Rice Cultivation on the Ogeechee River-Richmond Hill, GA
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 31° 56.884 W 081° 18.044
17R E 471578 N 3534719
Located in J. F. Gregory Park near the beginning of the Richmond Hill Trail, Richmond Hill.
Waymark Code: WM12X1Q
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2020
Views: 2
The production of rice on Bryan Neck utilized upstream fresh water and the tidal influences of the Ogeechee River. Heavy wooden trunks, or tidegates, along the levees and embankments in the rice fields allowed the inflow and outflow of fresh water in an elaborate system of irrigation and hydraulics during the summer growing season. A network of canals provided access for the tending of the fields by large forces of slave workers. The peak of this activity was in 1860 when 1.6 million pounds of rice was shipped from Bryan Neck plantations along the river. With a ready supply of labor no longer available after the Civil War, along with a series of destructive hurricanes in the 1880s, rice cultivation on the Ogeechee ended by 1900.
Type of Marker: Other
Sponsor: Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail
Marker #: Not listed
Date: Not listed
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