The Hamburg State Park is celebrating its rich 56-year history and heritage this weekend with an exciting event for all ages.
Tomorrow, on Saturday, September 21, Hamburg holds a Heritage Day commemoration at the Park located outside of Warthen in the most northern portion of Washington County.
The celebration will be from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Included in the day’s delights will be a myriad of ‘ole fashioned games and crafts for participants and park-goers to partake.
Corn grinding demonstrations will also be on display with Hamburg’s 1921 water-powered gristmill.
The state park enacted parking fee is $5.00 per vehicle.
Located 20 miles north of Sandersville on Hamburg State Park Road off Highway 102, the 741 acre park includes a 225 acre lake, 32 tent/trailer/RV campsites, a 50-seat seasonally reserved group shelter, 3.5 miles of hiking trails, 2 picnic shelters, playground, boat and kayak rentals, grist mill, and museum.
Rich in historical and natural resources, the state park remains entrenched in the surrounding community by providing programs to school groups, scout troops, and other organizations.
The Hamburg campground provides shaded sites along the edge of Hamburg Lake, which is fed by the Little Ogeechee River. The sites offer hot showers, water and electric hookups, and a dump station.
Wildlife enthusiasts are often entertained by the turtles, raccoons, deer, birds, and, yes… alligators that live within the park and lake.
Anglers enjoy fishing for largemouth bass, crappie, and bream from boats on the lake and a fishing pier.
The park’s restored gristmill operates during events to grind corn. Hamburg’s museum is also open by event and displays old tools that were implemented during the agricultural founding of rural Georgia.
As history details, following the close of the Revolutionary War, the Warthen family relocated to Washington County from North Carolina in the 1790’s. They acquired the land now known as Hamburg State Park through grants received for their contributions towards the war.
In 1825, the Warthen family built the first mill in Washington County on the Little Ogeechee River, just 75 feet upstream from the present mill site. At that time, the area was named “Little Shoals” to distinguish it from the “Shoals” area located 4 miles away on the Ogeechee River.
With much optimism for future economic fortune, Mr. Warthen renamed his holdings after the bustling market and mill town of Hamburg in South Carolina.
Located six miles downstream from his mill was the now-extinct town of Georgetown, which featured a major frontier trading post that saw Indians from as far as Alabama travel over to trade and barter. It was a natural outlet for the produce of the first Hamburg Mill.
That mill ran until the early 1900’s, as T.B. Rachels and his brothers purchased the property around 1895.
The property was later acquired by Oscar Harrison and then sold to the Gilmore brothers, who built the present mill, dam, and cotton gin in 1921 and 1922. This mill was designed to grind both flour and corn meal.
The Gilmore brothers would sell the land to the Hall family, whose members still live in the area.
Eventually the property was sold to Tarbutton and Rawlings, who generously deeded the land to the State of Georgia in 1968 for the formation and founding of the property as a state park.
In addition to tomorrow’s Heritage Day commemoration, Hamburg has scheduled a “Halloween at the Park” event on Saturday, October 19 and a “Selfies with Santa” holiday picture opportunity on Saturday, December 7.
Hamburg is located at 6071 Hamburg State Park Road. The park office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For information or reservations, call 478-552-2393.