Sapps Still, Georgia

History

Sapps Still was the site of a turpentine still in the early 1900s until the still exploded due to a fire. Later, a lumber mill was built in its place. Ruins and remains of both facilities can be seen to this day. The dry kiln for the lumber mill remains standing as well. After the mill closed in the 1950s, it was used as a farm storage barn until the 1990s. A rail spur [1] that passed through Sapps Still connected the barge and steamboat wharf on the Ocmulgee River at Relee, five miles to the north, with the county seat of Douglas, Georgia, and from there to other rail lines. The rail spur was used to transport naval stores from the turpentine still and later, lumber from the lumber mill. The Relee-to-Sapps-Still line closed in 1950, and the Sapps-Still-to-Douglas line closed in 1958.[2]

Geography

Sapps Still is located at 31°42'58"N 82°56'15"W (31.7160206, -82.9373684). The highest elevation is 322'.[3] Sapps Still sits at the junction of Sapps Still Road (Coffee County unimproved road #498)[4] and US Highway 441. Sapps Still is 131 miles driving distance NW of Jacksonville, Florida; 180 miles driving distance SE of Atlanta, Georgia; and 98 miles driving distance SE of Macon, Georgia. An abandoned telephone long-distance microwave relay tower stands approximately one-half mile south of Sapps Still on the east side of US Highway 441, and is often cited as a landmark.[5]