Georgia Natural Wonder #225 - Florence Marina State Park - Stewart Co. (Part 1). 533

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Georgia Natural Wonder #225 - Florence Marina State Park - Stewart County (Part 1)

Florence Marina State Park is a 173-acre Georgia state park located near Omaha on the eastern shore of Walter F. George Lake.



The park is known for its deep-water marina and its water recreation sports, such as fishing and water skiing.



The park also attracts bird-watchers with the chance of seeing herons, egrets and, possibly, bald eagles.



The park is home to the Kirbo Interpretive Center, which teaches visitors about Native Americans and displays snakes, turtles, fish, and other artifacts from prehistoric times to the early 20th century.



Located just 10 miles southeast of the park is Providence Canyon State Outdoor Recreation Area (GNW #5).



History

The park is on the site of the frontier town of Florence, which was originally named Liverpool, after the English port city.



Florence was a prosperous town with a covered bridge linking it to Alabama, a newspaper, bank and hotel.



The town went into decline after a flood washed away the bridge in 1846 and the town was bypassed by the railroad. Florence was officially incorporated as a town from 1837 until 1995.



Georgia State Parks.Org

"Florence Marina State Park, once home to Native Americans and the old town of Florence, transports you to its agricultural and commercial past, and immerses you in nature by walking forested trails, visiting the Kirbo Interpretive Center, or fishing from the natural deep water marina where the powerful Chattahoochee River meets Lake Walter F. George."

Sitting at the northern end of 45,000 acre Lake Walter F. George (also called Lake Eufaula) this quiet park offers the perfect getaway for those who love water sports.



It is adjacent to a natural deep-water marina with an accessible fishing pier, boat slips and boat ramp.



Overnight guests can choose from a variety of accommodations, including fully equipped cottages.



There are small efficiency units and a modern campground.



Florence Marina is popular with nature enthusiasts as well. Birders are likely to see herons, egrets and even bald eagles. The Kirbo Interpretive Center showcases area wildlife and plants, local history and Native Americans, including artifacts from the prehistoric Paleo-Indian period through the early 20th century. Eight miles southeast is Providence Canyon State Park, known as Georgia’s Little Grand Canyon.

Boating

Florence Marina offers Jon Boat rentals before 1pm, unless there is inclement weather.



Must be 18 years old to rent. Call the park office for more rules. $35 for 4 hours and $60 for 8 hours.

Birding

Guests can enjoy walking along the basin to look for birds.



The main attraction is our boat tours (available in warmer seasons), please call the visitor center for more information.

Fishing

Bring your own fishing gear. Fishing pier and boat ramp are located near the park entrance. No fishing in the basin.



Bait shop in the visitor center (worms, minnows and crickets from spring to fall). Gas is available for sale.

Picnicking

Multiple picnic benches are available around the park.



Covered shelter for rent ($30/day, reserved ahead of time)

Walking

Florence Marina has one short nature trail located near the campground.



It is a one mile loop dirt trail that is often very muddy.



Along this trail, you can see wildlife.

Getting There:

GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude):
32.09083, -85.04306
32°5'27"N, 85°2'35"W

From Albany take HWY 520 north to Richland. Then follow GA 27 thru Lumpkin, thru 4 way stop, to intersection of GA 27 & US 27 (4 Lane). Turn right (north) on us 27 then left (west) at next intersection (GA 39C). Go 16 miles to stop sign. Florence entrance is straight across.

From Columbus take US27 south to Cusseta turn right US27 go 16 miles turn right on HWY 39 for approximately 13 miles. HWY 39 will turn left. Florence Marina is 3 miles down on the right.

Contact Information:



Mailing Address:

Florence Marina State Park
218 FLORENCE ROAD
OMAHA  GA  31821

Phone Number:

Information:  (229)838-4244

Trip Advisor Reviews

Providence Canyon is nearby and is the main reason we stayed at this park. We had lunch at nearby Omaha Brewery which has food trucks on Saturdays. 



At 3:00 pm on a hot Thursday afternoon the only other customers that were there were other campers from Florence Marina State Park, but the place gets hopping pretty well on the weekend.



That evening we cooked our meals in the grill and ended up the night by roasting marshmallows and star gazing.



Don’t hesitate to bring your dog here as the whole area is very dog friendly.


Except the water for dogs.

If you are looking for a place to stay to visit Providence Canyon and want to make a weekend out of it, consider a stay here.



Nice small camp in the woods along a reservoir. $5 day fee extra for "parking" in the state park.



Need to book way ahead for weekends/summer as this is a popular place for families and fishermen.



Very nice park overshadowed by its incredible neighbor - don’t miss it!



This state park is awesome. Full hook ups in almost all camping spots. Very nice bathroom facilities. Huge park area and clubhouse. There is only about 45 campsites in the whole park.



Putt Putt Golf and deer.



They do rent cabins and efficiencies. They have a very nice camp store that sells firewood and ice among other things including bait if you are a fisherman.



This is a very nice, quiet, small campground. It was perfect for our group. If there is a downside, it is the fact that it is in the middle of nowhere. You are 25 to 30 minutes to get to a Dollar General or gas station. Walmart or grocery store 5 to 10 more minutes.



