THE WADLEY AND MT. VERNON

A Significant Shortline Railroad

Although it was only around for a third of a century, the Wadley & Mt. Vernon was the most important thing to come to the extreme ends of Laurens and Johnson County in the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th Century. Only some thirty-six miles in length, this shortline railroad brought about brief, but vital and long lasting, spurts to the towns and communities where its tracks ran. When it was gone, those towns were never the same again. Here is the story of the Wadley & Mt. Vernon Railroad and how it created the towns of Rockledge, Adrian and Kite. And, why its owners never quite saw their long range plans come true.


The Wadley and Mt. Vernon Railroad originated at the Old Town Plantation of Capt. Thomas Jefferson James in Jefferson County, Georgia. James, a master builder of railroads in East Central Georgia, drew a lot of his success in building railroads through the newly authorized use of buying convicts from prisons to do his labor. With a crew of up to three thousand bought and paid for hands, T.J. James took credit for building more than six hundred miles of railroad, a distance sufficient to run tracks from Dublin to Washington, D.C.








Captain James envisioned a railroad that would initially run from Wadley to Mt. Vernon. Wadley was a small commercial center in lower Jefferson County, but was strategically positioned on the great Central of Georgia Railroad. Mt. Vernon, the commercial center of the lower Oconee River Region, was scheduled to be on the Savannah, Americus and Montgomery Railroad. With each of its termini being on the vital major rail lines, James and his investors hoped to capitalize on the new markets this new road would open. In the beginning, James planned extensions northward to Augusta and southward through Valdosta onto the Gulf Coast.



James, a member of the large timber firm Donovan & Perkins, applied to the state to incorporate its logging road into a full-fledged railroad. Although the Wadley and Mt. Vernon had not then been incorporated, three passenger trains per week traveled between Wadley and Kite by March 1889. The state legislature finally approved. And, on June 25, 1889, the Wadley and Mt. Vernon was incorporated with a capital stock of $200,000.00. Within the year, a 13-mile extension was completed to Ricksville on the Old Savannah Road.



The Wadley and Mt. Vernon Railroad ran from Wadley south through Tom, Kite, Ethel, Meeks, and Odomville. The railroad crossed the Big Ohoopee at the Nazarene Campground just a few hundred feet west of the Highway 80 bridge. It ran southwesterly to a junction with the Brewton and Pineora Railroad in the center of Adrian. Capt. James, in moving his home to Adrian, made that once non existent community into a boom town and the headquarters of the railroad.



The railroad was completed through Ricksville, located at the intersection of the Old Savannah Road and current Georgia Highway 15 and just north of Blackville on Georgia Highway 86. The road turned in a more westerly direction through Orianna and onto the vicinity of Rockledge around the turn of the 20th century to become Laurens County's sixth railroad. By that time, James had the company's charter amended to extend the line to Valdosta, the most important rail center in Southwest Georgia. Capt. James extended the road to join with the newly constructed extension of the Macon, Dublin, and Savannah Railroad in 1902. Houses and businesses sprang up. Rockledge boomed. The new railroad gave the citizens of the area a closer route to the Central via Wadley. Engineers laid out an extension of the line to Mt. Vernon.



The company's directors changed their minds and instead of running the railroad down the eastern side of the Oconee River to Mount Vernon, the line was changed to continue in the same direction crossing lower western Laurens, Dodge and bridging the Ocmulgee in Telfair County before heading onto Valdosta. The ambitious 200-mile extension of the railroad hoped to capitalize on the vast forests of virgin timber, still left uncut in the upper Wiregrass regions of the state. In 1903, Congress granted the Wadley and Mt. Vernon's request to build a bridge over the Ocmulgee River. Once in place, plans were accelerated to complete the railroad. Work began on the railroad from Barrow's Bluff on the Ocmulgee to Douglas in 1902, but no work was ever completed beyond the grading to the Oconee River, southwest of Rockledge. Before 1907, the extension to the Oconee was completely abandoned. The cost of bridging both the Oconee and the Ocmulgee rivers was beyond the budget of the railroad, which mainly hauled freight and only a few passengers between small towns.

