City of Richmond Hill Historic Resources Survey Report

Fenwick, Rebecca; Isaacs, Ellie

From the Executive Summary: "The Richmond Hill Historic Resources Survey was performed between December of 2018 to March of 2019 as an effort to comprehensively survey the historic resources within the city limits of Richmond Hill. In all, the survey gathered information on 345 resources to include buildings, structures, objects, sites, and landscape features constructed before 1978 within the city limits. By examining a list of resources surveyed, several significant periods of development are revealed, spanning the rice plantation era, freedmen resettlement, turn of the century vernacular life, the relocation of families and buildings for the creation of Fort Stewart, town development by automobile magnate Henry Ford, automobile culture and the construction of Highway 17, the post-World War II housing boom, and suburban expansion. Based on a reconnaissance survey and data provided by Bryan County, it was estimated that 267 resources would be surveyed. ...Covering almost fifteen square miles, Richmond Hill is largely characterized by river basins once used for the propagation of crops, private estates and recreational ports, a growing commercial core, a highway crossroads, and suburban development. ... The highest concentrations of historic resources are clustered around areas intentionally developed by Henry Ford to include the area in and around his estate, the neighborhoods of Blueberry Village and Richmond Hill Village; the later of which encompasses the residential area known as 'The Bottom' and the commercial area along Ford Avenue. Other clusters of historic development include the Brisbon community and Holly Hill. Established after the Civil War, only a few buildings remain from the early African-American settlement of Brisbon. Holly Hill is a small subdivision off Bryan Neck Road that dates to the 1950s and 60s. ...Previous historic resource survey work was completed in 2001 by former masters student Josh Ward and in 2009 as part of the FindIt program for Bryan County. Of those previously surveyed, 25 resources were lost, largely due to neglect and subsequent deterioration. It should be noted, however, that a significant number of historic buildings from the tenure of Henry Ford were lost prior to 2001, their locations documented in historic photographs. Many of these photographs have been published by the authors such as Dr. Leslie Long and Buddy Sullivan. The reasons for their loss vary, however, it is believed that many were located where new development was to follow. The breakdown of resources recorded within the survey by type is as follows: 333 buildings, 1 structure, 1 object, 7 sites, and 3 landscape features. Building on data gathered in the 2001 survey of Richmond Hill and the 2009 survey of Bryan County, 157 previously surveyed resources were updated in the Georgia Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS). Only the GNAHRGIS fields that represented he features of these resources that were altered since 2001 or 2009 were updated. Additionally, 188 resources were assigned new GNAHRGIS 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 Historic Preservation Division, 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).

City of Richmond Hill Historic Resources Survey Report

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