Sunbury, Georgia

Last updated

Sunbury, Georgia
Ghost town
USA Georgia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Sunbury, Georgia
Location in Georgia
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Sunbury, Georgia
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 31°46′5″N81°16′50″W / 31.76806°N 81.28056°W / 31.76806; -81.28056
Country United States
State Georgia
County Liberty
Elevation
20 ft (6 m)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)

Sunbury is a ghost town in Liberty County, Georgia. Established in 1758, the town was mostly abandoned by the mid-1800s.

Contents

The town is located on the south bank of the Midway River, in an area that was first settled by Europeans in the 1750s. The town was established in 1758 and quickly became an important seaport for the Province of Georgia after becoming a port of entry in the 1760s, rivaling the nearby port city of Savannah. During the American Revolutionary War, the town was defended by American troops stationed at Fort Morris. However, the town and fort were captured by the British in 1779, who burned the town near the war's end. Following the war, the town was economically devastated and struggled to recover. In the 1790s, the town lost its status as county seat and was later affected by an outbreak of yellow fever and two damaging hurricanes. What remained of the town in the mid-1800s was destroyed in 1864 as part of Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil War.

History

Early history

The area that would become the town of Sunbury was first settled by Europeans in 1752 by the families of Benjamin and Samuel Baker, from the British Province of South Carolina. [1] The site was on the south bank of the Midway River, [note 1] in what was at the time the Province of Georgia, [1] on a bluff several miles upriver from St. Catherine's Sound. [2] In 1757, 500 acres (200 ha) of this area was conveyed by King George II of Great Britain to Mark Carr, a wealthy military officer. [3] Carr sold some land lots to other people, and soon several wharves on the river and a trading post were established. [3]

Establishment of the town

1776 map of coastal Georgia showing Sunbury and Saint John's Parish 1776 map of coastal Georgia.tif
1776 map of coastal Georgia showing Sunbury and Saint John's Parish
Sign in Darien, Georgia for the road to Sunbury Road to Sunbury marker, Midway, GA, US.jpg
Sign in Darien, Georgia for the road to Sunbury

On June 20, 1758, [1] Mark Carr and several other men from the area agreed to establish a town on Carr's land. [note 2] Carr oversaw much of the planning for this new town, including the town's layout, the architectural style that would be used for the buildings, and the cost for each land lot. [3] Each of the 496 lots would measure 70 feet (21 m) by 130 feet (40 m) and would surround three town squares, similar in layout to Savannah, Georgia, which had a unique system of squares. [3] These three squares were named King's Square, Meeting Square, and Church Square. [3] Additionally, buildings built in the town were constructed of wood and tabby concrete. [3] At the time, it was the first and only town in Saint John's Parish, [1] which consisted of all of present-day Liberty County, Georgia. [5] The parish contained one other settlement within its boundaries, Midway, [5] which had been founded by New England Puritans around 1752. [6] Prior to their move to Georgia, these Congregationalists had lived in Dorchester, South Carolina. [7] Within several years of their settlement, they were having a sizeable impact on the economy of Georgia, primarily farming rice. [7]

The new town was named Sunbury, most likely after Carr's ancestral English home of Sunbury-on-Thames. [1] Variant names for the town included "Sunbery" and "Sunbury Landing", [8] and the harbor that separated Sunbury from a nearby small island was known as the Sunbury Channel. [1] Additionally, a small tidal stream located several miles from the settlement is known as Sunbury Creek. [1]

Around the time of its establishment, the town had five wharves operated by local merchant companies, which purchased goods from Savannah and transported them to the town via sloops. [3] In 1761, [note 3] the town became Georgia's second port of entry and quickly rose in prominence, [6] soon rivalling Savannah in terms of economic importance. [1] [3] Discussing the town in a 1763 letter to Lord Halifax, James Wright, the governor of Georgia, wrote the following: [9]

I judged it necessary for his Majesty's service that Sunbury, a well settled place having an exceedingly good harbor and inlet from the sea, should be made a port of entry; and have appointed Thomas Carr collector and John Martin naval officer for the same. There are 80 dwelling houses in the place. There are considerable merchant stores for supplying the town and the planters in the neighborhood with all kind of necessary goods; and around it, for about 15 miles, is one of the best settled parts of the country.

