Historic Sites in Jenkins County

The history of Jenkins County

Jenkins County is one of Georgia's twentieth-century counties, created on August 17, 1905, from portions of Bulloch, Burke, Emanuel, and Screven counties. Supporters first proposed calling it Dixie before choosing to honor Charles Jones Jenkins, a judge who served as governor during Reconstruction. The county seat, Millen, grew from a railroad junction formed in 1854, where the Central of Georgia line from Savannah met the Georgia Railroad line from Augusta. The stop was first known as "79," roughly its distance in miles from Savannah, and later took the name of railroad superintendent McPherson B. Millen. Because the town sat astride the Burke and Screven county line, residents campaigned for a new county to end the divided jurisdiction. In the fall of 1864 the Confederacy opened Camp Lawton, a prison stockade beside the springs at today's Magnolia Springs State Park, where at least 10,299 Union prisoners were held before the post was abandoned in late November as Sherman's army approached. Union troops passed through Millen on December 3 and wrecked the junction. Georgia Southern University archaeologists uncovered traces of the stockade in 2010. Older landmarks include Big Buckhead Baptist Church, organized in 1787, and the Birdsville Plantation house, completed in 1847.

Sources: georgiaencyclopedia.orggeorgiaencyclopedia.orgen.wikipedia.org