Long Pond Methodist

Org 1850
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Photography by Randall Davis

According to the History of the South Georgia Conference – “The history of Long Pond reaches back to the year 1850 making it one of the early churches of Methodism in Montgomery County which had been formed in 1793. It was in that year that Salem Church was built in an area just a few miles east of the present community of Long Pond. In 1877, the church was relocated to the middle of the Long Pond Community. The present structure was erected in 1901. In 1919, Long Pond was part of the Uvalda Circuit in the McRae District. Rev. J.M. Hancock was the pastor for Alston, Charlottsville, Smyrna, Long Pond and Cedar Crossing. In 1940, it was part of the charge with Mt. Vernon, Ailey, Glenwood and Landsburg. From 1968 to the 1984 it has been on the Mt. Vernon-Ailey charge.”

This area of the Georgia wiregrass country is located where the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers meet to form the Altamaha. It was settled in the early 19th century by a large migration of Scots from the Wilmington region of North Carolina. According to Sid Johnson’s book Longpondium, this migration pattern began in the late 1700’s, accelerated around 1810-1815 and became quite large in the 1820’s and 30’s. The Scots were attracted by the the wiregrass pasturage, the prolific pine forests and and the fertile soil. This eco system in combination with the Georgia land distribution by headright and lotteries attracted large numbers of the hardy Scots after the Revolutionary War.