Jenkins County Place Names

Birdsville   The old settlement of Birdsville, since 1767 has been the ancestral seat of the family of Phillip Jones (d. 1789). Most of the surrounding land and property has remained in the hands of his descendants since 1750 and the original house begun by him in 1767 is still standing as one of the oldest and stateliest antebellum mansions in Georgia. Birdsville is located on the Old Louisville Road and was for the first half of the nineteenth century a station on the stage coach route from Georgia's second Capital to Savannah. During the War Between the States the Jones Mansion was spared Sherman's torch by the heroic resistance of its mistress, Mrs. William B. Jones. Six generations of descendants of Phillip Jones have lived there.
Note: The information above comes from the Georgia Historical Commission's marker (GHM 082-6) for Birdsville.

Butts

Camp Lawton   Also known as Fort Lawton. POW camp (1864) for Union prisoners of war located at what is now Magnolia Springs State Park (see Civil War page for Jenkins County). Also see Camp Lawton on the Magnolia Springs website. Camp Lawton included a 42-acre stockade. This was the largest camp ever built by the Confederacy to receive prisoners-of-war.

Emmalane

Four Points

Herndon

Lawton (Lawtonville)   Railway station/community located on the Augusta and Savannah Railroad just east of Magnolia Springs (Camp Lawton). Little remains today except for the Lawtonville Cemetery.

Magnolia Spring   Georgia State park located 5 miles north of Millen on US25. Millen National Fish Hatchery and Bo Ginn Aquarium co-located there in 1954. See Magnolia Springs. This 948-acre state park is named for the crystal clear spring. The spring puts out nine million gallons of water each day.

Millen   County seat for Jenkins County. Incorporated September 30, 1881. Originally called "79" or "Old 79" because it was 79 miles from Savannah on the Central Railroad. Later (about 18xx) changed to Millen station after John B. Millen, an engineer for the Central of Georgia railroad. Prior to the establishment of Jenkins as a county three counties (Burke, Emanuel, and Screven) came together in Millen. In the 2000 Census, Millen had a population of 3,492 persons.

Paramore Hill

Perkins

Rogers

Scarboro

Thrift

Maintained by Marvin Thorpe

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Page updated 17 June 2004