Adapted by Hunter Hurst from Buddy Sullivan's "Early Days on the Georgia Tidewater":
The various tracts along the shore of the South Newport River were settled in the 1740s by immigrating Scottish highlanders and Englishmen. Much of the land was granted to those occupying and using it in the 1750s via Crown grants, and in the 1770s, the area became part of the St. Andrew's Parrish. The Parrish included most of current Liberty, McIntosh and Long counties. Tranquility would have been part of the land grant to Donald McIntosh, who once hosted the famous naturalist William Bartram during one of his forays in the area.
South Newport was an early village on the "stage road" or the "post road" or the "King's Highway" (the same route as the modern US 17), which crossed the South Newport River via a bridge at the current site (near the Smallest Church in America). In 1792, the road and bridge connecting the South Newport Village to Harris Neck was constructed. This allowed access to what is now the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, approximately two miles east of Tranquility. The Refuge is home to many species of birds and has numerous walking and bike trails through beautiful, old, oak trees and wide marshes. The area also offers great fishing from its docks as well as bird-watching.
The land that is now Tranquility on the South Newport lies approximately three miles east of the original South Newport village. In the 1830s, it became part of the Stark Plantation, a 3000+ acre holding of James Thomas. Thomas later subdivided his land, owning and managing, often jointly, with other land owners, such as nearby Limerick Plantation, Marengo Plantation (south of Harris Neck Road), Mosquito Plantation and the Lebanon Plantation (Eagle Neck).
Families owning these plantations included the Thorpes, the Bakers, the Thomases and the Stebbins. These area families were commercially and socially connected with each other, as well as with families in Savannah and beyond. Many examples can be found of subdividing the properties, with inheritances, encumbrances, and foreclosures among family and friends. The area along the South Newport in particular was connected to the very rich agriculture/horticulture experimentation heritage of the LeConte family (whose historic plantation site is about 6 miles west of Tranquility along Bulltown Swamp).
Plantations around the Tranquility area were mostly involved in the cultivation of rice, with less effort toward cotton. They also farmed timber, livestock and grew food for themselves, their workers and their livestock. At least one home site with outbuildings would most likely have existed on Tranquility’s land. Baker's Creek would have given these families the access to oysters, fish and probably rowboat connection to the river with access there to Colonel's Island, St. Catherine’s Sound, and what is now the Intercostal Waterway. In addition, the area produced leaders in the Colonial and Revolutionary War eras who were dynamic economically and politically. These early inhabitants of our area were educated, sent their children north for formal educations after academy studies at Sunbury, and their descendants spread across the continent during the development of the country. Two of the LeConte sons went on to: 1) to found the University of California, and 2) found the Sierra Club. Also, a couple of the signers of the Declaration of Independence lived in the area.
William Bartram’s travel journals and diaries show that he visited the Tranquility area with his father, James Bartram, in 1765-66. He came back by himself staying with Donald McIntosh at South Newport around 1773. Bartram’s visits to the area included his documentation of the area’s unique flora and fauna. Among these were many types of rare azaleas and camellias, including several new cultivated species, some of which were influenced by Bartram. Historic markers documenting Bartram’s travels can be found at the cemetery on Highway 17 near Minton Rd.
During the Civil War, workers, women and children were evacuated to points at LeConte Plantation and Long County. As a result of this, the land was subdivided extensively between the years of 1866 to 1920 before becoming part of the clear cut and replant pine plantations of the paper companies in the 1930s.
Additional information about the area, including its native plant and animal life, can be found on LeConte Woodmanston website.
More about the Tranquility area: