This small tidal creek [sometimes cited as the Kilkenny River] gets its name from Kilkenny Plantation, which was built along its banks in the 1840s. It’s located to the west of Ossabaw Island.
Kilkenny Creek, Bryan County
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Tag Archives: Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor in Georgia
Hip-Roof Cottage, Walthourville
The Neoclassical details on the porch and transom and sidelights add architectural interest to this otherwise simple house. It’s located near the historic Johnson Lodge.
Single-Pen Cottage, Freedmen’s Grove
This utilitarian cottage is a landmark of the Freedmen’s Grove community. The original form appears to have been single-pen, or perhaps chattel-style, with later expansions.
Cay Creek, Liberty County
Cay Creek is a tidal waterway in eastern Liberty County, originating near Midway and meeting the coast near Harris Neck. Originally known as Salter’s Creek, it was renamed Cay Creek for Raymond Cay, Sr. (1805-1883), who owned a plantation near the present-day Cay Creek Wetlands Interpretive Center. The relatively short waterway features an amazing variety of ecosystems, including upland forest, open wetland, tidal swamp, brackish marsh, and finally tidal creek.
Winged-Gable Cottage, Liberty County
I made this photo in 2011 and the house has been a landmark in my travels in Liberty County for years. I’m not sure it’s still standing.
Seabrook Village, Liberty County
Seabrook Village is a restored African-American community, depicting life among freedmen and their descendants from 1865-1930, and is one of the most unique living history museums in Georgia. [Unfortunately, hours are inconsistent and it’s not always accessible]. The pending loss of the little one-room schoolhouse pictured above is what drove the community to come together to preserve their historic resources. While it may seem abandoned and in a state of disrepair, it’s actually an authentic look into the challenges most Black Georgians faced on a daily basis from Reconstruction to the Jim Crow Era. The Seabrook community was established through land grants dictated in General William T. Sherman‘s Field Order No. 15 in 1865. This was the policy which became known as “Forty Acres and a Mule” and it afforded many former slaves the opportunity to settle land they had once worked as laborers.
The offices of the Seabrook Village Foundation are located at the adjacent Eddie Bowens Farm house.
Meredith Belford writes of this house: [it] was moved from Trade Hill Road and fully restored at Seabrook Village in 1994. It was the home of Georgia Ann Delegal who was the child of freed slaves. Despite having limited education, her parents became very successful after their emancipation and amassed several hundred acres of land in the Seabrook and Trade Hill communities. They donated land for the original site of the Seabrook School and the present site of the Sunbury Missionary Baptist Church when it was moved from Sunbury to Seabrook in 1917. The house reflects their elevated status within the community.
This house was built by Pompey and Josephine Gould and was originally located near Dorchester Station. It was donated by Lula Gibbons and moved and restored in 1994.
This is a typical “one-seater”, built with scrap materials that were on hand.
According to the Seabrook Village Foundation, this corn crib was restored using original methods and tools. It was originally located at the Sam Ripley Farm.
Bacon-Fraser House, 1839, Hinesville
Hinesville was established in 1837 to replace Riceboro as the seat of Liberty County. Just two years later, on what was then a 23-acre tract, this Federally-influenced Plantation Plain townhouse was built by Mary Jane Hazzard Bacon, the widow of Major John Bacon of Riceboro.
The property was occupied by Union troops under the command of General William T. Sherman in 1864 and several outbuildings were burned. The house was saved by Mrs. Bacon, who displayed her husband’s Masonic apron for protection. Many more generations of the family owned the home until 2017, when it became the headquarters of the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce and the Liberty County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The beautifully landscaped yard is dominated by historic Live Oaks, some of the largest to be found in inland Liberty County.
National Register of Historic Places
Praise House, Circa 1930, Long County
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.
Fortune Teller’s House, Harris Neck
I made these photos in 2009; no one was living here when I was in the neighborhood earlier this summer. As a self-service ice house, and home to a welder, it served an important purpose in this community of fishermen. The owners were obviously on the honor system, but to make sure customers were honest, a decorative skeleton kept an eye on things. The “answers” part of the sign always got my attention. I imagine it had something to do with the telling of fortunes. This is a bigger deal in these parts than many like to admit.
Peter Joseph’s Store, Circa 1900, St. Simons Island
This was the general store and boarding house of Peter Joseph, a leader of the historic Black community of South End on St. Simons Island. Built circa 1900, per the Glynn County Historic Resources Report [2009], it was razed circa 2016. The only Peter Joseph I can locate on St. Simons was born in 1903 and died in 1966; if this is the same Peter Joseph, it would mean the store was built by someone else, perhaps a member of his family. I will attempt to update this if I can find out anything more.
These photographs were made in February 2015.
As the images confirm, the structure had long been abandoned when I photographed it. It was an important resource for a long lost community, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to document it.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 