This is a perfect quiet place to camp and is a fisherman's paradise. It is also good if you want to base camp while you explore nearby Providence Canyon. The nearby roads are great for motorcycles, being picturesque with little traffic.

Viewpoint Trail - All Trails

Enjoy this 0.7-mile out-and-back trail near Omaha, Georgia. Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 12 min to complete. This trail is great for hiking and walking. Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.


Providence Canyon nearby.

While this trail may be short, there are a lot of wildlife, unique plant species, and viewpoints along the way. The trailhead is located off of Campground Road, right past the "Comfort Station" and before you reach the marina. The trail travels through a wooded forest, which ends at a viewpoint of the Chattahoochee River.



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Stewart County

Stewart County is a county located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia.



As of the 2010 census, the population was 6,058. The county seat is Lumpkin. The county was created on December 23, 1830.


1955 Stewart County - 1999 Stewart County.

History

The area was inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years in the Pre-Columbian period. Roods Landing Site on the Chattahoochee River is a significant archaeological site located south of Omaha.



Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it includes major earthwork mounds built about 1100-1350 CE by peoples of the sophisticated Mississippian culture.



Another Mississippian site is the Singer Moye Mounds, located in the southern part of the county. Native Americans occupied what we call Stewart County continuously for at least 120 centuries. These Indians used the river to carry trade between the Southeastern Piedmont and the Gulf Coast.



The first Europeans to encounter the Native Americans were Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century. At that time the historical Creek tribe inhabited the southern two thirds of what is now defined as Georgia, west of the Low Country. they are believed to be the descendants of the Mississippian culture.



They maintained their territory until after European American settlers arrived in increasing number in the early decades of the 19th century. British visits began in the 18th century, and the Indian trails here were the first “roads” they used. About a century later, American troops marched through eastern Stewart County (crossing modern-day Georgia 27 about half-way between Lumpkin and Richland). This so-called “Seminole War Path” was a former Indian trail on which troops under US General Andrew Jackson marched in 1817 towards Spanish-held north Florida. There, they engaged the Seminoles in the First Seminole War.  The ensuing conflicts ultimately resulted in most of the Creek people's being driven out of the region. In the 1830s under Indian removal, the US federal government forced most Creek to relocate west of the Mississippi River, to Indian Territory in what became present-day Oklahoma.



The Creek War of 1836 - Stewart County Georgia

The Creek Nation had been greatly reduced in size by the Treaty of Fort Jackson, signed at the end of the Creek War of 1813-1814. More land was lost due to the controversial Treaty of 1826. Then, much to the chagrin of many in the Nation, some leaders signed a final treaty giving up the territorial integrity of their people.


Treaty of Fort Jackson land concessions.

Outrageous frauds followed, as white speculators swarmed into the nation buying up or fraudulently stealing land rights from individual Creek families. Squatters moved onto Indian lands, often forcing families from their own homes. The Creeks appealed to Washington for help and President Andrew Jackson sent Francis Scott Key, the writer of the National Anthem to investigate. Key found whole towns growing on Indian lands and documented numerous cases of fraud.


Key, known better for something else, and Austill, the hero of the "Canoe Fight" upon the Alabama River in 1813.

The situation, however, was out of control and despite the efforts of Key and Deputy U.S. Marshal Jeremiah Austill, the flood of whites pouring into the Creek Nation could not be stopped. Tensions grew and as Creek leaders expressed their outrage over the situation, speculators began to foment tales of a planned uprising in the Nation.



They got what they wanted. In the spring of 1836, the Yuchi, Hitchiti and other bands launched a campaign to drive white intruders from their  lands. Led by the Yuchi warrior Jim Henry and the aging Hitchiti chief Neamathla, the war parties burned homes and farms, killed whole families, disrupted the mail stages and destroyed the town of Roanoke, Georgia by burning it to the ground.


Neamathla

Panic spread throughout the region. Settlers fled into Columbus, Georgia, and rumors of a planned attack on the city kept the people in terror. U.S. Armies soon converged on the Creek Nation, led by Major General Winfield Scott.



When, in the spring of 1836, Creek Indians attempted to reoccupy the county, many whites fled to the Lumpkin Courthouse also the blockhouse for safety. The battles between May and July ultimately resulted in the infamous Creek Indian Removal. Feeling less threatened, residents tore down the blockhouse and erected a two-story wood-frame courthouse in 1837.



Stewart County was a major exit point during the Creek removal in Georgia. Some of the final battles against the Creek nation were fought in Stewart County.



Battle of Roanoke.

Creek Vengeance Exacted on the Chattahoochee

An attack by Yuchi warriors on the Georgia town of Roanoke assured that a simmering conflict between part of the Creek Nation and the United States would explode into the final war between the two nations. The Battle of Roanoke, also called the Roanoke Massacre, took place on May 14, 1836. The Yuchi and Hitchiti bands of Lower Creeks had already initiated hostilities against the whites, but it was Roanoke that ignited the full fury of the Creek War of 1836. The site of Roanoke is now submerged beneath the waters of Lake Eufaula (Walter F. George Lake), but a marker can be seen on Highway 39 a little over 2 miles south of the Florence Marina State Park in Omaha, Georgia.


Marker actually missing now.

