Good morning, Statesboro, Bulloch County residents or soon-to-be residents! I want to take you down Memory Lane and share some pretty special information. Scratch your heads, dust off the cobwebs, and let me take you to a WONDERFUL place back in time, where you can reminisce about your family’s PAST or to our FUTURE residents, ‘your new home.'
Let’s take a leisurely walk back in time for more than 240 years. Bulloch County became registered as a county in 1796, and Statesboro became a town in 1803. Now that is a longstanding heritage that we can ALL be proud of! Some of you readers have a family history that dates back more than 8-9 generations. Highly impressive!
Truly, I hope you will take pleasure with this venture down Memory Lane.
On my recent visit to the Statesboro-Bulloch County Library, Lillian Wingate, Regional Genealogy and Local History Coordinator, escorted me on this outstanding journey of the history of Statesboro and Bulloch County
Lillian is from a small town in Southwest Georgia and has lived in Bulloch County for more than a decade. Her knowledge is amazing, and she is very welcoming to answer your questions and share its history. She is definitely a plethora of information.
The library and the genealogy rooms are open to the Public, with or without reservations. A reading area of comfortable chairs and tables makes it convenient to spread out and examine available books, magazines, maps, pictures, and an endless array of memorabilia. People may flip through old maps (and even purchase copies!) and newspapers publications.
Oh yes, even your old high school yearbooks are there! Statesboro High School, Southeast Bulloch High School, Bulloch Academy, Marvin Pittman High School, and others are waiting for you to flip through and remember. Right now, they have a wide range of yearbooks dating back to 1913, all the way up to more current years in the 2000s.
Lillian mentioned they are missing a few years for some schools, and if you're interested in donating, please contact her directly. They would LOVE to have them. Whitney Lavoie, Grice Connect's Editor said, “As a former Statesboro High Yearbook Editor, the yearbooks were my favorite part of my visit!" (Hmmm. It seems her high school extracurriculars may have predicted her future profession, don't you think?)
As OUR Statesboro and Bulloch County continues to grow and change, here is a great chance to go and enjoy the TREASURES of our history, in a cool quiet place, and take a look back. There are also several old original photos and artifacts, which will no doubt bring some of that history to life.
ALL of this information is free and open to you at our public library. Of course, as with any history, there are dark and sad moments in our past. But this is a great opportunity to educate ourselves and learn as we move forward together.
There is an outstanding book, called ‘CENTURY OF PROGRESS: 1866 to 1966' there for browsing as well. It's an amazing book to look at closely. Get cozy in one of the big library chairs, flip the pages, and see how far we came in a hundred years.
There are also informative articles in this book about the TRAGIC tornado of 1929 that killed 30 people including three family members from the Hendrix family.
Another valuable source is the ‘IMAGES of America: STATESBORO’ book. Its introduction says it all: ‘Statesboro is a gift. It arrived in 1801 when George Siebald of Augusta donated 200 acres for a centrally located seat of government for Bulloch County…’ Back in 1803, the town was called Statesborough. Isn’t that interesting? You must visit the library to read on to see what and when the name change occurred!
Lillian said, “The Statesboro Library has many treasures that help tell the history of Statesboro and Bulloch County.” Patrons can browse through:
- The public history files for old articles and photos
- The Family Files for information on hundreds of local families
- The microfilm collection to see the original records of Bulloch Courts
- The library’s extensive collection of books with various information on Statesboro and Bulloch County.
Well, that seems to sum up my ‘investigative visit’ to the Genealogy Room and OLD Statesboro and Bulloch County. There was so much that PIQUED my interest, I wanted to see more! However, I left excited, with two GREAT books with lots of pictures and historical write-ups, and looking forward to my next visit.
I wish I'd had more time to browse, but I guess that just means I will have to go back! Hope to see you REAL soon at the file cabinets or maybe by the bookshelves with ALL the historical news releases. (Will we one day find printouts of Grice Connect articles there? I wonder!) Or maybe we'll meet by the memorabilia or yearbooks. There are just so many GREAT choices. See you on Memory Lane!
For more information on the Genealogy Room, contact Lillian Wingate at [email protected] or call 912-764-1340.
