Members of the Bulloch County Historical Society gathered Monday alongside Gentilly Road to unveil the latest in a series of markers highlighting Bulloch County’s past.
At the head of what is now a public recreation trail, the historical society dedicated its seventh marker to honor the Savannah & Statesboro Railway — a 32-mile railway that connected the two cities.
The railroad operated from 1894 to 1933 and became an instrumental piece to commerce throughout the region. Towns sprang up around the track bed and many people, for the first time, were provided a way to travel to and from the coast.
“Certainly, the S&S Railroad was a very vital commercial and personal link for people living in and between Statesboro and Savannah,” said Joe McGlamery, the president of the Bulloch County Historical Society. “We are delighted to unveil this marker.”
Atop the marker sits a brown plaque inscribed with gold leaf lettering.
The plaque reads, in part, that for decades, “the S&S Railway enabled residents to visit Savannah or take excursions to Tybee. It also linked the county’s farmers and merchants to railways serving the nation. Sites near depots, such as Brooklet and Stilson, became towns.”
In fact, stations provided a boon several sites along the route, including Pretoria, Shearwood, Iric, Woodburn, Ivanhoe, Olney, Eldora and Blitchton.
By 1910, the railway owned and operated three locomotives, three passenger cars, two baggage cars and 25 freight cars.
The S&S Railroad, which would eventually service Bulloch County institutions such as Howard Lumber and the Darby Lumber Company, began when James and William Woods build a 13-mile tram railroad from their sawmill in Woodburn (near present-day Hubert) to the town of Cuyler. In 1897, a group of investors purchased the railroad, extended the track 20 miles, and officially dubbed the line the Savannah and Statesboro Railroad.
At one point, S&S passenger trains ran nonstop from Statesboro to Savannah, taking an average of only two hours per trip.
In the late 1920s, the railway began to falter due in part to the Great Depression and the impact of the boll weevil on cotton production.
Ownership rights to the railroad exchanged hands several times until 1933, when the S&S Railway officially declared bankruptcy.
The railroad’s legacy lives on, however.
In addition to the Bulloch County Historical Society maker dedicated Monday, the Bulloch Greenways Partnership — composed of the Statesboro-Bulloch County Parks and Recreation Department, Georgia Southern University and area agencies and businesses — named the pedestrian exercise trail currently located at the railroad site the S&S Greenway.

Jeff Harrison may be reached at (912) 489-9454.