The warriors of the Creek nation who lived just across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama had a particular hatred for the town. They had lost their traditional Georgia lands in the fraudulent Treaty of Indian Springs, lands that included the site where the town of Roanoke soon grew. White settlers flooded into the new cession to claim the best lands and it did not take long for houses and stores to spring up on riverfront fields that had once belonged to the Indians. From just across the river, angry warriors watched as lands taken from them became a new town. Due to its visibility, Roanoke was a pivotal point for the resentment felt by many Creek warriors over the loss of their lands. When hostilities erupted in the spring of 1836, the town was quickly selected as a target for a major attack.



Warriors from the Yuchi and Hitchiti towns west of the Chattahoochee River crossed over into Georgia and scouted Roanoke in early May. Their presence was detected and so alarmed the community that the women and children of the town were evacuated to nearby Lumpkin. A blockhouse had been erected there and militia troops assigned to defend it. The anticipated attack, however, did not come. After days of standing guard around the clock, the men of Roanoke began to develop a false sense of security. By May 14, 1836, many had gone to Lumpkin to visit their families, leaving only 20 men to defend the all but abandoned town.



Recognizing the opportunity, a Yuchi warrior named Jim Henry led a large force of Creek warriors across the river and into position surrounding the town. As most of the remaining defenders of Roanoke slumbered, the Indian force attacked from three different directions at 2 a.m. The defenders of Roanoke were awakened by the sounds of gunfire and war cries. They tried to put up a fight, but were so severely outnumbered that there was little they could do. While the exact number of warriors attacking the town was never determined with precision, white survivors believed that more than 300 Indians had participated.



The handful of whites and slaves defending Roanoke fought from their homes and other buildings, holding out as long as possible. The Creeks set fires to drive them out and several men died in the flames. At least one man was roasted alive in a chimney after he sought refuge there to escape the flames. The bodies of other men and boys littered the landscape. Some were burned almost beyond recognition, while others were scalped and left lying on the ground.


Even worse in color.

Realizing that further resistance was futile, a few of the defenders took advantage of the darkness and confusion to escape. Colonel Felix Gibson and two other men survived by creek on the outskirts of town. Their noses were the only parts of their bodies exposed above the water and they escaped detection. With the resistance snuffed out, the Creek warriors torched the town. Of the 20 men left at Roanoke to defend the town, only six survived. The massacre at Roanoke, as it was termed by white settlers of the region, exploded into newspaper headlines across the South. Panic spread across the frontier and terrified settlers flooded into such locations as Fort Gaines, Lumpkin and Columbus.



Fields and homes were abandoned and the work of destruction initiated by Jim Henry at Roanoke was carried to other settlements and farms in the vicinity. It took an invasion of the Creek Nation by two American armies to finally bring the uprising to an end. The Creek people were forced into "emigration camps" and sent west on the Trail of Tears. Jim Henry and several other leaders of the Roanoke attack were taken prisoner late in the war. Placed on trial before a civilian jury in Columbus, he was acquitted but three brothers from the influential Brown family of Yuchis were convicted and hanged at what is now Phenix City, Alabama.



Jim Henry eventually joined his people in what is now Oklahoma. He changed his name to James McHenry, fought for the Confederacy during the War Between the States and became a Methodist minister.


James McHenry.

Battle of Shepard's Plantation

A weathered monument on Highway 39 just north of Florence Marina State park is a quiet reminder of one of the bloodiest battles of the Creek War of 1836.



The Battle of Shepherd's Plantation was fought on June 9, 1836, between a force of Georgia militia and an attacking party of Creek warriors. The battle was a pivotal fight in the a war of resistance launched by Yuchi, Hitchiti and other warriors trying to prevent the forced removal of their people from their traditional lands.



The war began with a series of attacks on white settlements in the spring of 1836 and accelerated as warriors skirmished with militia soldiers at several points. On June 9th, however, the Creeks launched their boldest attack of the war at Shepherd's Plantation.



An active farm before the war, the plantation became an important military encampment as Georgia militia troops moved south from Columbus in anticipation of an offensive against the Creeks. The soldiers had already built Fort McCreary a few miles to the north and Fort Jones a couple of miles south, but in early June a militia force moved to occupy Shepherd's Plantation itself. The slave cabins and outbuildings were used to house the troops.



Although there were reports of Indian activity in the area, the soldiers did not know they were being closely watched by a growing force of Creek warriors. Supposedly led by the Yuchi warrior Jim Henry, the Creek force gathered in a nearby swamp and waited for an ideal opportunity to attack. That moment came when, in part subject to orders and in part on his own initiative, Capt. Hamilton Garmany divided his force several times over. Some were sent to Fort McCreary, others to scout and still others to wash their clothing. When the main force was thus dangerously weakened, the Creeks struck.



Firing off weapons to create the impression that a battle had opened, the warriors drew Garmany and his men from their camp. The soldiers quickly found themselves in serious trouble as the an estimated 250 Creeks attacked them in both front and flank.



Overwhelmed, Garmany's men began a fighting retreat. The Creeks rushed forward after them, inflicting heavy casualties on the retreating Georgians. The militia force might have been overwhelmed had not reinforcements arrived at the critical moment from Fort Jones.


Four Stewart County men killed, including Jared Irwin, nephew of Georgia Governor of same name.

Even so, the troops reported 22 casualties, most of them killed.



