Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local History topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Columbia County manager highlights local Revolutionary‑era sites and Fort Gordon’s long role in the community
Summary
On the County Compass podcast, County Manager Scott Johnson recounted Revolutionary-era skirmishes at Hagee’s Rock, early Native American habitation at Stallings Island, Coyote Baptist Church’s role in religious liberty, and Fort Gordon’s evolution from Camp Gordon to a modern cyber center.
Scott Johnson, Columbia County manager, devoted a County Compass episode to local history tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary, spotlighting archaeological, religious and military sites that he said shaped the county and the wider region.
Johnson described Columbia County as frontier land during the Revolutionary era, with divided loyalties between Patriots and Tories and small local skirmishes. He recounted a September 11, 1781 clash led by Elijah Clarke near a granite outcrop now called Hagee’s Rock, calling the outcrop “a dramatic” refuge and noting it is federally protected: “We refer to it as Hagee’s Rock. It is protected. It is a protected, I guess, an asset of the Federal Government now.”
Johnson said Hagee’s Rock was designated a national landmark in 1980 and that the preserve contains rare plants and fragile pools, so access is restricted and guided eco‑tours are sometimes offered.
He also highlighted earlier eras: Stallings Island on the Savannah River is “one of the most important Archaic archaeological sites in the Southeast,” Johnson said, with early Native American pottery now in the Smithsonian. He noted Coyote Baptist Church in Appling (founded 1772 by Daniel Marshall) as central to frontier religious life; Marshall’s arrest for preaching without a license from the Church of England, Johnson said, helped illustrate the impulses that later contributed to the First Amendment.
Turning to Fort Gordon, Johnson traced the base’s origin to Camp Gordon in 1941, describing its World War II functions (infantry/armor training and a prisoner‑of‑war camp with a small cemetery) and its evolution into a permanent Signal Corps installation and, more recently, a home to Army Cyber Command and NSA elements. He reviewed name changes over time and observed that the current Fort Gordon honors different figures than earlier names did; he also referenced two Delta Force operators named Gordon who died in Mogadishu and were posthumously honored, noting some uncertainty about given names.
Johnson closed by saying Fort Gordon has been an economic and cultural engine for Columbia County for more than 80 years and encouraged listeners to visit preserved historic sites such as Meadow Garden or Hagee’s Rock via permitted channels.
The episode was framed as local history and celebration rather than a policy briefing; Johnson suggested listeners reflect on the past as Columbia County marks the semiquincentennial.
