|
|
Georgia Genealogy Trails "Where your Journey Begins" |
|
RICHMOND
COUNTY
HISTORY Transcribed by K. Torp Richmond was named in honor of the Duke of Richmond. It was
originally St. Paul s parish, and when it was made in 1777 it included
all of Columbia and parts of McDuffie, Warren and Jefferson counties.
As these counties will come under our survey in the proper time, it
will only be necessary now to give attention to Richmond as it stands.
In the early parts of this history and in the chapter on Augusta nearly
everything of interest connected with this county, up to the
Revolution, has been narrated, and in the history of Augusta much of
the after revolutionary history is given. Richmond is in the main a
county of rather sterile pine woods, save on some of the creeks and on
the river, where the land is a rich alluvial which at one time was very
productive. Before the lands on the river above Augusta were cleared of
their forests the river-bed was deeper and the stream more rapid than
it is at this day, and the freshets which come now almost tannually
were infrequent a hundred and twenty years ago. Then these lands were
considered very valuable, and wealthy planters had large plantations in
the swamps which brought a rich return. They are now turned largely
into hay farms and are still valuable. The pine lands were for a long
time esteemed only for their timber and as a range for cattle. There
was some of this land, however, which had a good subsoil of clay which
was, when manured, quite productive, and while it was not esteemed as
first-class land, it repaid the tiller s toil, and even much of the
land which was very sterile when well fertilized produced fine crops of
melons and vegetables. The rural population of Richmond, save on the
river and on Rae s creek, were plain, poor people who ran smalI farms.
There was quite a settlement of well-to-do Virginians some distance
north of Augusta which was called Bedford, probably after the Virginia
county from which they emigrated, and quite a settlement of Burke
county planters in the healthy pine woods near what is now Hephzibah. A
college was projected in the early part of the century, called Mt.
Enon, which was to be located in the southern part of this county and
opened as a Baptist college; but a charter was refused and it became
the first Baptist high school in Georgia. There was a fine water-power
on the creeks, which, rising in the pine hills, ran into the river; and
one of the most successful country factories was built on Spirit creek
long before the war, and another known as Schley s, at Bellevue, where
the shrewd old governor had his country home. The building of the
railway from Augusta to Sandersville opened up the lower part of the
county, and there is a considerable village known as Hephzibah, where
the Baptists have a school. The county had been well supplied with
Methodist and Baptist churches, and the school facilities had been mod
erately good; but the establishment of the public school system after
the war provided all classes with excellent educational advantages.
Among the oldest Methodist and Baptist churches in upper Georgia are
the Baptist church at Hephzibah, formerly Mt. Enon, and the Methodist
church at Liberty, which an tedate the beginning of this century. Among
the industries which have made the county famous the celebrated
nurseries of the Berckmans are very notable. Dr. Berckmans, an
intelligent German, was struck with the great advantages of the climate
and soil near Augusta for the raising of fruit trees and flowers, and
he began his nurseries on a very extensive scale over forty years ago,
and from them the most beautiful flowers and the finest fruits have
been distributed throughout the land. The fine climate of the Sand
Hills, which stretch through the northwest part of the county, has
invited summer residents, who have beautiful homes, chiefly at
Grovetown, sixteen miles from the city. The county is so linked with
the city that it is not possible to separate them, and I shall in a
future chapter devote a considerable space to Augusta, and as Columbia
county includes much of what was historic Richmond, it is not needful
to say more of the county as it is at present
Towns , Hamlets and Villages Fannie, a post-hamlet of Richmond
county, is located four miles southeast of Hephzibah, which is nearest
railroad
station. Gracewood, a post-village of
Richmond county, is a station on the Augusta Southern railroad, about 8
miles southwest of Augusta. It has an express office, some
mercantile houses and does considerable shipping. In 1900, it
reported a population of 78. Martinez, a post-village
of Richmond county, is on the
Charleston & Western Carolina railroad, about eight miles northwest
of Augusta, and is a trading
center for the neighborhood in which it is situated. McBean Depot, a post-hamlet in the
southeastern part of Richmond county, is located on the Augusta &
Millen division of the Central of Georgia railroad, about four miles
from the Savannah river. .  Return to Main Index Page ©Genealogy Trails |