Wonderful historic site that was a former rice plantation. The same family lived in the home for…read moremultiple generations and the last heir left the estate to the state of Georgia. Beautiful antiques, cool grounds, and amazing landscape. All left in It's original state. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and shared many interesting facts. Definitely worth visiting!

The history of this region is worth thinking about, but tough to see. Most of these sorts of…read moreplantations are long abandoned; the story of how this one fell into the hands of the state government is told, along with other context, on a half-hour tour of their small mansion. The tour starts on the hour, and having arrived shortly in advance, they told me to drive down a service road that said not to drive down on it so I could park at the house and make it on time. The tour content focuses on the family line that owned the house; there is some discussion of the people they owned early in its history, but a more detailed take on the forced labor system involved in rice farming is given in the museum back where one starts. It is a distinctive and difficult topic, but the films they play offer a relatively level-headed take. The area is very swampy now; I got outside of the house and thought to wander around and take pictures, but was immediately beset by flies. Fortunately, I had the luxury of my car. Seeing these places in person makes one wonder how anyone ever lived and labored here without modern conveniences. There's plenty of food for thought.

It sits quietly inside Midway Cemetery, a place where the past feels unusually close, and this…read moreparticular historical marker draws your attention to one of the community's earliest and most enduring figures. The grave of Rev. John Osgood is not just a burial site but a reminder of the Congregationalist migration that shaped Saint Johns Parish, a movement of families who carried New England religious culture into the Georgia Lowcountry long before the Revolution. His story helps explain why Midway became such an unusually literate, civically minded, and tightly knit settlement, and why its church and cemetery still feel anchored in that eighteenth‑century world. The marker reads, "This is the grave of Rev. Mr. John Osgood, who came to Midway with the first settlers in 1754 from Dorchester, S.C., and served them faithfully as their minister and friend until his final sermon, May 5, 1773. born in Dorchester, one of their own people, Mr. Osgood received part of his education from their old pastor, the Rev. Mr. Fisher, and was graduated from Harvard in 1733. Ordained to the pastoral charge of the Congregational Church November 24, 1735, the Rev. Mr. Osgood ministered to these people, in Dorchester and in Midway, for 38 years. He died on august 2, 1773." It sits quietly inside Midway Cemetery, a place where the past feels unusually close, and this particular historical marker draws your attention to one of the community's earliest and most enduring figures. The grave of Rev. John Osgood is not just a burial site but a reminder of the Congregationalist migration that shaped Saint Johns Parish, a movement of families who carried New England religious culture into the Georgia Lowcountry long before the Revolution. His story helps explain why Midway became such an unusually literate, civically minded, and tightly knit settlement, and why its church and cemetery still feel anchored in that eighteenth‑century world. It is marker number 089-12B and it was erected in 1957 by Georgia Historical Commission. It blends naturally into the quiet dignity of the cemetery. The surrounding wall looks as if it has been here for generations, and the headstones, though weathered, still speak clearly of the colonial families who shaped Liberty County. [Review 120 of 2026 - 892 in Georgia - 25310 overall]

It was a beautiful house, however it has burned completely to the ground by a person trespassing…read more There was no protection to keep people off the property. This was a great piece of history lost.

Tony and I traveled up the coast from Jacksonville FL to Darien GA. We located this home on Route…read more17, Butler Island Plantation. This is not the original Plantation house, this is referred to as the Huston House (second owners) Plantation was a Huge Rice Plantation owned by Major Pierce Butler, one of the founding fathers of USA. When he died property was handed down to his unwed daughter Frances Butler, over 436 Slaves sold in 1859 and this was considered the largest slave sale in American History. During Civil War, the plantation was abandoned. After Civil war attempts made to revive and reconstruct the plantation but it never happened. Sold in 1926 to Tillinghast Huston and turned into a Lettuce & Dairy Farm. Now it's owned and ran by State of Georgia Natural Resources. Free for use, you can walk around, picnic, and enjoy the area, even fish here!!

