McIntosh County Historic Resources Survey Report: Phase Four

Fenwick, Rebecca; Isaacs, Ellie

Executive Summary: "Phase Four of the McIntosh County Historic Resources Survey was performed between November 2018 to January 2019 as a continuation of an effort to comprehensively survey the historic resources throughout the county. The Phase Four survey area includes everything north of Highway 99 west of the curve at Crescent, and east of Interstate 95 to include portions of Crescent and all of Belleville, Eulonia, Shellman Bluff, Pine Harbor, Harris Neck, South Newport, Jones, Townsend, and Cox. Due to available access, Blackbeard Island was also included in the Phase Four survey. In all, the survey gathered information on 504 resources to include buildings, structures, objects, sites, and landscape features constructed before 1978 in McIntosh County. Based on knowledge of previous surveys and recent population trends in the county, it was estimated that 450 resources would be surveyed. Mimicking the parameters of Phase One, Two, and Three, mobile homes were not surveyed as part of Phase Four in an effort to cover a greater survey area within the time allotted. Preliminary fieldwork showed a prevalence of dispersed communities, suburban development, waterfront and marsh front properties, roadside commercial development, mobile home enclaves, family cemeteries, and rural farmland. Largely characterized by development along the county's many tributary waterways, the northern part of the county has always been inextricably tied to its coastal landscape. As a result, many of the communities in and around Blackbeard Creek developed as a way to capitalize on waterfront views and commercial and recreation fishing opportunities. Of these, Belleville, Shellman Bluff, and Pine Harbor have a large number of residences associated with 'fish camps' and docks. Historically, McIntosh County was home to a large number of plantations established to cultivate indigo, rice, and later, sea island cotton. Largely, these ventures were concentrated in the eastern half of the county with the western half of the county rooted in the development of the turpentine and timbering industries. Prior, the area was home to several plantations; however, only the cemeteries remain from this era today. In the western part of the county, there is a long tradition of timbering, which continues to be an active agricultural pursuit. As such, much of the land west of Interstate 95 is undeveloped with clusters of resources found stretching out from the towns of Jones, Townsend, and Cox as well as along thoroughfares connecting these areas to the eastern part of the county. The populations of these towns have waned with many buildings demolished or lost due to deterioration over time. The breakdown of resources recorded in Phase Four by type is as follows: 443 buildings, 5 structures, 40 sites, 1 landscape feature, and 15 objects. Building off of data gathered in the 1989 Historic Resources Survey of McIntosh County, 248 previously surveyed resources were updated in the Georgia Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS). Only the GNAHRGIS fields that represented the features of these resources that were altered since 1989 were updated. Additionally, 256 resources were assigned new GNAHRGIS unique identification numbers. Resources less than 40-years old were not entered into GNAHRGIS..." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Division of Historic Resources, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S Department of the Interior (grant number P18AF00065).

McIntosh County Historic Resources Survey Report: Phase Four

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