The town had a shipyard, a manufacturing center that produced shingles and staves, and a causeway connecting it to nearby Colonels Island, which served as an important center for Indigo dye production in the region before the market crashed in 1808. [3] This causeway was repaired annually in the fall by slaves who had been requisitioned by the local government. [10] Additionally, the town and island had a sizeable lumber industry, exporting wood to other ports throughout the West Indies. [9] The area attracted a large number of immigrants, including a sizeable number of people from Bermuda. [9] At one point, a canal was considered that would have connected the Midway River and Newport River through the area separating Colonels Island from the mainland in order to make it easier for plantations in the area to transport their rice crops to Sunbury. [9] However, this never came to fruition, [9] and instead planters further inland created a plan to bridge the Newport River near its source in order to directly transport their rice yields to Savannah. [11] While Sunbury was opposed to this plan, fearing it would hurt their port's economy, the bridge was constructed, with a settlement emerging around the bridge known as Riceboro. [11] In 1772, 56 ships were recorded as having accessed the port, and on at least one occasion, slaves from Africa were brought and sold at one of the wharves. [3] Many planters who owned plantations in the area had houses in Sunbury in which they lived during the summer and fall seasons, [3] [9] typically arriving in June and leaving in November. [12] In 1773, the naturalist William Bartram wrote about a visit he had to the town, describing it as "beautifully situated on the main" with a "capacious and safe" harbor that had "water enough for ships of great burthen". [2]

American Revolution

The town of Sunbury was a hotbed of pro-American sentiment in Georgia during the American Revolution. [13] [14] Lyman Hall, a future signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and governor of Georgia, lived in Sunbury, [1] while Button Gwinnett, another signer, conducted his business in the town as Saint John's Parish's justice. [3] Gwinnett also owned a large plantation on the nearby St. Catherine's Island. [12] In June 1775, British customs officers seized a ship in Sunbury's port that was carrying illegal cargo, but the ship was freed after a group of local people met at the town's liberty pole and intimidated the officials. [13]

The town was protected by the nearby Fort Morris, which had been constructed in 1756 to protect the European settlers from Creek Indians. [3] During the American Revolutionary War, Colonel John McIntosh replied to a British order to surrender the fort with the slogan, "Come and take it". [3] [15] However, in 1779, the fort and town were both captured by British forces, who maintained control over the surrounding area for the duration of the war. [16] The fort was one of the last strongholds against the British during the war, which the British later renamed Fort George and, later, Fort Defense. [3] During this occupation, George Walton, another signer of the Declaration of Independence, was held as a prisoner of war before eventually being paroled. [3] Around 1781, the town had about 1,000 residents and numerous businesses occupying 300 acres (120 ha) next to the river. [3] However, during the British evacuation near the war's conclusion, the town and the fort were both burned by the troops. [16]

Post-Revolution and War of 1812

Following the war, in 1784, [3] [17] Sunbury became the first county seat for Liberty County. [15] [3] In February 1788, the Sunbury Academy was authorized and established several years later in 1793. [1] The school, located in King's Square, operated for about the next 40 years and was considered one of the most famous schools in the southern part of the state. [1] It was headed by The Reverend Dr. William McWhir, who was a friend of George Washington. [15] The town was officially incorporated on December 8, 1791, [1] during a time when other cities in Georgia, such as Augusta and Brunswick were also gaining self-government. [18] In 1792, Sunbury Road was laid out, [1] which made it easier for farmers in the area to transport their crops to the port. [9] The road connected Sunbury to Greensboro, Georgia, and was the longest vehicular route established in the state following the Revolutionary War. [1] In 1793, a post office was established in the town. [19] However, in the late 1790s, the county seat was transferred to Riceboro. [note 4] In 1804, the town was hit by a strong hurricane, and by the early 1800s, it had lost much of its trade to Savannah. [12]

During the War of 1812, British warships were stationed off of the coast of Georgia, which disrupted trade and hurt the economies of port cities such as Sunbury. [20] To combat this, the United States Navy launched a naval expedition to Sunbury, with the plan to use the port's deep harbor as a staging area for gunboats that would patrol the Intracoastal Waterway. [20] However, this plan ended in failure due to logistical issues and a lack of resources. [20] As a result of this failure, the state decided to instead reinforce its existing coastal fortifications, including Fort Morris, which was rebuilt with the new name of Fort Defiance. [20] This construction was performed in mid-1813. [21] By the end of the war in 1815, the town, like several other coastal settlements in the state, had suffered a significant economic decline due to the blockade. [20]