The Battle of Shepherd's Plantation was the most aggressive Creek attack of the war. The tide of the conflict would soon turn against them. The battlefield is privately owned, but the monument can be visited from the shoulder of Highway 39 north of Florence Marina State Park in Omaha, Georgia.


On the same highway, but south of the park are markers for Fort Jones and Roanoke.



Stewart County was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 23, 1830, from land that had been part of Randolph County, Georgia. The county is named for Daniel Stewart, a Revolutionary War veteran, and fighter against American Indians.



He was one of the four great-grandfathers of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt.


Federal Monument Midway Cemetery.

Settlers developed the area as large cotton plantations, part of the "Black Belt" of Georgia and the Deep South.



Before the American Civil War, planters depended on enslaved labor of thousands of African Americans to cultivate and process the cotton for market. Mostly born in the United States, the slaves were transported from the Upper South, with many families broken up when some members were purchased through sales in the domestic slave trade.



In 1850, the county reached its peak in wealth as one of the largest cotton producers in the state. It had the tenth-largest population of any county in the state, with 16,027 people. African-American slaves numbered 7,373, or 46% of the population. By 1860, the county population was 13,422. The apparent drop was due to the counties of Kinchafoonee (later Webster County) and Quitman being created from Stewart County territory in 1853 and 1858, respectively. There were 5,534 slaves in the redefined Stewart County, constituting more than one-third of the population.



After the war and emancipation, cotton continued as the major commodity crop and additional territory was developed by planters for cultivation. Many freedmen became sharecroppers and tenant farmers in the area, which was agricultural for decades, but in decline. Stewart County lost its premier position when it was bypassed by developing railroads, which went to the north and south. It did not have railroad access until 1885.


Richland Depot is now City Hall.

Inappropriate farming practices and over-cultivation of cotton from before the Civil War led to extensive land erosion by the early 20th century. Together with mechanization of agriculture and damage due to infestation by the boll weevil, there were losses in this part of the economy. Population declined. Up to the mid century, many blacks left the area in two waves of the Great Migration, seeking escape from Jim Crow conditions, and jobs and better lives in northern and midwestern industrial cities.



Farmers shifted to cultivating peanuts and later pine trees to reclaim and restore the land. Population losses continued throughout the 20th century, as the forest and lumber industry did not require as many laborers.



In 1965, some of the towns in the county began to redevelop their historic properties to attract tourists and expand the economy. Lumpkin, Omaha and Louvale all had relatively intact historic properties and commercial districts. Green Grove is an historic African-American community established by freedmen after the Civil War. Stewart was the first rural county in the state to use historic preservation and Main Street redevelopment to support heritage tourism.


The Bedingfield Inn in Lumpkin, built in 1836 and restored in 1965, is considered to be the first small-town community preservation project in Georgia. It was restored as part of an effort by county leaders to establish a tourist industry in the area.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Stewart County, Georgia

Armstrong House

The Armstrong House is a single-story Greek Revival-style historic house built around 1840 and located on Broad St. in Lumpkin, Georgia, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.


Fixer Upper.

It is a one-story Greek Revival house. It was deemed notable as one of the earliest surviving houses in Lumpkin, as "a good example of the more modest interpretation of prevailing architectural styles in the early 19th century ... occupied by less affluent or less ostentatious members of Lumpkin's 19th century merchant class."

Bedingfield Inn

Bedingfield Inn, a rural version of the Classical Revival style was built c. 1836 by the prosperous Stewart County physician Bryan N. Bedingfield, and has been used through the years for residential and commercial purposes.


Before restoration 1965.

It now serves the community as a place for meetings and as a museum.



Dr. Bedingfield, a man of some wealth and sophistication, known to have occasionally traveled to New York, built the inn as a family residence and stagecoach inn. Located about a day's travel from Columbus on the north and Fort Gaines and Cuthbert on the south, the inn was a convenient stopping place for travelers going east and west between Americus, Georgia, and Eufaula, Alabama.



Bush-Usher House

The Bush-Usher House, or Usher House, on E. Main St. in Lumpkin, Georgia, was built before 1919. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It is a one-story clapboarded bungalow with a square central hall plan, built upon a brick pier foundation. It has a balloon frame and a hipped roof; its eaves have exposed purlins; it has three interior chimneys.



It was home of J. Fred Usher, a local carpenter. It was expanded by a shed addition to the rear around the 1940s, and in 1980 there was a c.1930 tin garage at the back. It was listed as part of a study of historic resources in Lumpkin which led to National Register nomination of 15 historic districts and individual buildings.

Dr. Miller's Office

Significant as the office of a Dr. Miller, a leading physician, in the late 1800's. It is today more closely associated by local citizens as the telephone exchange. It served in that capacity from 1909 to 1958.



Architecture: Significant in that it  is a fine example of Greek Revival, cottage architecture, this house has simple, yet dignified proportioning.

East Main Street Residential Historic District (Lumpkin, Georgia)

The East Main Street Residential Historic District in Lumpkin, Georgia is a 3 acres historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The listing included five contributing buildings.



The district includes buildings on East Main Street near Elm Street. It includes a Plantation Plain-style cottage, two Victorian cottages, and a Queen Anne-style house.



