legume scattered around the country, this one is the largest. At least that’s what the folks in Ashburn tell me.
The peanut was toppled during Hurricane Michael on 10 October 2018.
Though his association with Savannah was brief and controversial, John Wesley’s presence in the first decade of colonial Georgia’s existence assures him hallowed status. This monument, in Reynolds Square, was dedicated in 1969. To learn more about Wesley and the Methodist church, pay a visit to the Arthur J. Moore Methodist Museum on St. Simons Island or get in touch with Judi Fergus at the link below. Her enthusiasm for the history of the church is inspiring.
Souther Field, now known as Jimmy Carter Regional Airport, is one of the oldest airports in the United States, and was instrumental as a flight training school in both world wars. In 1917, Sumter County purchased what was dubbed the world’s largest peach orchard and deeded it to the United States government. The site was named Souther Field, for army aviation pioneer Maj. Henry Souther (1865-1917). A surplus sale brought a young and unknown Charles Lindbergh to Americus, where he bought his first plane, a Curtis JN4 “Jenny” for $500. Not yet a pilot when he came to Americus in May 1923, Lindbergh had performed wing-walking stunts and parachuting in an aerial circus. In the three weeks he spent here, he learned to fly and made his first solo flight; a lone African-American man was the only witness. Former U. S. Attorney General Griffin B. Bell led the effort to erect this monument to Georgia’s most important moment in aviation history. Nationally respected sculptor and UGA professor William J. Thompson was commissioned to create the monument.
The Spirit of the American Doughboy sculpture was designed by Ernest Moore “Dick” Viquesney [who was living in Americus at the time] in 1921; the impetus for the monument was the death of about 25 Berrien County men during the collision of the Otranto with the Kashmir off the Isle of Islay in 1918. This was the first of hundreds of such memorials manufactured, but wasn’t placed until 1923 when required funds were raised.
Albany’s favorite son, Ray Charles (Robinson) was born here in 1930 and went on to become one of the most famous musicians of all time. Though he had numerous hits and a storied career, his rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s Georgia on My Mind remains, arguably, the most recognized and beloved of all state songs, and the only one to top the Billboard charts. The focal point is the sculpture created by the late Andy Davis. Set in a fountain surrounded by piano key benches, it’s located on the banks of the beautiful Flint River in the heart of downtown Albany. Admission is free so drop by the next time you’re in the area and listen to the river and Ray’s music playing gently in the background. It’s a must see in Southwest Georgia.
Johann Martin Boltzius (1703-1765) served as pastor of the Salzburger Lutheran congregation at New Ebenezer from 1735 until 1765 and was largely responsible for its success. Boltzius was a vocal opponent of slavery.
This statue is located on the grounds of the Georgia Salzburger Society living history museum.
Richmond Albert Bedgood (13 August 1847-4 February 1904) was the founder and namesake of Arabi, Georgia. Bedgood enlisted in July 1864 in Company G of the 7th Georgia Infantry, Wilcox County. A life-size marble monument marks his gravesite in historic Arabi-Antioch Cemetery.
From Historical and Genealogical Collections of Dooly County Georgia Vol. III : Richmond A. Bedgood, an enterprising business man of Arabi, was born Aug 3, 1847 in Washington County, Ga. He was the son of a farmer, Henry Bedgood, from whom he was separated by death in 1856. The boy received a very limited education, enlisting in the seventh Georgia Militia in 1864, when he had scarcely completed his seventeenth year. Since the war closed, Mr. Bedgood has engaged in farming and has a large sawmill and a successful business in Arabi. He is a respected member of the masonic fraternity. The first wife of Mr. Bedgood was Elizabeth Brown, whose father was the well-known Maj. Brown of Cordele. Mr. Bedgood’s second wife was Susan Clements, daughter of J. J. Clements of Dooly County. He is the father of four sons and five daughters, one of his sons, John H., being his father’s partner in business.