In the early spring of 1905, the Atlantic and Birmingham Railroad bought the assets of the Wadley & Mt. Vernon Railroad Company and renamed it the Wadley Southern Railroad. The new line also included a second shortline track from Wadley through Swainsboro and Stillmore to Collins, Georgia in Tattnall County. Railroad men speculated that Captain William Raoul of the A & B RR purchased the company to bolster his vast network of railroads in South Georgia. That news preempted a report two days earlier that the Douglas end of the Wadley & Mt. Vernon and two other local railroads had been purchased by J.E. Wadley, J.S. Bailey and G.G. Parker of Waycross. In 1906, the Central of Georgia Railroad purchased the Wadley Southern and moved its headquarters to Savannah.



The Wadley Southern was dealt a near fatal blow in 1915, when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against it in a dispute with the State of Georgia. From the very beginning, the Wadley and Mt. Vernon was bound to fail. Good times wouldn't and couldn't last. The railroad lived and breathed with the timber industry. After twenty-five years, there were no more trees to cut. Naval stores in the Rockledge and Ricksville areas were then being transported to market or railroad depots by truck. When the towns began to wane, so did the number of persons riding the passenger cars through the dead towns of Odomville, Ricksville, Tom and Ethel.



The road from Adrian to Rockledge was closed first and by the mid twenties the tracks along the Adrian-Wadley end were taken up forever. The Wadley Southern officially went out of business in the early 1960s after closing its remaining lines.



In its day, the Wadley & Mt. Vernon and its successor, the Wadley Southern, were the lifeblood of the towns they served. When it folded, the towns did not die. They are all still there. And, on windless night, if you listen real closely, you just might hear the cry of the old freight engines and they chug through the woods.

RAILROAD PARK, DUBLIN, GEORGIA

DUBLIN CAR CLUB - CIRCA 1969 - L-R: Bill Tharpe, David Henderson, Lynn Tomlinson, Louie M. Curry, Jr., Bob Wilcox, Charles Fuller, John Read Deamer, Alan Palmer, Billy Jones, and Richie Chafin.

CLASSIC CARS

WEST JACKSON STREET

DUBLIN, GA.

LATE 1960s.

OCONEE RIVER BOAT - PLEASURE CRAFT

Postcard of a group on a houseboat on Oconee River, Laurens County, Georgia, 1936

Description Laurens County, 1936. Group of people enjoy a ride down the Oconee River aboard Doctor Ovid Cheek's houseboat, Wieuca.

From:  Laurens County Historical Society, Vanishing Georgia Collection.

1910 Buick, Cadwell, Georgia

Photograph of men in Buick, Cadwell, Laurens County, Georgia, ca. 1911


Description Cadwell, ca. 1911. Men pose for a photograph in a 1910 Buick. Front seat, left to right: Homer Mullis, Bob Lee. Back seat: Hiram Mullis, Johnny Fann.

  From: Laurens County Historical Society, Vanishing, Georgia Collection.

Train of the Sandersville Railroad, circa. 1911.

THE DIXIE OVERLAND HIGHWAY

Historic U.S. Highway 80

We call it the Old Macon Road or the Old Savannah Road, depending on which way you are traveling. It was once the way to Macon for Christmas shopping. It was once the way to Savannah, Tybee Island and fresh seafood dinners. It was once the primary coast to coast route across the southern half of the United States. It brought travelers, some rich and famous and some just regular folks, through our community, ranging from Dr. Martin Luther King to Henry Ford to Elvis Presley. It was known by those living west of El Paso, Texas as the "Broadway of America." Texans called it "The Main Street of Texas." Those east of Texas called it the "Dixie Overland Highway". It was Highway 80, "America's first All Weather Coast to Coast Highway." Some say that portions of the highway followed an old Spanish Trail from St. Augustine to San Diego.

The planning stages for the Dixie Overland Highway began in 1915. By the summer of 1916, Dublin was chosen to be located on the route. The highway was formally opened in the fall of 1917. In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge designated the highway as U.S. Highway 80. Much of the credit for the highway's location through Dublin belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and Congressman W.W. Larsen for their unceasing efforts in the project. The highway began on the Atlantic Coast at Tybee Island, a premier summer resort. After running along the palm-lined Victory Drive near the heart of Georgia's ancient city of Savannah, the highway passes through the east-central Georgia cities of Statesboro, Swainsboro, and Adrian. In the early 1930s, legendary gangster John Dillinger traveled along the highway between the latter two cities.