The East Main Street Residential Historic District is significant to the local history of Lumpkin as it shows typical types of housing found along a main road, the road to Americus. In this case primarily middle income housing, these homes being representative of homes built close to town so merchants could be close to their businesses. The Queen Anne home, originally owned by Mr. Herring, the local railroad magnate, suggests the importance and financial success of the railroad in Lumpkin's history.

Green Grove Church, School, and Cemetery

Excellent example of a church and school complex in a rural black community which has had very few alterations.



And it is still used as a church for its original congregation which was established in 1886.



It retains much of its original fabric, including the corner bell tower, interior space, and baptismal area.





The school retains its one room appearance with almost all of its original finishes, doors, walls, floors, and furnishings.



And the Cemetery too.



Dr. R. L. Grier House

Significant to Lumpkin as an example of late Victorian Eclectic Architecture, this house is rare in Lumpkin because of its asymmetrical plan and central pavilion.



The original owner of  this house, Dr. R.L. Grier, came to Lumpkin to practice medicine in the late 1880"s. He had previously practiced in Randolph County in the Pumpkin Creek community. His wife was noted for her beauty and amateur performances of operettas at the Lumpkin Opera House. Dr. Grier was a member of the Lumpkin Brass Band.

George Y. Harrell House

This house is significant as  the home of George Yarbrough Harrell, one of Lumpkin's leading lawyers, who represented the district in the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives at intervals from 1900-1951. He took on his first legal case at the age of 16 and worked until his death in 1952, some 59 years.



Architecture: This house is architecturally significant as it blends local tastes in architecture. It is a good local example of early 20th century Classical Revival architecture as it was interpreted by local builders and designers working in an area which had a strong Greek Revival tradition.

Jared Irwin House

Considered the oldest house in Lumpkin. This house is architecturally significant because it is the only known log structure remaining in town. It also shows the evolution of style in that it today represents a bungalow house of a much later date than the original building construction.



The original owner was Jared Irwin, one of the earliest settlers of  Stewart County. He was born in Washington County in 1799. He was the nephew of a man also named Jared Irwin (1751 - 1818) Governor of Georgia from 1796 to 1798 and 1806-1809. The nephew Jared was one of the original county commissioners, and was Trustee of the Poor School Fund. He was killed in June 1836 at the Battle of Shepard's Plantation, while the Lower Creek Indians were trying to reclaim the newly formed Stewart County. His widow lived in the house until her death in 1887.

Louvale Church Row Historic District

The Louvale Church Row, in the small, unincorporated rural settlement of Louvale, consists of a rectangular piece of land on which rests three frame historic churches, a historic two-room frame school, and a small cemetery.



1 - Antioch Primitive Baptist Church
2 - Antioch Institute
3 - Louvale United Methodist Church
4 - New Hope Baptist Church



Significant in architecture because it includes an unusual grouping of three different examples of typical architectural styles and construction techniques used in rural Southern churches at the turn of the century.



The name was changed to Louvale in 1887 at the time it was moved to its present location near the home of Dr. William H. Tatum who was postmaster at the time. The name was in honor of Dr. Tatum's wife, Lucy (Lou) Ann Bussey Tatum.



Lumpkin Commercial Historic District

The Lumpkin Commercial Historic District in Lumpkin, Georgia is a 10 acres historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.



The listing included 18 contributing buildings.



The district includes Lumpkin's courthouse square, with its monument to Confederate dead, and the two-story brick Classical Revival Stewart County Courthouse (separately listed on the National Register in 1980).



It also includes commercial buildings on the streets which define the square: Main, Broad, Cotton, and Mulberry Streets, in the eight blocks surrounding the square. It includes the Bedingfield Inn (separately listed on the National Register in 1973)



Significant because of its series of Victorian commercial storefronts on the north and south sides of the square. Primarily one story in height, with some two story buildings, these brick buildings have front facades of cast iron columns and plate glass showcases. This grouping of commercial buildings is  completely intact and almost totally unchanged.

Mathis House

The Mathis House, on E. Main St. in Lumpkin, Georgia, was built around 1840–45. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
It is a two-story Plantation Plain house, with Greek Revival details. Its "ornate entrance on the first floor with flush tongue and groove siding, and multi-paned trabeated doorway, along with the second floor entrance with fluted pilasters, are among the most decorative found in Lumpkin." It was one of four identical houses built within a 4 miles radius; this is the only one surviving.



By 1899, it was home of school teacher Miss Ernie Stevens and an "Aunt Penny McCullough", of whom locals were supposedly afraid of
Aunt Penny because she would sit on the porch and talk to herself; they felt she was conversing with the dead in a graveyard across the street. .
It was deemed "significant as a manifestation of the large but relatively plain farmhouses located on what were, at the time, the outskirts of Lumpkin." It was listed as part of a study of historic resources in Lumpkin which led to National Register nomination of 15 historic districts and individual buildings.

Dr. Thomas B. Miller House

The Dr.  Thomas B.  Miller House is a one-story, wood-framed, clapboard-sheathed, Victorian era structure with Eastlake and Victorian eclectic details, built around 1891 in the small town of Richland, Georgia.



The house rests on a brick foundation and has a steeply pitched roof and projecting front gable with a bay window and half turret.



The partial porch on the right side of the main facade has decorative spindle work and saw wood trim.



The interior plan consists of a central hall with four rooms on the left, three on the right, and a room with a bath at the rear of the house.



