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Big Buckhead Church
Historic District:

The main commercial area of Millen is located on Cotton Avenue.  The buildings on this street along with some side streets are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Most buildings are retail shops built between 1880 and 1930.  The Jenkins County Court House, built in 1910, is also on the National Register.

 
Railroad Town:  

Cotton Avenue is an excellent example of a railroad commercial district.  The Central Railroad Company built a line between Savannah and Macon via Millen in the 1830's; a north-south line from Millen to Augusta built by the Savannah Railroad in 1852 turned Millen into a major trade post.  Two major depots located along Cotton Avenue indicate the significance of rail transportation in Millen.  Both built in the early 1900's, one is currently in used by Norfolk Southern and the other houses the Millen-Jenkins County Museum and Chamber of Commerce.  Railroad activity continues to be important in Millen.  The terminal serves as a switch station where trains are made up.  As many as fifteen trains pass through Millen daily.  Train watching is an attraction for train enthusiasts.

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Jenkins County Museum:

The museum is located in one of the two railroad depots still in use in Millen.  The museum contains local histories, Native American Indian artifacts, tools, and cotton mill equipment.

 

 
Magnolia Springs State Park:

Jenkins County is home to one of Georgia's most beautiful state parks.   Magnolia Springs State Park is known for its crystal clear springs that flow at an estimated nine million gallons of water per day and the boardwalk which spans the cool water along the natural spring interpretive boardwalk.  During warmer months, visitors may watch for alligators, turtles and other wildlife near the springs.  The 1,070-acre park attracts over 100,000 visitors annually and includes playgrounds, a swimming pool, a lake, picnic shelters, campsites, cottages, and meeting rooms.  The park includes a  number of hiking/biking trails.  Private boats are allowed and fishing boats and canoes are available for rent.  A number of annual events take place at Magnolia including an Arts and Crafts Festival (April), Federal Encampment and Spring Run (April), Children's Fishing Rodeo (June), 8K Cross-country Run (November), and Clogging and Square Dancing Weekend (November).  The Bo Ginn Aquarium is located across the stream from the main park area.  It features a variety of fish (catfish, bass, sunfish) and reptiles (turtles, alligators), some native to the freshwater streams, lakes, and swamps of Georgia.  Fishing rodeos are available for youth groups.  Aquarium tours and interpretive programs are also available. For more information visit www.gastateparks.org.

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Fort Lawton:  
Magnolia Springs State Park is also home to the National Register of Historic Places- listed Fort Lawton.  Camp Lawton, a huge prisoner of war camp occupying 40 acres and designed to hold 40,000 men, was built in September, 1864, to relieve congestion at Camp Sumter in Andersonville and to remove the possibility of Sherman's army freeing prisoners there.  Built by a force of 300 prisoners and 500 slaves, the camp was a log stockade with guard towers on the walls and a ditch dug within the walls for a deadline.  Magnolia Springs was chosen for the site because of the fresh water supply from a natural spring, abundance of timber to construct the stockade and close proximity to the Central of Georgia Railroad.  If the camp were threatened, prisoners could be loaded on trains and moved north to Augusta or south to Savannah.  The first prisoners began arriving in October, 1864.  By November, 10,299 were held here.  In the late months of 1864, the camp was abandoned in advance of Sherman's March to the Sea and prisoners were first sent to other camps.  In a brief span of four months, the largest prison camp in the world had been conceived, erected, used, and abandoned.  The earthworks, two large timbers recovered from the stream, and historical markers both inside and outside the park tell the story of the Camp.  The Fort Lawton Historic Trail begins at the Camp Lawton Interpretive Kiosk across from the park office.

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Big Buckhead Church:

Big Buckhead Church is one of the oldest structures in the State.  The third oldest Baptist church in Georgia was organized in 1774 before the Revolution.  The present Greek Revival structure was completed and dedicated in 1855.  This is the fourth church to stand on or near this same site.  The first was of logs, the second was framed and completed in 1807 and worth about three hundred dollars, and the third was built of brick in 1830, costing about four thousand dollars.   Because of some defect in construction it was deemed unsafe and gave way to the present building. Some important events have occurred at Buckhead Church.  Here the Hephzibah Association was organized in 1794.  The Georgia Baptist Convention met there in 1831 for its annual session and adopted a resolution to establish a classical and theological school known today as Mercer University.  Bishop Frances Asbury, first American Bishop of the Methodist Church, preached at Buckhead on January 23, 1793. Big Buckhead Church was also the scene of fierce cavalry action resulting in a Confederate victory during Sherman's March to the Sea.