Later history

The town's destruction by the British seriously damaged its economic importance, as it left the town in ruins and impoverished. [3] The town was later affected by an outbreak of yellow fever and hit by two major hurricanes, which further exacerbated its decline. [3] On December 8, 1841, the town's post office ceased operations, [1] and by 1848, the town was more-or-less abandoned. [3] What remained of the town was ultimately destroyed in 1864 during the American Civil War as part of Sherman's March to the Sea, [1] [3] arriving in the area that December. [16] Today, the Sunbury Cemetery is one of the only remaining structures from the town's history. [22] In 1957, the Georgia Historical Commission erected a Georgia historical marker for "Sunbury and Fort Morris" about 11 miles (18 km) west of the ghost town in Midway. [15]

Notable people

See also

Notes

  1. Also spelled Medway River. [2]
  2. Sources vary on how many men were involved in the establishment of the town. A 2007 article from the Coastal Courier states that, "Carr entered into an agreement with five men to establish a town". [3] However, a 1918 publication in The Georgia Historical Quarterly lists four men aside from Carr who were involved in the town's establishment: Kenneth Baillie, John Elliott, James Maxwell, and John Stevens. [4]
  3. The year is given as 1761 in several sources, [6] [1] [3] but one gives the year as 1762. [7]
  4. Sources vary on when the county seat was transferred to Riceboro, with both a 2007 article in the Coastal Courier and a 1918 article in The Georgia Historical Quarterly giving the year as 1797, [3] [17] while the New Georgia Encyclopedia gives the year as 1798. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savannah, Georgia</span> Oldest city in the State of Georgia, United States

Savannah is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. A strategic port city in the American Revolution and during the American Civil War, Savannah is today an industrial center and an important Atlantic seaport. It is Georgia's fifth most populous city, with a 2020 U.S. Census population of 147,780. The Savannah metropolitan area, Georgia's third-largest, had a 2020 population of 404,798.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty County, Georgia</span> County in Georgia, United States

Liberty County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population is 65,256. The county seat is Hinesville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham County, Georgia</span> County in Georgia, United States

Chatham County is located in the U.S. state of Georgia, on the state's Atlantic coast. The county seat and largest city is Savannah. One of the original counties of Georgia, Chatham County was created February 5, 1777, and is named after William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Stewart</span> US Army post in southeast Georgia

Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long and Tattnall counties. The nearby city of Hinesville, along with Ft. Stewart and the rest of Liberty and Long Counties, comprise the Hinesville metropolitan area. Many of Fort Stewart's residents are members of the 3rd Infantry Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinesville, Georgia</span> City in Georgia, United States

Hinesville is a city and county seat of Liberty County, Georgia, United States, located on the Atlantic coastal plain. The population was 33,437 at the 2010 census and an estimated 33,273 in 2019. It is the principal city of the Hinesville metropolitan area, which comprises all of Liberty County, including the Fort Stewart army installation, plus neighboring Long County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midway, Georgia</span> City in Georgia, United States

Midway is a city in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,121 as of the 2010 census, up from 1,100 at the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Moultrie</span> American politician

William Moultrie was an American planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charleston, and Fort Moultrie was named in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Province of Georgia</span> British colony in North America (1732–1782)

The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original American colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States. In the original grant, a narrow strip of the province extended to the Pacific Ocean.

Benjamin Andrew was an American planter and statesman from Midway, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Savannah</span> 1779 battle of the American Revolutionary War

The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah, from September 16 to October 18, 1779. On October 9 a major assault against the British siege works failed. During the attack, Polish nobleman Count Casimir Pulaski, leading the combined cavalry forces on the American side, was mortally wounded. With the failure of the joint attack, the siege was abandoned, and the British remained in control of Savannah until July 1782, near the end of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Howly</span> American politician

Richard Howly, sometimes spelled Howley, was an American planter and lawyer from Liberty County, Georgia. He served briefly as the governor of Georgia in 1780, as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1780 and 1781, and as chief justice of Georgia in 1782 and 1783.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Come and take it</span> Slogan used by armies during last stands

"Come and take it" is a historic slogan, first used in 480 BC by Spartan King Leonidas I as a defiant answer and last stand to the surrender demanded by Persian king Xerxes I, and later in 1778 at Fort Morris during the American Revolution, and in 1835 at the Battle of Gonzales during the Texas Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinesville metropolitan area</span>

The Hinesville metropolitan area is defined by the United States Census Bureau as a metropolitan area consisting of two counties – Liberty and Long – in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is anchored by the city of Hinesville and encompasses all of Fort Stewart, one of the largest U.S. Army installations in the United States. The metro area's latest population estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau was 80,495 in 2018.