The interior retains several original features including heart-pine flooring, doors, transoms, door surrounds, windows, mantels, wainscoting, baseboards, and hardware.



The property is landscaped with several large pecan trees, small oak trees, and a large magnolia tree.


A small smokehouse, built at the same time as the main house, is located behind the house.



Dr. Miller was known to be a progressive and superior general practitioner who practiced medicine in an office in this house in Richland for 49
years.

Old Chattahoochee County Courthouse

The Old Chatahoochee County Courthouse was built in Cusseta, Georgia, in newly created Chattahoochee County in 1854. After it was no longer used and slated for demolition, it was moved to Westville, in Lumpkin, Georgia, an outside museum depicting life in west Georgia circa 1850. The Lumpkin location of Westville closed in July 2016, and in 2019, the museum was moved to Columbus, Georgia, near the Columbus Public Library.



It is a wood building, 50 by 60 feet in size, with four rooms downstairs. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.



SIGNIFICANCE:  It is one of two remaining wooden courthouses in Georgia. (The other is the Old Marion County Courthouse at Tazewell (1848). Neither are in original use. Both employ similar plans and are typical of Pre-Civil War rural courthouses throughout Georgia. Originally, the Chattahoochee courthouse was in Cusseta, but when faced with demolition, it was dismantled and moved to Westville, a model village of the 1850's. Boards were numbered before dismantling and great care has been taken in the rebuilding. The attic trusses, the 52' ceiling beam, the pegged construction and the patina of old pine remains. If this building had not been moved to Westville, 35 miles from its original site, it would have been destroyed. As it is, students of all ages can visit and study the fine old building.

Pigtail Alley Historic District

Pigtail Alley Historic District in Lumpkin, Georgia is a 22 acres historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.



It runs along both sides of Old Chestnut Road and includes small cottages and large plantation houses. Significant in terms of architecture because it has a fine collection of the varying periods and styles of architecture found in Lumpkin. Plantation Plain, Greek Revival, Victorian, and Classical Revival styles are all represented here.



Pigtail Alley, so called for the way its curves out of town, not following the grid plan, was the road to Cuthbert and Eufaula.

Nathaniel Prothro Plantation

The Nathaniel Prothro Plantation, constructed in the mid-19th century in rural southwest Georgia, consists of a wood-framed, one-and-a-half story Greek Revival house with outbuildings. It  is located on Old Americus Road, approximately one and a half miles east of Richland, Stewart County, Georgia.The main house is situated on sloping ground in a setting of trees adjacent to a pecan orchard. The principal facade porch consists of a pedimented gable roof with simple cornice supported by four square columns, a balustrade with diamond-shaped lattice, and central steps.



The property is important for its early use as a cotton plantation and working farm. It was the largest plantation in eastern Stewart County in 1860.



The Prothro plantation is a good example of one of few intact Greek Revival houses with outbuildings built in the mid-19th century in south- west
Georgia.



The property is important in terms of local history for its association with the Nathaniel Prothro family who came to Stewart County, Georgia from South Carolina around 1830.



Nathaniel Prothro (1811-1866), born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, was married to Emmeline Candy (1816-1879) of Charleston, South Carolina.



They had ten children, and their fourth child, Evan James Prothro (1843-1909), who served in the 10th Georgia Regiment of the Confederate Army, inherited the plantation from his parents in 1866.



Evan Prothro was active in financial and civic affairs in Richland and Stewart County and assisted in the development of the railroad in Richland.
He was one of the organizing directors of the Bank of Richland in 1890. In 1900 he  contributed land for the Harmony Baptist Church and adjoining cemetery.

Richland Historic District (Richland, Georgia)

The Richland Historic District is a historic district in Richland, Georgia that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1986.


Richland Depot - City Hall (c.1890)

It includes the historic commercial center of Richland and residential areas around it.



Architectural styles of houses, commercial buildings, and institutional buildings in the district include Greek Revival, Victorian Eclectic, Neoclassical, and Craftsman/Bungalow.



Richland's intact historic residential and commercial resources include, three historic churches, two cemeteries, a railroad depot, an old city hall and waterworks along with a school.



The district includes the Smith-Alston House, which is separately listed on the NRHP.



In 1885 the Americus, Preston, and Lumpkin Railroad was completed through Richland, and in 1890 the Columbus Southern Railroad completed its track to connect with the existing east- west line.



Richland became a junction town, and its growth for the next decades reflected that fact.



A number of merchants and salesmen, three physicians, a dentist, a bank president, a sawmill owner, a fruit grower, two ministers, two carpenters, and a railroad laborer are among the citizens known to have been living in the district in 1900.

Stoddard Rockwell House

This house incorporates the saltbox type roof line into its Greek Revival plan. Highly Grafted front door (one of the finest in town) has sidelights and transom decorated with bentwood formed in an elliptical pattern in the sidelights and transom.



Stoddard Rockwell was a grocer in Lumpkin. He served on the Board of Commissioners of the Poor School Fund, and opened his home to female boarders of the Masonic Female Academy.

Roods Landing site

The Roods Landing site or Roods Creek Mounds (9SW1) is an archaeological site located south of Omaha, Stewart County, Georgia, United States at the confluence of Rood Creek and the Chattahoochee River.



