Near Hahira in Lowndes County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918
Photographed by Tim Fillmon, March 5, 2025
1. Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918 Marker
Five miles from this site on May 19, 1918, thirty-three-year-old Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, was burned, mutilated, and shot to death by a local mob after publicly denouncing her husbands lynching the previous day. In the days immediately following the murder of a White planter by a Black employee on May 16, 1918, at least eleven local African Americans including the Turners died at the hands of a lynch mob in one of the deadliest waves of vigilantism in Georgias history. No charges were ever brought against known or suspected participants in these crimes. From 1880-1930, as many as 550 people were killed in Georgia in these illegal acts of mob violence.
Erected 2021 by Georgia Historical Society, the Peoples Tribunal, Valdosta State University Woman and Gender Studies Program, and The Mary Turner Project. (Marker Number 92-2.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. A significant historical date for this entry is May 19, 1918.
Location. 30° 59.217′ N, 83° 22.86′ W. Marker is near Hahira, Georgia, in Lowndes County. It is on Blakely Street just south of
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Georgia’s Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Wiregrass. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Hahira Veterans Memorial (approx. 0.4 miles away); Hahira High School (approx. 0.9 miles away); Old Coffee Road (approx. 4.4 miles away); Site: Franklinville (approx. 6.1 miles away); Mount Zion Camp Ground (approx. 7.3 miles away); a different marker also named Old Coffee Road (approx. 7.3 miles away); The Old Morven School (approx. 7.6 miles away); Barney Colored Elementary School
Photographed by Tim Fillmon, March 5, 2025
2. Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918 Marker
Regarding Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918. Update - Replacement marker installed in new location:
The original bullet-scarred and vandalized Mary Turner historical marker will become a display in the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. A new, replacement, historical marker was installed at the Webb Miller Community Church on Blakely Street in Hahira. The new marker notes the change in location.
Also see . . .
1. Mary Turner marker has been removed. (Submitted on October 11, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida.)
2. Georgia Historical Society Rededicates Civil Rights Trail Marker for Mary Turner.
The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) has announced the unveiling and rededication of a replacement Civil Rights Trail historical marker in Lowndes County recognizing Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918. The Marker was re-erected by GHS, The Peoples Tribunal, Valdosta State University Woman and Gender Studies Program, and the Mary Turner Project. [...] Originally dedicated in 2010 at the site where the lynching(Submitted on October 22, 2023, by Gianluca De Fazio of Harrisonburg, Virginia.)took place, the marker was repeatedly vandalized, including being shot several times by gunfire. In 2020, vandals attempted to break the post, leaving large cracks in the marker base. The replacement marker is located five miles from the original site at Webb Miller Community Church, where it will be more readily and safely accessible to the public and help to better tell the story of Mary Turner and the events of 1918. The church is located at 300 Blakely Street in Hahira, Georgia.
3. Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage of 1918 MarkerThis is the marker prior to original installation on May 15th, 2020.
3. Marker has been moved to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. (YT video). (Submitted on December 9, 2025, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)
Credits. This page was last revised on December 9, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 14, 2018, by Daniel Eisenberg of Boca Raton, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,787 times since then and 141 times this year. Last updated on April 2, 2023, by Gianluca De Fazio of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 11, 2025, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. 3. submitted on March 14, 2018, by Daniel Eisenberg of Boca Raton, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
