Everyone loves a good secret, and Liberty County holds lots of them! We uncovered several fun facts that we consider to be “secrets” because not many people know about them. We wanted to share them with y’all! Keep scrolling to learn about 22 of our closest secrets.

1. The City of Riceboro was established in 1797 and made the first county seat.

2. Logging was big business in Liberty County in the early day. Children enjoyed riding on the large timber carts that hauled logs to the sawmills!

3. The historic Caswell House was used for the offices of the first newspaper in the county, the Hinesville Gazette and later the Liberty County Herald.

4. The first teacher at Dorchester Academy was named Miss Plimpton and she began a class for young children in 1871.

5. The Hinesville Bank opened downtown in 1911. The building still stands today and is home to Zum Rosenhof German restaurant.

6. Martin Luther King Jr. would spend some of his free time at Dorchester Academy during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. He would play baseball with the students and relax in his bedroom. Call the site today at 912.442.0018 to book a visit and see it for yourself!

7. The first movie theatre at Camp Stewart was constructed in 1940 and made out of a pitched circus tent.

8. The City of Walthourville is known as the home of the first African American female mayor and the first all female city council in the state of Georgia.

9. Hazel Bagley Carter, a Liberty County resident, was the first woman in Georgia to become a licensed mortician and to be elected to a board of county commissioners.

10. Daniel Stewart, a Liberty County native and American Revolutionary War hero, was the great-grandfather of President Theodore Roosevelt. His headstone is located in the Midway Cemetery!

11. Liberty Square Shopping Center in Hinesville used to be the family home of Robert Sidney Hendry. This is where “Hendry Street” comes from! Members and descendants of the family enjoyed hosting picnics on the grounds where their home used to stand.

12. President John F. Kennedy was the first U.S. president to visit Fort Stewart in November 1962 when he visited the 1st Armored Division!

13. The original structure of the Midway Church was destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War. The building that stands today was built in 1792!

14. In 2008, we broke a Guinness World Record! Visit Keep Liberty Beautiful, located in Midway to see the World’s Largest Crayon. The crayon is made up of 119,000 recycled crayons that came from people all over the county. It is 9 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs over 600 pounds!

15. Motorcycles were the first mode of transportation used to deliver mail on rural routes throughout the county!

16. Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett, two signers of the Declaration of Independence, are from Liberty County!

17. The former port of Sunbury was a deeper natural seaport than what could be found in Savannah at the time.

18. Fort Morris State Historic Site is Georgia’s only Revolutionary Historic Site with original earthworks!

19. Eleanor (“Nellie”) Simmons Mobley was from Gum Branch and is known as the most proficient grower of flowers in Liberty County history. National companies bought seeds from her, and they still sell them today!

20. The owner of the LifeSavers candy, Edward Noble, lived on St. Catherines Island!

21. The historic “Hines House” was built in the 1840’s and operated as a hotel.

22. Our barrier island, St. Catherines, was home to a Spanish mission built in the late 1500s! It is known as the oldest church in Georgia and possibly the entire country.