It is a Middle Woodland / Mississippian period Pre-Columbian complex of earthen mounds. It was entered on the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1975.

Site description

The location is a large multi-mound site with eight platform mounds. The largest mound at the site is Mound A, at 25 ft in height, with a base, and summit measuring 145 ft by 125 ft.



This summit had 3 wattle and daub structures and was covered with a surface of yellow clay with a raised 2.0 to 3.0 ft lip forming a parapet around the edge of the summit. Structure 1 was located at the center of the summit and the other structures were arranged around it to either side.



The mound had two ramps leading from the summit (with openings in the clay parapet structure) to the ground level, each measuring 50 ft in length, 15 ft in width where they join the summit, and 25 ft where they meet ground level. One faced northwest on a plaza opposite Mound E, the other lead to the southwest.

Excavations

Clarence Bloomfield Moore attempted to excavate the site. It reminded him of Moundville which it somewhat resembles. However, he was denied permission. The site was excavated in 1955 by Joseph Caldwell but has not been excavated since.



It is considered a major site with multiple mounds and is accessible only through scheduled tours.

Second Methodist Church

This church is significant as the mid 19th century home of the white 2nd Methodist Church congregation and, after being moved, as the early 20th century home of  the black Baptist Congregation. In the latter capacity it has served as a center of religious and social life in Lumpkin's black community for more than half a century.



Architecture: This church is significant as the only remaining 19th century church building in Lumpkin. Its two distinct architectural styles, its original Greek Revival configuration, with later Victorian additions and embellishments, chronicle the history of the church and the history of architecture in Lumpkin.

Singer-Moye Archeological Site

Dating to the Mississippian Period (A.D. 800-1600), the Singer-Moye site, located in south central Stewart County, is home to eight earthen mounds ranging from three to forty-six feet in height. The well-preserved site, which occupies approximately thirty-five acres of mixed pine and hardwood forest, is named for the families who donated this land in 1968 to the Columbus Museum in Columbus.



In 2008 the Georgia Museum of Natural History, at the University of Georgia in Athens, assumed ownership of the property.



The Singer-Moye site doubtless served a significant sociopolitical role in the prehistory of the Chattahoochee River basin and perhaps of the surrounding areas. The fact that the site was occupied, whether continuously or at different times, for a span of more than 300 years attests to its prominence.



Singer-Moye’s numerous and complex arrangement of mounds, several of which are large and show evidence of later additions, further support the notion that this site was a special place in the local Mississippian settlement system.



Exactly what functions and services this site and its inhabitants provided to the peoples of the lower Chattahoochee basin are unknown, but it likely was a place for social governance and periodic meetings and rituals, as well as the year-round home of a sizeable community.



Professional archaeologists first visited the site in the late 1950s, when Joseph Mahan of the Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts (which became known later as the Columbus Museum) and Harold A. Huscher of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., collected a small number of surface artifacts.



From that time until 2007, teams from the University of Georgia and the Columbus Museum intermittently conducted a variety of tests and excavations in Mounds A, C, D, E, and H.



Also discovered were extensive cultural remains and middens, or trash heaps, that indicate the presence of a sizeable village associated with the mounds. As of 2008 Mounds B, F, and G had not been excavated.


Mound B 1970.

Mound A, the largest mound, is believed by some archaeologists to have been the home of a powerful chief. Excavations of this mound revealed the remains of a 39-by-39-foot structure on the summit, with copper fragments, mica sheets, stone discoidals (rounded stones used for games), numerous smoking pipes, and a fragment from a painted bottle featuring a human head effigy. Researchers also found evidence that this structure was burned and later covered by a clay cap.



Excavations on Mound C revealed five mound stages, and archaeologists recovered a small sample of ceramics with a high proportion of decorated bottles and beakers, which were used as fine serving wares. Mound D appears to have been built into the existing hillside, where a natural terrace was shaped into a rectangular platform. Six large fire pits were uncovered on the summit of Mound D, along with pottery and pipe fragments, sandstone discoidals, daub, and red ochre.



The majority of Mound E has been excavated, revealing the remains of a wattle-and-daub earth lodge with a red clay floor and white clay daub walls. The excavation of Mound H exposed portions of several structures, a section of palisade wall, pottery (including decorated bottles), mica sheet fragments, and other artifacts. These finds reveal the most complex set of features uncovered at the site as of 2008.



Ceramic collections and radiocarbon dates from the excavations firmly place Singer-Moye within the Mississippian Period of the greater Southeast. These artifacts and dates, however, provide only a fragmented history of mound use, given that several of the mounds and early mound stages have yet to be tested. So far, Mound C has yielded the earliest dates of A.D. 1100-1200, a period known as the Rood I phase, named after the nearby Rood’s Landing site. Mounds E and H were used during the Rood III phase, A.D. 1300-1400. The final use of Mounds A and D dates to the Singer phase, A.D. 1400-1450.



The excavation of the Singer-Moye Mounds in Stewart County has revealed the buried foundations of Indian buildings that were destroyed and abandoned more than 600 years ago. Thousands of ceramics fragments and animal bones have also been recovered.

Smith-Alston House

The Smith-Alston House, built in 1857, is a Greek Revival cottage.



