Note: The following is part of a series of columns looking at the founding and general history of southeast Georgia and Bulloch County.
The town of Donegal was located first north of Statesboro along the Dover and Statesboro Railroad line, and then later on Highway 301 between Clito Road and Scarboro (or Scarborough) Highway on County Road 474.
Originally called Outland, the town of Dover was both a major depot on the Central of Georgia Railroad mainline and the terminus of the Dover and Statesboro Railroad.
The first business in the area was the McDougald-Outland Company, which opened a general store, a turpentine distillery, and a cotton gin. The company also owned some 1,185 acres of farmland just outside of Dover. The general store was always crowded with cotton pickers, log cutters, railroad gang workers and area farmers.
The village of Dover was also the home to two famous men: Wilson C. Cooper, the educator who established Cooper College; and George Cooper, the inventor of the "Cooper plow."
Eatton's Gardens was also known as Eaton's Garden or Eden Gardens. One of the first populated places in Bulloch County, it was located near Burkhalter's Crossing and Ferry on the Ogeechee River across from the town of Halcyondale.
During the Revolutionary War the area was overrun by guerrilla bands of Patriots and Tories. After the war was over, it was the favorite staging grounds of bandit raiders who were eventually driven off by local militia led by the “Fighting Parson,” the Rev. William Cone.
Local resident Alfred Keiffer requested the name of "Echo" for the post office in his community, because, he said, you could hear an echo when you yelled in the direction of Rocky Ford, which lay just across the Ogeechee River. This area was lost to Jenkins County when it was formed.
Edna, a railroad stop on the Shearwood Railroad line located northwest of Groveland on the Daisy-Nevils Road, was named some say for W.B. DeLoach's daughter.
The village of Eldora is located halfway between Highway 80 and Highway 119 on Eldora Road. Named after Emit Anderson, who was Emit's first postmaster (and later became Statesboro's postmaster), the town of Emit was seriously considered as the location of the new county seat after the Shearwood Railway passed through the town.
The post office was located in Emit Anderson's home. Unfortunately for Emit, a group of wealthy and influential citizens pushed for Statesboro to become Bulloch County's seat instead. Lee Hagan's store was the center of the Emit community.
The postmaster of Sink, John J. Lane, submitted the name for his new post office of Enal. A village with a population of 56 in 1900, it sat in the Lotts Creek valley about 12 miles south of Statesboro. It turns out Enal was Lane's name spelled backward. The other postmaster was Brooks Simmons.
Esla was located on the Bulloch and Bryan County border halfway from Daisy to Ivanhoe and 16 miles south of Statesboro, and had a population of 41 in 1900. William H. Hughes was the first postmaster. Some say the town may have been named for his son, Elias Hughes, who became the second postmaster.
Sometimes spelled Uphaupee, the community of Euphaupee was located on the Seaboard Air Line Railway. The Euphaupee post office opened after the Fido post office closed down in 1889.
Located half-way between Millray and Blitch, Eureka had a general store owned by James H. Brown. Eureka's first postmaster. S.G. Stewart also operated a general store.
According to historical documents, the first name for this community was Zoar, which is sometimes referred to as “Old Eureka.” The first postmaster was H.G. Hodges, and the last one was James N. Brown.
Roger Allen is a local lover of history. Allen provides a brief look each week at the area's past. E-mail Roger at rwasr1953@gmail.com.