Highway 80 wasn't paved throughout Laurens County until the 1930s. The portion between Scott and Dublin was paved first in 1931. The benefits of the national highway, although substantial, were heavily outweighed by the burden of the economic depression of the 20s and 30s. Automobile magnate Henry Ford was a regular visitor to Dublin on his trips to his home near Savannah. From Dublin the highway ran to Macon in the heart of Central Georgia. From Macon, it followed the fall line to the west Georgia city of Columbus. During World War II, Highway 80 was an important link between Fort Benning at Columbus, Camp Wheeler in Macon, and Savannah.

As the highway entered the state of Alabama, it passed through Phoenix City, one of the most notorious hives of immoral activities in the 1930s and 1940s. Next the highway passed through the town of Tuskegee, where George Washington Carver established a college for Negroes and where the legendary Tuskegee Airmen trained for aerial service in World War II. The capital of Montgomery is the next stop on the highway, where it runs by the Alabama State House, where the Confederate States of America organized in 1861. Highway 80 between Montgomery and Selma is one of the most famous stretches along this 2700 mile highway. Dr. Martin Luther King led his famous march along the highway. The march, which included unfortunate deadly acts of violence, led directly to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In the state of Mississippi, the highway passes through the state capital of Jackson. West of Jackson, Highway 80 comes near the site of the Battle of Baker's Creek, which was fought on May 16, 1863 and caused deaths and severe injuries to more than a dozen young Laurens County men serving in the 57th Ga. Infantry. After the defeat at Baker's Creek, the battered Confederate Army retreated along the approximate route of the highway to the bastion of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River. The Union Army laid siege to the embattled Confederates for six weeks until the city was surrendered on July 4, 1863. After crossing the Mighty Mississippi River and before entering Texas, the highway passes through the Louisiana cities of Monroe and Shreveport.

"The Main Street of Texas" runs into Dallas, where it becomes Commerce Street. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Elm Street, a short distance from Commerce Street. From Dallas the highway goes to Fort Worth, the livestock capital of Texas. It passes along the old trail from Fort Worth to Abilene and runs southwest to the western tip of Texas at El Paso.

After leaving El Paso, Highway 80 passes within a short distance of Mexico before heading up the Rio Grande River to Las Cruces, New Mexico. At Las Cruces, it joins with Highway 70 for a short distance along a route where the two highways cross the Continental Divide. The highway then turns south toward the New Mexico/Mexico border. The route turns north near the border and heads into the infamous Old West town of Tombstone.

On October 26, 1881, Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, along with their compatriot, "Doc" Holiday, walked down Fremont Street, which later became part of Highway 80, to C.S. Fly's Boarding house. There they met the Clantons and the McLaurys in the famous "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Just outside of town, overlooking old Highway 80, is the equally famous burial ground, dubbed "Boot Hill" by the locals.

The highway passes northwest toward the cities of Tuscon and Phoenix through miles and miles of desert. At Phoenix, Arizona, Highway 80 passes by the Arizona state capitol, the third and final capital along the route. From Phoenix, the highway passes through the famous Gila Bend area of Arizona. After passing through Yuma, Arizona, Highway 80 enters the California Desert. In the early days of Highway 80 auto passengers had to drive over 12' x 8' sections of cross ties, bound together with steel bands. In the lower edge of California, Highway 80 passed by the legendary Petrified Forest. The highway nears its end as it enters the city of San Diego, where it passes by Balboa Park, home to the world famous San Diego Zoo. Highway 80 originally ended at its intersection with Hwy. 101. The highway was unofficially extended to the San Diego Bay during World War II to accommodate military operations in the area. Finally, at Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma, Highway 80 comes to an end at the Point Loma Lighthouse, which was built in 1854.

Today, Highway 80 no longer officially exists west of Dallas, Texas. What remains of that original route has been blown away by desert winds or replaced with interstate highways and new state roads. Fortunately, for those of us east of Dallas, Highway 80 is still with us - a reminder of when travel was at a much easier pace and the coast to coast route was lined with of good eating places, gas and comfort stations, and plenty of good folks.