It was the home of Dr. Jubilee Smith (1822-1901) and his wife, the former Mary Ann Audolf. Dr. Smith operated the first drugstore in Richland in 1849 and was a company commander during the Civil War. He chartered the Smith Masonic Lodge No. 223 at Red Hill in 1858 and was an Arch Mason in Lumpkin in 1867.



Nathaniel C.  Alston, born 1820, purchased the house in 1870, and it remained in his family until the mid-1950s. He was also a doctor, having graduated from Jefferson College in Philadelphia. He moved to Richland and was soon involved in local affairs, serving not only as a doctor and druggist, but as an official of the first bank, the Bank of Richland, organized in 1890. He was postmaster of Richland for ten years and served three terms as a state senator.



The house's agricultural significance stems from Dr. Alston's son, N.C. Alston, Jr. (1855-1933), who was also a doctor in Richland. The latter was responsible for the introduction of the pecan industry into Stewart County and he worked to improve productivity of the tree. He did his own grafting and budding and was known as the "Pecan King of Southwest Georgia." A two-acre section of his pecan grove is part of the nominated property. It was originally planted with peach trees in between the pecan trees to provide a double crop. 

Stewart County Courthouse

The Stewart County Courthouse, in Lumpkin, Georgia is a historic courthouse built in 1923 for Stewart County, Georgia.



It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.



It was built to replace the 1895 courthouse which later burned in 1922.



It is a two-story brick Classical Revival-style courthouse. Its front and rear facades have identical projecting pedimented porticoes with four Tuscan columns.



The building's original cupola and clock tower have been lost.



It is at the center of the Lumpkin Commercial Historic District.

John A. Tucker House

One of  the earlier homes still standing in Lumpkin, this house is architecturally significant as a good example of  the plantation plain style in Lumpkin. It  shows an interesting and unusual asymmetrical arrangement of front doors and windows.



John A. Tucker, a lawyer and prominent citizen purchased this lot c. 1846 and shortly thereafter had the house built. He was one of  the first lawyers in the area.and one of five Lumpkin attorneys who was admitted to practice before the State Supreme Court upon its organization in 1845. He died in 1859 and his wife lived here until she sold it  in 1882.

Uptown Residential Historic District

The Uptown Residential Historic District, in Lumpkin, Georgia, is a 34 acres historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.



It includes several blocks of wood-framed residences and two churches along Main Street, Broad Street, Cherry Street and Chestnut Street in Lumpkin, with a few properties on Florence Street and Pine Street.



The majority of the houses are one-story, but there are five two-story ones.



Construction in this area ranges from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century and includes Greek Revival, Victorian, Classical Revival, and Bungalow style homes.



All of these houses show a high level of craftsmanship.



The Uptown Residential Historic District is significant to the local history of Lumpkin as being the major historic residential area of the town. This neighborhood housed the majority of  local craftsmen, store keepers, and ministers. Among these were a local carpenter's house, the Methodist parsonage, the tailor and shoemaker's house and several large land owners in-town houses.

Travis Usher House

Local History: Significant as one of  the earliest homes in Lumpkin, it was also the home of George Usher, a miller. The Usher family has long been active in Lumpkin, politically and civically, and remains so today.



Architecture: This house, one of the rare examples the Plantation Plain style in Lumpkin, is significant for its careful proportioning, front facade tongue and groove sheathing, pilasters, and double.sentry way.



It is one of the earliest surviving works of architecture in the multiple resource area.

West Hill

Moye Farms (West Hill) is a plantation located 6 miles south of Lumpkin, Georgia on U. S. Highway 27. The estate, which includes a "main" house and numerous outbuildings, has been owned by the same family for over one hundred years.



Greek Revival in motif, the two-story structure includes a double portico with eight Doric columns and diamond-patterned balustrades.



The interior of the house has been kept in its original form with slight modifications.


Details including hand-planed walls and floors, fluted mouldings and wainscotting have been preserved.


Mantels remain unaltered.


A one-room school house, the house.built in 1853, stands approximately 80 yards southwest. The Cooks Quarters here also.


Three slave quarters remain in the area known as "the Grove" 1/4 mile from the plantation house.

Built by David Harrell in 1836. Mr. Harrell occupied the plantation with his wife and three daughters. He was reputed to be a wealthy slave owner, active in all civic affairs. In 1853 Harrell sold the plantation to William West, ancestor of the current owner. Ownership of the property has  remained in the same family since the original purchase.



William West was also a  wealthy slave owner and an active citizen of Stewart County. The one-room schoolhouse erected by Mr. West for the education of his children was among the first such institutions in Stewart County. Significantly, he employed the best tutors and encouraged his neighbors to patronize this school. William West also built a church for the use of his slaves.



The structures which remain on the Moye property are extraordinarily well-preserved The plantation house stands as a  finely detailed example of antebellum architecture.

Woooo! 200 images again. Lot of history. 27 (NRHP) sites. Did not even get to Historical markers or notable people. Let's break this off here with some Rod Stewart Women for the GNW Gals of the day and (Rod) Stewart County.

The 74-year-old rock star beamed into the camera as he stood with the four of the five mothers of his children in the unusual family snap.



Sir Rod has been married three times and has eight children by five different women. Sir Rod posed with three of his exes - from left Alana Stewart, his current wife, Penny Lancaster, Kelly Emberg, and Rachel Hunter, to celebrate daughter Kimberly's 40th birthday.