Just off I-95 and along US-17, this marker by the side of the road reminds passersby of the Civil…read moreWar here in Georgia. The marker has been present since 1957 and is in good condition. It reads... "Near this spot, Company F of the Third South Carolina Cavalry, Lieut. W.L. Mole commanding, was stationed during the summer of 1864. The Company was on Patrol duty, guarding the Coast of McIntosh County. On the night of August 18th, the post was attacked by Federal Troops coming up the South Newport River. Of Company F, less than 20 men escaped death or capture. Five civilian prisoners were taken also, and the Bridge over the South Newport River was burned." [Review 10933 overall, 705 of 2019.]

Back in the day in the 1800's, Vernon Square was like a hub they had a couple banks here, and this…read morewas also a place to socialize. Now it is the center in which the Open Gate B & B resides, as well as two churches and a few homes. It has a nice water fountain and nice grass and trees. A perfect place for the kids and dogs to run and enjoy the day under the trees. It is a nice quiet simple spot to think about what it must have been like here in past times!

Vernon square is a lovely place to read. Nice quiet park and it is beautiful. Picnic. Ďog walk…read more Just beautifully put together with some history behind it...

I stopped by the Midway Museum on a quiet evening and found the building closed, so the roadside…read morehistorical marker along US‑17 became my stand‑in introduction until I can return during their regular hours. In some ways it worked out, because the marker does a surprisingly good job of sketching the deep roots of this little community and reminding you that Midway was never just another coastal settlement tucked between Savannah and Darien. The marker reads, "Established by South Carolina Calvinists of English and Scottish extraction in 1752, the small settlement of Midway became 'the cradle of the Revolutionary spirit in Georgia'. Two of Georgia's three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett, were sons of Midway, as were four Revolutionary Governors of the young state. "Exhibits, documents and furnishings housed in the Midway Museum commemorate and reanimate the love of liberty which distinguished the Midway Society from the Colonial period through its last meeting in December 1865. "Built in 1957, the Museum is owned and administered by the Midway Museum, Inc., organized by the Saint John's Parish Chapter, Daughters of the American Colonists and by the Liberty County Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy." The marker does not have a number. It was erected in 1990 by the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists Georgia State Society. For now it serves as a helpful preview of what waits inside the museum, and it adds another thread to the larger story of Midway, a place where the past still feels close enough to touch even when the doors are locked for the day. [Review 121 of 2026 - 893 in Georgia - 25311 overall]

Near a marker noting another signer of the Declaration of Independence, this one in Midway honors…read moreDoctor Lyman Hall. His is the second in the left-most column with Button Gwinnett and George Walton. The marker reads, "Dr. Lyman Hall was a Georgia signer of The Declaration Of Independence. He represented Saint John's Parish in the Continental Congress, and was a delegate from Georgia to the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia. "He was a founder of Sunbury and as Governor of Georgia (1783-1784) he gave strong support to education and religion. He was instrumental in obtaining the grant of land which led to the establishment of the University of Georgia. "Born in Wallingford, Connecticut, April 12, 1724, Dr. Hall moved to Saint John's Parish where he purchased the plantation now known as Hall's Knoll. He became a leading physician, planter, patriot, and was active in mercantile and shipping circles in Sunbury. Dr. Hall died in 1790 and was buried on his plantation at Shell Bluff Landing in Burke County. In 1848, his remains were re-interred in Augusta, beneath the granite obelisk, 'The Signers' Monument.'" Dr. Lyman Hall became a central figure in Saint Johns Parish, where the independent Congregationalist community trusted him enough to send him to the Continental Congress even before the rest of Georgia committed to the patriot cause. His work in Sunbury's commercial world and his ties to the Midway church network helped shape the region's political identity, and his later push for education grew directly from the parish's long tradition of literacy and religious instruction. His eventual reinterment beneath the Signers Monument in Augusta reflects how Georgia slowly came to honor a man whose medical skill, political resolve, and deep connection to Midway left a lasting imprint on the state's early history. The marker was erected by the Daughters of American Colonists. [Review 116 of 2026 - 888 in Georgia - 25306 overall]