Magnolia Springs State Park

Magnolia Springs State Park
Type	Public
Location	Jenkins County, Georgia
Area	1,071 acres (4.33 km²)
Created	1939
Operated by	Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Website	Magnolia Springs

Magnolia Springs State Park
Location in Georgia
Coordinates: 32°53′12″N 81°57′20″W / 32.88667°N 81.95556°W / 32.88667; -81.95556
Elevation^[1]	54 m (177 ft)

Magnolia Springs State Park is a 1,070-acre (4.33 km²) Georgia state park located between Perkins and Millen in Jenkins County. The park was built as a project of the Civilian Conservation Corps and opened in 1939. The park is well known for its crystal clear springs that are estimated to flow 7 million US gallons (26,000 m³) per day. The park also offers unique wildlife near the springs, including alligators, turtles, and a variety of birds and fish. During the American Civil War the area that now comprises the day-use area of the park was used as a prison, and was called Camp Lawton, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The park still houses remnants of the earthen fort that guarded the 10,000-prisoner camp. Two huge timbers, possibly from the prison but more likely from work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1938 and 1942, were recovered from the spring run. The park has 26 tent/RV campsite, eight fully furnished cottages with central HVAC and satellite TV a, a 16-person Group Lodge with satellite TV and screened back porch, and a new History Center that currently displays some of the first artifacts excavated by the archaeology team from Georgia Southern University. Georgia Southern's Sociology/Anthropology Department has been conducting surveys and excavations for a number of years at the park, serving as a partner in revealing and interpreting the history of Camp Lawton. In the summer of 2015 the park is opening a splash pad to ultimately take the place of the aging and underused swimming pool.

The nearby Bo Ginn Aquarium and Fish Hatchery has been closed since 2010 after a short period of operation by the Jenkins County Development Authority, but had also been closed twice before by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (1997) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (2007).

History

Main article: Camp Lawton (Georgia)

Camp Lawton was established during the Civil War in the fall of 1864 by the Confederate Army to house Union prisoners of war. The Magnolia Springs site was selected to take advantage of the abundant water supply. Built by slave labor and a group of Union prisoners of pine timber harvested on site, the walls measured 12 to 15 feet (4.6 m) high. The stockade began receiving the first of at least 10,299 prisoners in early October. The post was abandoned by the end of November when threatened by Sherman’s drive on Savannah.

Research using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) conducted in December 2009 by the Lamar Institute of Technology revealed a possible location for the southwest corner of the prison stockade. In 2010 Georgia Southern University undertook archaeological investigations to "ground truth" the results of the GPR survey.^[2] In August of that year several Georgia Southern archaeology students uncovered the stockade and around 200 Civil War artifacts. The students had used watercolors by an imprisoned private to locate the site.^[3]

Facilities

26 tent/trailer/RV sites
8 cottages - sleep 8-12, depending on unit reserved
3 walk-in tent campsites
3 playgrounds
Splash pad

8 picnic shelters
Group Lodge - sleeps 16 in bunk beds
2 group shelters
pioneer camping
Magnolia Springs History Center - interprets history of park including Camp Lawton and the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Annual events

Heritage Day - event focusing on history of the park and Jenkins County (November)

References

↑ GTOPO30 via GeoNames. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
↑ The Society for Georgia Archaeology, "Georgia Southern University begins archaeological investigations at Magnolia Springs State Park", March 22, 2010. Accessed March 5, 2014.
↑ Phil Gast (August 23, 2010). "Undisturbed artifacts will detail lives of Civil War prisoners". CNN. Retrieved 3 September 2010.

External links

Protected areas of Georgia

Federal

National historic sites and military parks	Andersonville NHS Jimmy Carter NHS Martin Luther King Jr. NHS Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

National monuments	Fort Frederica Fort Pulaski Ocmulgee

National forests	Chattahoochee Oconee

National wildlife refuges	Banks Lake Blackbeard Island Bond Swamp Eufaula Harris Neck Okefenokee Piedmont Savannah Wassaw Wolf Island

Wilderness areas	Big Frog Wilderness Blood Mountain Wilderness Brasstown Wilderness Cohutta Wilderness Cumberland Island National Seashore Ellicott Rock Wilderness Mark Trail Wilderness Okefenokee Wilderness Raven Cliffs Wilderness Rich Mountain Wilderness Southern Nantahala Wilderness Tray Mountain Wilderness

Wild and scenic rivers	Chattooga River

National trails	Appalachian Trail Pinhoti National Recreation Trail

Other protected areas	Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Cumberland Island National Seashore Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

Parks	Amicalola Falls Black Rock Mountain Bobby Brown Buck Shoals Chattahoochee Bend Cloudland Canyon Crooked River Don Carter Elijah Clark F.D. Roosevelt Florence Marina Fort Mountain Fort Yargo General Coffee George L. Smith George T. Bagby Georgia Veterans Gordonia-Alatamaha Hamburg Hard Labor Creek Hart High Falls Indian Springs James H. "Sloppy" Floyd John Tanner Laura S. Walker Little Ocmulgee Magnolia Springs Mistletoe Moccasin Creek Panola Mountain Providence Canyon Red Top Mountain Reed Bingham Richard B. Russell Sapelo Island Seminole Skidaway Island Smithgall Woods Sprewell Bluff Standing Boy Creek Stephen C. Foster Sweetwater Creek Tallulah Gorge Tugaloo Unicoi Victoria Bryant Vogel Watson Mill Bridge

Historic parks and sites	A.H. Stephens Chief Vann House Dahlonega Gold Museum Etowah Indian Mounds Fort McAllister Fort King George Fort Morris Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Jarrell Plantation Jefferson Davis Memorial Kolomoki Mounds Lapham-Patterson House Little White House New Echota Pickett's Mill Battlefield Robert Toombs House Travelers Rest Wormsloe

Forests	Baldwin Bartram Brender-Hitchiti Dixon Memorial Dawson Hightower Paulding Spirit Creek

Other	Centennial Olympic Park Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Jekyll Island Len Foote Hike Inn Radium Springs Sapelo Island Stone Mountain Park

County,
municipal
and other

Parks	Chehaw Park Cobb County Parks McIntosh Reserve Murphey Candler Park Okefenokee Swamp Park Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park Roswell Recreation and Parks Seaborn Jones Memorial Park Shaking Rock Park

Forests and nature preserves	Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Fernbank Forest Marshall Forest Morningside Nature Preserve Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Reynolds Nature Preserve

Nature and environmental education centers	Birdsong Nature Center Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Chattahoochee Nature Center Cochran Mill Nature Center Dauset Trails Nature Center Dunwoody Nature Center Elachee Nature Science Center Georgia Nature Center Grand Bay Wetland Education Center Melvin L. Newman Wetlands Center Oatland Island Wildlife Center Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center Panola Mountain State Park Nature Center Sandy Creek Nature Center Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center Tidelands Nature Center Tybee Island Marine Science Center West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center

Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Georgia Forestry Commission (web)

http://class.georgiasouthern.edu/camp-lawton/

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