History of Ellaville and Schley County

History of Ellaville and Schley County. Ellaville History Wall. In 1808 several families moved from the Carolinas to the area where the Ellaville Cemetery is now located. A village sprang up about 1812, called Pond Town, because of the surrounding ponds. Pond Town was a relay station for the stage coach line which ran by Hamburg, Pond Town, and Preston and continued to Tallahassee, Florida. The route followed an old Creek Indian trail and was known as the Hawthorne Trail.

On December 22, 1857, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia passed, in Milledgeville, an act to lay out and form a new county out of Marion and Sumter counties, to be named for William Schley, governor of Georgia from 1835-1839. Schley County contains approximately 167.61 sections of land or about 107,270 acres.

In 1858, Robert Burton sold 150 acres of land to Schley County for $1,500. The land was laid out for a new town to serve as a County seat, named after Burton’s eldest daughter, Ella. Ellaville was incorporated on November 23, 1859.

Many small communities developed across the county. Churches and schools were established in these communities. These are located on the Schley County Map to the left of the flag.

On January 9, 1861, the state of Georgia adopted the ordinance of Secession and joined with other southern states in a compact of federation. On May 1, 1861, the Schley Guards were organized with 93 enlisted men and Robert Burton as Captain. Two more companies were formed numbering 194 men. Business activity had come to a standstill during the war between the states. The years following Reconstruction were lean for the people of Schley County, who struggled to build a new economic and political system.

A group of citizens raised money to build a railroad from Andersonville to Buena Vista which was completed in 1884.

The first Post Office in Pond town was established in 1833. Rural service started in 1902 using horse-drawn buggies.

The first home town newspaper was the Schley County Enterprise in 1885, which was succeeded by the Schley County News in 1889. The Ellaville Sun was established in 1937. From its first issue until his death, in 1959, “Georgia’s Most Original Weekly” was the domain of the talented, sensitive, and oft-quoted Raymond Duncan.

In the 1898 fall session of the Schley County Superior Court, the Grand Jury condemned the forty year old court house and voted to issue $10,000 in bonds to build a new one. The new courthouse was completed in the spring of 1900.

The first bank of the county was the Planters Bank of Ellaville, established in 1891. Next, a branch of the Bank of Southwest Georgia opened, but failed as the first. The third bank to open was the Bank of Ellaville in 1910. This bank currently operates as Central Bank of Georgia.

A telegraph line was established as a private enterprise in 1885 along the Buena Vista and Ellaville railroad track.

The first telephone line ran from Ellaville to Americus. The first telephone system was started in 1905.

The early economic history of the county would be primarily one of farming. First the timber was harvested, then cotton, corn, and peanuts were grown. Tractors replaced mules in the ‘30’s. Local mills ground corn, with the miller taking a “toll” for payment. Cotton was ginned locally, and sent to Columbus. Peach orchards covered many acres of Schley County and pecan groves were planted. Almost every family had a garden and a chicken yard. In the ‘50’s cattle and hogs were raised. There were dairies throughout the county.

Schley County has had at least seven different Post Offices. Rural service started in 1902.

The first library was in E.E. Collin’s store. A library was funded by the W.P.A. in 1936. The present library was finished in 1964 and joined the regional system in 1970.

The first school in the area was Pond Town Academy. After the war, white children were schooled at Ellaville Academy for over 35 years. School records show at least 7 schools were established for black children in 1883. The school year increased to 4 months in 1890 and by 1910 was up to 6 months. In 1897 the Charles F. Crisp Institute was built to replace Ellaville Academy. In 1909 there were 11 black schools with 1,258 students and 9 white schools with 541 students. Crisp Institute was destroyed by fire in 1916 and a new brick school, Schley County High, was built in 1917. Ellaville High, a school for black students, was located on Spivey Street. Two new schools were built in 1957: E.M. Palmer Elementary for whites and John H. Lewis High for blacks (consolidating the county’s black schools).

In 1969 the federal court ordered the end of the dual school system in Georgia.

Schley County high school students joined those of Marion and Webster Counties at Tri-County Comprehensive High School in 1975 until the new Schley County High School was built in 2000.