Tag Archives: Georgia Rivers Creeks & Lakes

Rocky Ford Landing & The Foy Railroad, Ogeechee River

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One of the first things you’ll likely notice at Rocky Ford Landing is this abandoned railroad trestle. Damaged by an Ogeechee River flood in 1902, it represents a tangible link to an era of South Georgia lumber barons who would do anything to distribute their product, even if it meant building their own railroads. A 10-mile “shortline”, it was constructed in the early 1890s by the E. E. Foy Lumber Company to connect his naval stores operations in Portal to the Central of Georgia line at Rocky Ford and was abandoned by 1905. The business was highly profitable but ultimately unsustainable. After extracting turpentine from the rich forests of the region, Foy cut the timber and sold off the property, but not before making a boomtown of Portal, still known today as the Turpentine City. A 1903 Statesboro News article noted: A quarter of a century ago, Bulloch was a great pine forest and majestic pines covered every hill and dale from the Ogeechee to the Canoochee. Enough pine timber was in the county to have built a modern New York…The turpentine men came first and the big and little trees were all boxed until today only a few tracks of virgin timber are standing and it looks like an oasis in a great desert. After the turpentine operations came the sawmill men and the standing timber was slain at an alarming rate, until now timber is a scarce article. The naval stores men are moving away to Alabama and Mississippi and the saw mills will soon have to follow them, yet it had its benefits in the way of opening hundreds of new farms and a great influx of population so that where the stately pines used to grow and sing their weird songs, cotton and corn now grow in wealth in their place.

It’s interesting to make a link to the history of the place while enjoying its natural charms. It’s a great spot to take a swim when the water is low enough and also a good put-in for a leisurely day of canoeing or kayaking.

South Fork of the Broad River, Madison County

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This magnificent river is one of Georgia’s wildest and among the last free-flowing waterways in the state. This shot was made just below the Watson Mill Bridge, where it’s easily accessed. For more about this natural landmark, and to assist in efforts to protect it, please visit the Broad River Watershed Association.

 

Ogeechee River at Kings Ferry

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Sunset on the Ogeechee River, Kings Ferry.

This was shot at sunset, looking west.

Oatland Island, Savannah

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A wide pathway leading up to a brick building with white columns and large windows, surrounded by green hedges and trees, under a blue sky with clouds.

The first owner of Oatland Island, after the Guale people, was John McQueen (1756-1807) and his wife, Anne Smith McQueen (1756-1809). John was fictionalized by Eugenia Price as Don Juan McQueen, in her best-selling 1974 novel of that title. McQueen was a land speculator and well-connected Revolutionary War patriot, who, after the war, fled to Spanish Florida to escape his debtors. Anne McQueen retained Oatland until her death. Their daughter, Eliza Anne McQueen Mackay (1778-1862) and husband Robert Gordon Mackay (1772-1816) maintained crops and enslaved laborers on the island for years thereafter.

The “main building” on Oatland Island (pictured above), was built as a retirement home in 1927 for the Order of Railroad Conductors and served that purpose until 1940. It is quite typical of institutional architecture of its era. It was subsequently purchased by the United States Public Health Service and served as a hospital in World War II, specializing in the treatment of venereal diseases, until the widespread application of penicillin for this purpose rendered a hospital unnecessary. Circa 1944, it was transferred to the Malaria Control in War Areas (MCWA) division of the Public Health Service. The MCWA evolved into the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and until being surplussed in 1973, it was used as a development laboratory by the CDC. Martha Barnes adds this interesting bit of Savannah trivia: “People who read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil will remember the main building as where Luther Driggers worked and actually developed the chemical used in today’s flea collars, but in the book he was always about to poison Savannah’s water supply.“

The Chatham County Board of Education has owned it since then and it now serves over 20,000 students and visitors each year as an educational center for the surrounding Oatland Island Wildlife Center. It served as a set location for The General’s Daughter.

A weathered and rusty water tower against a blue sky, partially obscured by green foliage.

Carol Suttle, a Savannah native and Oatland’s most enthusiastic ambassador, contacted me several months ago about photographing the old water tower at the entrance to the center; it’s scheduled to be demolished and it’s one of her favorite structures on the island. Touring the island and its natural features with Carol and photographer Mike McCall was a real treat, and I hope to revisit in the future. Located just past downtown Savannah on the Islands Expressway (US 80), it’s often overlooked by tourists heading to Tybee Island but is well worth a visit. The site includes historic structures from the distant past as well as structures related to the government research that went on during the mid-1900s.

A rustic log cabin surrounded by lush green trees and grass, featuring a sloped roof and a wooden porch.

David Hamilton Delk, Jr. (1812-1880), built this cabin in 1837 in the Taylor’s Creek community near Gum Branch in Liberty County. It was moved and reconstructed here by the Youth Conservation Corps in 1979. The layout is of the Scots/Irish or “shotgun” design (not to be confused with the more common and more recent shotgun “house”), a vernacular form common in early Georgia.

A rustic log corn crib surrounded by dense green forest, featuring a wooden porch and a simple wooden door.

Martha Phillips Youngblood writes that the corn crib pictured above was originally owned by her grandfather, Thomas Hilton Phillips, and was moved here from Treutlen County.

An abandoned, overgrown shop surrounded by dense vegetation and trees, with peeling blue paint and rusty details.