 
Carswell Grove Church:  

Carswell Grove Baptist Church and Cemetery, organized in 1867 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, grew out of Big Buckhead Baptist Church approximately two hundred yards away.  The church was organized by African Americans after the Civil War in 1867.  In 1919 the church was destroyed by fire.  The rebuilt church is a unique example of Late Gothic Revival architecture and since the Civil war has been an important place for the African American community in Burke and Jenkins Counties.

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Dukes Pond: 

Big Dukes Pond Heritage Preserve (BDPHP) is a Carolina Bay, a wetland found along the Atlantic Costal Plain that has an oval shape and a raised sand rim along the south and east margins.  Dukes Pond provides habitat for one of Georgia's largest breeding colonies of wood stork, a federally listed rare species.  It also provides a habitat for the rare black-crowned night-heron and yellow-crowned night-heron, as well as the state-protected spotted turtle.  Rare or uncommon plant species can also be found on the site.  BDPHP covers about 1200 acres.  It was declared a Heritage Preserve@ by Governor Sonny Purdue in January 2004, ensuring that the property will be conserved for wildlife habitat management, scientific research, environmental education, historic preservation, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. An informational kiosk at the site provides additional information.

 
The Ogeechee River:

The Ogeechee River, the longest river in Georgia to keep its name throughout its course, runs through Jenkins County.  For those who enjoy the outdoors, it can be a never-ending source of pleasure.  It begins as two small streams between Siloam and Union Point in Eastern Greene County.  These streams merge just south of I-20 to form the Ogeechee River.  The river then flows 245 miles through east Central Georgia until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean north of Ossabaw Island.  The Ogeechee is one of Georgia's few remaining free flowing streams.  This blackwater river for the most part remains in its natural, primitive state.  It is popular with canoeists exploring the river and its swamps; with fishermen seeking the red breast, suckers, shad, rock crappie, bass, shellcracker and catfish; with ministers baptizing believers; and with children enjoying natural swimming holes.  The swamps and bottomland hardwoods adjoining the river provide food, water, and shelter to a rich variety of birds and wildlife and trees and other vegetation, including rare plants.  Water snakes and alligators are quite common.

Public access to river is available at the Bull Hole located in the Herndon Community, Scarboro Landing located in the Scarboro Community, and Highway 25 landing located on the south side of Highway 25.

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Bike Trails:

State Bicycle #85, "The Savannah River Run" goes through Jenkins County from the Screven County line to the Burke County line.  The 314 mile route goes from North Carolina to Savannah.  In the near future when the widening project on SR 25 is completed between Augusta and Statesboro there will be a bike lane from Millen to Magnolia Springs State Park.

 
Hanging Rocks:

An interesting attraction on SR 23 about five miles from Millen is a natural  outcropping of hanging rocks located on Hanging Rocks Plantation, a hunting preserve.  A ledge of rock along a hillside that rises some 20 to 25 feet above the earth, makes a picturesque scene, overlooking a beautiful pond.  Underneath the rock is clay that has eroded over a period of time, leaving the rock extended into space.  Indians once lived in, around, and on the rocks.  Artifacts and signs indicate that an Indian village was once located there, probably as late as the 1700's, when they traded their land to the English.  Geologists from California studied the rocks in the 1980's.  They determined that the rock formation is a "fault" from an earthquake that it pushed up to the surface from a depth of about 200 feet. They also determined that there has been no movement for maybe millions of years and probably there is no danger from further movement.

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Historic Communities:

Butts

Elam

Four Points

Herndon

Perkins

Scarboro

 

National Register of Historic Places Sites in Jenkins County

 

 

 

Building in Perkins

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Millen/Jenkins County Chamber of Commerce

548 Cotton Avenue - Millen, GA 30442

Phone: (478) 982-5595 - Fax: (478) 982-5512