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Charlton County Settlements
Billy's Island
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Excerpt from "Queen of the Okefenokee"
"Deep in the interior, near the center of the great swamp, Billy’s Island became a scene of industrious enterprise. In 1918, the Hebard family of Philadelphia established a logging operation there. They built a railroad across the lakes and praries of the great swamp, into the cypress and pine forests, and used it to haul the trees out. A village of 400 sprung up deep in the heart of the Okefenokee, with 49 homes, two schools, two hotels, a movie house (the OK Theater) a few stores, two juke joints, and at least one moonshine still. A doctor from Waycross made regular visits using an automobile that had been converted to run on the railroad tracks"
[Editor’s note: In 1924, Mrs. W.H. Robinson was editor of Charlton County’s weekly newspaper. She received an invitation to join an excursion to Billys Island, along with about 500 other editors. The following are her impressions of that visit, along with additional Billys Island news of that season, added by Lois Barefoot Mays.]
By Mrs. W.H. Robinson and Lois Barefoot Mays
On a beautiful autumn day in 1924, a special train composed of the wood burning “cabbage head” engine, as it is known to the people of the Okefenokee, one “dog house”, the name commonly given to the observation car of the Okefenokee Railroad [Hebard Cypress Co. R.R.] and seven flat cars fitted with railings and seats were filled with reporters from many Georgia newspapers.
Leaving at the Hebardville store, the train went first to Hopkins which was referred to as “a genuine lumber mill town.” There were great stacks of pine and cypress lumber of all dimensions ready for shipment to contractors. Five smokestacks were sending silent signals to the sky in the milling area which was noisily converting the huge logs into beautiful boards. Mill workers moved about quickly as yet another stack was being formed.
We journeyed to Billys Island over water through the dense growth of vines,
bushes, and majestic trees from which dripped long shadows of gray Spanish moss.
The train moved slowly in the jungle, even as brilliant butterflies flitted
on ahead of us, as we sat in the open-air car and almost hypnotized ourselves
into believing we were in another world.
At last we reached Billys Island, and a more beautiful spot would be hard to
find. The lumber company had made, in the heart of the Okefenokee Swamp, a little
city on this one mile wide and five miles long island that is covered with very
large pine trees, beautiful flowers and ferns.
The little town has forty-nine dwellings, two boarding houses, one well-stocked general merchandise store, a restaurant, a moving picture theater, a barber shop, church, two schools, an electric light plant, [at least two moonshine stills, a juke joint] and a water works system. The reporters were told some of the historic traditions which hover over this old Indian hunting grounds.
At the dinner hour, barbecued pork and beef, pickles and bread were served
by host A.J. Armstrong, general manager of the Hebard Cypress Co. Mr. Armstrong
had prepared for more than 500 visitors and the meat was brought out on large
wooden serving boards and placed on the picnic tables. Large barrels of lemonade
and ice water were the center of attraction all day.
Harrison Lee, a pioneer of the Okefenokee, showed us a bear cub caught several
miles from the island. We were happy to meet several of the citizens of the
island, Hamp and Sam Mizell, W.L. Chancey, Mrs. Rhoda Mizell-Spaulding and others,
valuable employees of the Hebard Company. Mrs. Spaulding is proprietress of
the hotel and has one of the most beautiful flower gardens seen anywhere.
Reporters were busy jotting down notes of this unusual spot, so I did also
and found this hidden village was just like many other small towns with newsy
bits of interest, just waiting to be written up in the county paper. They included:
- The island’s schools had sixty pupils in 1923, with Mrs. Paul Player
and Miss Geneva Mizell as teachers. In 1924 their teachers were Miss Catherine
Clark and Miss Viola Taylor. The closing of school each spring was the event
of the year, the annual picnic which most people attended.
- Hebard’s Store had a new manager, I.W. Corbett, and Leon Bagwell was
his clerk.
- The O.K. Theater had just finished showing the 15th episode of “Timber
Queen”. The theater usually has a large attendance with shows three evenings
a week and is owned by Sam Edwards and J.R. Pittman.
- Unusual events would have included the days the children helped Mr. Scott,
the florist of Homestead. He was there locating huckleberry plants for starting
a huckleberry farm.
- Pastors from Homerville, Glenmore and Waycross churches were welcomed each
weekend for revivals and Sunday services, coming and going via the company’s
railroad.
- Accidents happened. The train wrecked between Billys and Hopkins and threw
off five trucks of logs and tore up ten bar links of tracks; S.J. Calley injured
his leg with a bush knife; John Wallace of Jones Island had the misfortune of
getting his leg broken when two engines ran together and T.S. White broke his
arm while playing ball. Dr. Reavis of Waycross always comes at once when needed.
- Weddings are always interesting news events, such as the marriage in September
of Silas McCarthy and Miss Fannie Dixon who moved into one of the dwellings
on Quarterman Street.
- By far the most newsworthy items would be the births of new babies on this island almost unknown to the outside world. In the fall of 1924 little girls made their appearance at the homes of Mr. and Mrs. E.L. Tootle, Mr. and Mrs. H.M. Hickox (little Opal Elizabeth) and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Chesser. The stork brought boys to Mr. and Mrs. V.A. Quarterman, Mr. and Mrs. Ward Jordan and Mr. and Mrs. Dave Alsobrooks homes.
We are delighted that we had the opportunity of making this trip, glad to shake the hands of our neighbors and subscribers. Long may they live and always be as happy and prosperous as they are now. [In fact, this was only a short-lived village for by 1926 most of the workers had moved to camps on the mainland when logging operations ceased in the Okefenokee. When the annual Billys Island Reunion is held in October, visitors will find that Nature is again reclaiming this historical spot within the great Okefenokee.]
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