Sunbury - A Georgia Ghost Town!

An original street runs along Church Square in Sunbury

I have a fascination with ghost towns because I love to walk their former streets and wonder what they looked like and what life was like in them.

Perhaps my favorite of all Southern ghost towns is Sunbury, once a booming port town that rivaled Savannah in commerce. Today, all that remains are a few old roads, the earthworks at Fort Morris State Historic Site and a cemetery.

Founded in 1758 as part of the Congregationalist movement from Dorchester, South Carolina, to what is now Liberty County, Georgia, Sunbury grew dramatically in the years before the American Revolution. By 1773, for example, it had over 1,000 residents. The town was visited that year by the famed naturalist William Bartram:

Markers tell the story of the "Dead Town"

There are about one hundred houses in the town neatly built of wood frame having pleasant Piasas [i.e. piazzas] around them. The inhabitants are genteel and wealthy, either Merchants or Planters from the Country who resort here in the Summer and Autumn, to partake of the Salubrious Sea Breeze, Bathing & sporting on the Sea Islands.

The people of Sunbury were fierce supporters of the cause of American Independence and they paid dearly for it. The British occupied their town in both 1778 and 1779, even using it as a place to hold American prisoners of war. Residents fled the British occupation and by the end of the Revolution, Sunbury was but a shell of its former self.

The town continued its decline after the war until eventually it was gone.  Union troops even burned the Baptist church during Sherman's March to the Sea.  Not a building still stands and even the vast majority of the graves in the cemetery are no longer marked. Sunbury is a true ghost town of the Georgia coast.

To learn more, visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sunbury1.

To learn more about Sunbury Cemetery, visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sunbury2

To learn more about Fort Morris, visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortmorris.

Midway Congregational Church - Midway, Georgia

Midway Congregational Church in Georgia

One of the most beautiful landmarks of the Georgia Coast, Midway Congregational Church was founded before the American Revolution and played an important role in that war. The current structure dates from 1792.

It was at Midway Church, often called Midway Meeting House, in 1775 that the residents of what is now Liberty County gathered to elect someone to represent them at the Second Continental Congress. The Congregationalists settled in Midway, Sunbury and the surrounding area had originally come from Dorchester, Massachusetts, and were quick to support their their former neighbors there in the wake of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

The present structure was completed in 1792.

The community was targeted by the British in 1778 and Colonel James Screven, now buried in the Midway Cemetery, was mortally wounded at the Battle of Midway Church. The original church structure was burned by the British following that battle, but was rebuilt in 1792.

The church was occupied by troops again some nine decades later during the final days of Sherman's March to the Sea. The cavalry of Union Gen. Judson Kilpatrick corralled their horses in the cemetery and Kilpatrick made Midway Church his headquarters as Sherman was closing in on Savannah and Fort McAllister.

Please visit our new Midway Congregational Church page to learn more about this historic landmark: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/midway.

Stone Mountain Park - Atlanta, Georgia

Stone Mountain on the outskits of Atlanta has been an object of fascination to me since I first saw it as a kid with my parents.

Once incorrectly billed as the largest granite monolith in the world, the mountain definitely looks like it should hold that title. The sight of the huge granite dome rising above the trees as you approach is unforgettable. There is a reason the old phrase "as solid as Stone Mountain" has such meaning in the South. The mountain has given up its rock for many of the finest courthouses, capitols and monuments in the South.

Stone Mountain has also witnessed a remarkable amount of history. Ancient Native Americans erected unusual stone walls on its crest that are thought by archaeologists to have served ceremonial functions. The walls are gone now, but are interpreted by displays atop the mountain. The mountain was one of the few major Georgia landmarks that Sherman couldn't destroy. One column of the Union general's army camped within site of Stone Mountain during the March to the Sea. With the smoke and flames rising from Atlanta dominating the western horizon, numerous soldiers paused from their work of burning, foraging and generally "making Georgia howl" to admire the beautiful mountain.

It was during the early 20th century that the United Daughters of the Confederacy conceived the idea of permanently honoring three Southern heroes - Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson - with a massive carving on the face of the mountain. The project was begun by the sculptor who went on to create the huge carvings of the presidents on Mount Rushmore and took more than 50 years to complete, but stands today as the largest carving of its type in the world.

To learn more about the history of Stone Mountain and the beautiful park that now surrounds it, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stonemountain.