Several abandoned structures from the CDC era remain on the island.

An old, weathered concrete structure covered in vines and surrounded by dense greenery in a forested area.

This concrete structure indicates the danger of the work that was done here.

An abandoned wooden boat partially surrounded by lush greenery and trees, showing signs of weathering and neglect.

A hand-crafted boat from the 1970s can also be seen on the property.

A close-up of a gopher tortoise sitting on green grass, with grass strands in its mouth.

Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), as well as wolves and bison can be easily seen on the property.

A serene Richardson Creek near Savannah, flowing through lush green grasslands under a partly cloudy sky.

Beautiful Richardson Creek runs adjacent to the island.

Scenic view of a marsh on Oatland Island with lush green grass and trees along the edge of Richardson Creek, under a blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

Site of Davis Mill, Worth County

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Davis Mill was built on Jones Creek in northern Worth County in 1879. The foundation of the gristmill remains today, as does the millpond (now known as Jordan Company Lake).

The mill itself is extant, as well. It was relocated to the Georgia Museum of Agriculture in Tifton.

I came here with Hoyt Dorminey, who shared memories of visiting his uncle and aunt, J. W. & Mattie Lindsey, in the 1950s. They operated the mill, which was then owned by S. O. Spooner. It stopped producing about 1963.

 

Stephen C. Foster Monument, Fargo

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Erected in memory of Stephen Collins Foster at the source of the stream which he made immortal in song: “Suwanee River”

The monument was donated by Charles J. Haden.

Suwannee River at Fargo

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The Suwannee River is one of America’s best-known waterways, thanks to Stephen Foster’s immortal song, Old Folks at Home (Swanee River). The song’s romanticizing of plantation days and “happy darkies” is now rightfully criticized, but somehow it endures.

Heavy rains this winter have forced the river over its banks.

The high waters are evident at the Suwannee River Visitors Center, a state-run facility that’s presently closed.

The river’s source is the nearby Okefenokee Swamp.

Montgomery Lake & The World Record Largemouth Bass, Telfair County

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Montgomery Lake is an oxbow of the Ocmulgee River. A mile or so before you reach the Ocmulgee Water Trail sign for Montgomery Lake & Stave’s Landing, driving north on Georgia Highway 117 from Jacksonville to Lumber City,  there’s a Georgia Historic Marker which gives this beautiful but nondescript place mythical status among sportsmen.

Approximately two miles from this spot, on June 2, 1932, George W. Perry, a 19-year old farm boy, caught what was to become America`s most famous fish. The twenty-two pound four ounce Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoldes) exceeded the existing record by more than two pounds and has retained the world record for more than fifty years. Perry and his friend, J.E. Page, were fishing in Montgomery Lake, a slough off the Ocmulgee River, not for trophies but to bring food to the table during those days of the Great Depression. The fish was caught on a Creek Chub Perch Scale Wigglefish, Perry`s only lure, and was 32 1/2 inches in length and 28 1/2 inches in girth. The weight and measurements were taken, recorded and notarized in Helena, Georgia and Perry’s only reward was seventy-five dollars in merchandise as first prize in Field and Stream Magazine`s fishing contest. The longstanding record is one of the reasons that the largemouth bass was made Georgia`s Official State Fish. Montgomery Lake is today part of the Department of Natural Resources Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area.

A largemouth weighing in at one more ounce (22.5 lbs.) was caught by Manabu Kurita in Japan in 2009, but since it doesn’t weigh at least two more ounces than the existing world record, it’s considered a tie. Also, since the fish is an introduced species and considered a nuisance in Japan, it’s not very viable on that level. Perry’s record is in no danger of being forgotten.

Today was the first time I’d ever laid eyes upon this place and in appearance it was scarcely different from numerous similar places I’ve photographed all over South Georgia in the past seven years. But the history of George Perry and the world record Largemouth Bass gave me pause. It made this place a tangible landmark.

For a third consecutive winter there’s high water on the Ocmulgee. The fishing must be good. Stave’s Landing is publicly accessible at the end of a dirt road about three miles in length. The road is generally safe for travel, though a four-wheel drive is the best way to go.

There are many references to George Perry online, but this is one of the best.

 

Durden’s Mill Pond, Emanuel County

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This sign beckoned me to turn in, but besides turning around and snapping a few shots, I was unable to explore this local landmark as it’s private property.

The structure pictured above and the cabin below are all I saw, but there appear to be others on the surrounding property.

The mill pond is a tranquil landscape and a longtime favorite of fishermen.

Parrish Mill, 1880, Emanuel County

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Now the centerpiece of George L. Smith State Park, the renovated structure seen here was built by James M. Parrish, who along with Alexander Hendricks purchased the surrounding 200 acres from J. J. Moring in 1880 and set about building a dam and grist mill on Fifteen Mile Creek. The structure also served as a covered bridge.

The pond, filled with cypress trees, is one of the most picturesque places in this section of Georgia and attracts fishermen, kayakers and nature lovers from all over. It’s a bit off the beaten path, but well worth a visit. One of the most knowledgeable guides to the park is Wesley Hendley, who loves being on the water and has a real passion for the history of the area. Unfortunately, his guide business, Mill Pond Kayak, is not operational at the present time.

A relatively short walking trail follows the pond and affords views like these from one of several docks and overlooks. Take advantage of a peaceful hour or two and stop by when you’re in the area.