The city of Savannah, Georgia, the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. It is known as Georgia's first planned city and attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic structures such as the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the First African Baptist Church, Congregation Mickve Israel, and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex. Today, Savannah's downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Brunswick, Georgia</span>

The recorded History of Brunswick, Georgia dates to 1738, when a 1,000-acre (4 km2) plantation was established along the Turtle River. By 1789, the city was recognized by President George Washington as having been one of five original ports of entry for the American colonies. In 1797, Brunswick's prominence was further recognized when it became the county seat of Glynn County, a status it retains to this day. During the later stages of the Civil War, with the approach of the Union Army, much of the city was abandoned and burned. Economic prosperity eventually returned, when a large lumber mill was constructed in the area. By the late 19th-century, despite yellow fever epidemics and occasional hurricanes, business in Brunswick was thriving, due to port business for cotton, lumber, naval stores, and oysters. During this period, Brunswick also enjoyed a tourist trade, stimulated by nearby Jekyll Island, which had become a posh, exclusive getaway for some of the era's most influential people. World War I stimulated ship building activity in Brunswick. But it was not until World War II that the economy boomed, when 16,000 workers were employed to produce ninety-nine Liberty ships and "Knot" ships. During the war, Brunswick's Glynco Naval Air Station was, for a time, the largest blimp base in the world. Since the end of World War II, the city has enjoyed a period of moderate economic activity, centered on its deep natural port, which is the westernmost harbor on the eastern seaboard. In recent years, in recognition of a thriving local enterprise, Brunswick has declared itself to be the "Shrimp Capital of the World".

The Province of Georgia was a significant battleground in the American Revolution. Its population was at first divided about exactly how to respond to revolutionary activities and heightened tensions in other provinces. When violence broke out in 1775, radical Patriots took control of the provincial government, and drove many Loyalists out of the province. Georgia also served as the staging ground for several important raids into British-controlled Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Morris Historic Site</span> United States historic place

Fort Morris Historic Site is a Georgia state historic park in Liberty County, Georgia in the United States. The fort is on a bend in the Medway River and played an important role in the protection of southeast Georgia throughout various conflicts beginning in 1741 and ending in 1865 at the conclusion of the American Civil War, including the French and Indian and American Revolutionary Wars and War of 1812. The historic site is 70 acres (28 ha) and sits at an elevation of 23 feet (7.0 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Morris</span> United States historic place

Fort Morris is an earthen works fort in Liberty County, Georgia, in the United States. The fort is on a bend in the Medway River and played an important role in the protection of southeast Georgia throughout various conflicts beginning in 1741 and ending in 1865 at the conclusion of the American Civil War, including the French and Indian and American Revolutionary Wars and War of 1812. The historic site is 70 acres (28 ha) in size and sits at an elevation of 23 feet (7.0 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stewart–Screven Monument</span>

The Stewart–Screven Monument is a monument in Midway, Georgia, United States. Erected in 1915, the monument honors Daniel Stewart and James Screven, two generals from the American Revolutionary War. The monument is located in a cemetery in the Midway Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbury Cemetery</span>

The Sunbury Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in Sunbury, Georgia, United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Krakow 1999, p. 216.
  2. 1 2 3 Clarke 2005, p. 21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Love 2007.
  4. Mallard 1918, p. 8.
  5. 1 2 Krakow 1999, p. 196.
  6. 1 2 3 Coleman 1978, p. 13.
  7. 1 2 3 Coleman 1991, p. 48.
  8. Geographic Names Information System.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mallard 1918, p. 9.
  10. Clarke 2005, p. 27.
  11. 1 2 Mallard 1918, p. 10.
  12. 1 2 3 Clarke 2005, p. 22.
  13. 1 2 Coleman 1991, p. 66.
  14. Smith 1900, p. 56.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Georgia Historical Society 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Walker 2018.
  17. 1 2 Mallard 1918, p. 11.
  18. Coleman 1991, p. 91.
  19. "Post Offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Smith 2014.
  21. Coleman 1991, p. 102.
  22. Liberty County 2014.

Sources

Further reading