Homerville City

Clinch County, Georgia

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Homerville City Hall is located at 20 South College Street, Homerville, GA 31634.
Phone: 912‑487‑2375.

Homerville as described in 1940 [1]

Homerville is the seat of Clinch County. In 1853 John Homer Mattox established a farm on this site. It was on a stagecoach route, and the mail carrier kept a relay of horses at Mattox place. When the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad was built through the land in 1859, Mattox granted a right of way and donated six acres of land for public buildings. The following year he succeeded in having Homerville, as he called his place, designated the county seat. The town was known as Homerville, Station Number 11 until 1869 when it was incorporated simply as Homerville.

The town is in the heart of the turpentine section. From spring until early fall the surrounding pine trees are slashed so that the resin will drip into tin cans fastened beneath the cuts, and the air is laden with the pungent smell of dripping resin. For the conservation of the pines, firebreaks, telephone lines, and watch towers have been established in all parts of the area. The state and an association of lumbermen share the expense of retaining inspectors, who work under the supervision of the state forestry department and report by telephone to Homerville from the tops of the towers.

In the stills (open to visitors) the resin is distilled into naval stores — turpentine and hard rosin. Although the production of naval stores is the principal industry, this section also has much rich farm land planted in sea-island cotton and bright-leaf tobacco.

  1. Federal Works Agency, Works Progress Administration, Federal Writers' Program and the Georgia Board of Education, Georgia: A Guide to Its Towns and Countryside, American Guide Series, University of Georgia Press, 1940.

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