If you regularly drive Ford Avenue, you already travel through one of Richmond Hill’s richest history corridors. The former Ford Bakery, a 1937 kindergarten, Henry Ford’s barbershop and the site of the town’s old railroad depot all sit along a familiar stretch of road.
That is what makes the Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail in Richmond Hill easy to miss. It does not begin behind a grand entrance. It follows public roads through places residents use every day, including shopping centers, City Hall and J.F. Gregory Park.
The trail is free and self-guided. It covers Indigenous history, colonial settlement, rice cultivation and enslavement, African American churches and schools, the Civil War, and the influence of Henry and Clara Ford.
The practical way to see it is not to tackle every marker in one outing. Break it into sections based on roads you already know.
A simple local plan: Start with Ford Avenue. Add City Hall and J.F. Gregory Park another day. Save Bryan Neck and Fort McAllister for separate outings.
Ford Avenue is the trail’s everyday spine
The first concentration of numbered stops runs along Ford Avenue from 9930 to 11460 Ford Avenue. Several more trail locations sit nearby or farther along the same corridor.
You can begin with the Ford Courthouse Annex at 9930 Ford Avenue. From there, the route connects a series of buildings and markers that explain how Ways Station became Richmond Hill.
Start with the name Ways Station
The Ways Station marker is at the former train-station area in Station Xchange Shopping Center. It explains a name that still appears around Richmond Hill but is easy to take for granted.
The Savannah, Albany & Gulf Railroad reached the area in 1856. A depot near the site became known as Ways No. 1½, named for station master William J. Way. The settlement around it was called Ways Station until the name changed to Richmond Hill in 1941.
That marker establishes the core idea behind the trail. Present-day Richmond Hill was not built on an empty map. Its older transportation routes, civic buildings and work sites are still visible inside the town residents use now.
The Ford Bakery is now the Visitor Center
At 10750 Ford Avenue, the Ford Bakery offers another direct connection between past and present. Henry and Clara Ford built it in 1941 to provide baked goods for plantation employees. Manager Ira S. Womble Sr. also experimented with soybean flour supplied through George Washington Carver.
Today, the building houses the Richmond Hill Visitor Center. You can pick up printed trail information there before continuing down Ford Avenue.
Nearby stops include the Ford Community House, the Martha-Mary Chapel, the Ford Commissary and Canaan Missionary Baptist Church. Together, these sites show how closely employment, education, worship, commerce and community life were connected during the Ford era.
Look for Carver in the mural
The updated driving guide points out a small detail that is easy to check on your next trip along Ford Avenue. George Washington Carver’s portrait appears inside the letter “O” in the “Greetings from Richmond Hill” mural at 10010 Ford Avenue.
It is more than a decorative reference. Carver’s connection to Richmond Hill also appears in the bakery story and at the former school site on Bryan Neck.
One address holds two of the best-known Ford stories
The Richmond Hill History Museum and Carpenter’s Barbershop share the grounds at 11460 Ford Avenue.
The museum occupies the former Ford Kindergarten, built in 1937 with a kitchen and two classrooms. The small barbershop preserves the equipment and story of Bailey Carpenter, who became Henry Ford’s regular barber during Ford’s winter stays.
These stops are useful because they turn familiar Ford references into specific people, buildings and routines. The history feels less abstract once you know where Ford got a haircut or where local children attended kindergarten.
The trail runs through places that no longer look historic
Some of the strongest stops do not resemble traditional attractions.
The former Ford Sawmill and Industrial Complex is now Sawmill Plaza Shopping Center at 10747 Ford Avenue. The sawmill once produced items such as school desks and church pews, while the associated trade school taught practical skills.
The employee-housing story is also preserved through locations that remain part of Richmond Hill’s residential pattern. Richmond Hill Village, historically called The Bottom, is marked at Mimosa Street and 10950 Ford Avenue. Blueberry Village is marked at Oleander Street and 8827 Ford Avenue.
These are not places to treat like exhibits. They help explain why the trail can hide in plain sight. A shopping center, neighborhood street or civic building may occupy a location that shaped the town long before its current use.
City Hall and J.F. Gregory Park make an easy second section
Three related stops sit around Richard Davis Drive and Cedar Street:
- The Henry Ford at Richmond Hill marker is at 40 Richard Davis Drive by City Hall.
- The Ford Superintendents’ House is at 85 Richard Davis Drive, across from City Hall.
- The Rice Cultivation on the Ogeechee marker is at 520 Cedar Street in J.F. Gregory Park.
The rice marker is positioned at the beginning of the park’s walking trail, to the right of the Richmond Hill City Center. The guide identifies visible canals there as surviving examples of hand-dug channels used to irrigate rice fields.
That detail changes how you read the park. The canals are evidence of a demanding agricultural system operated through enslaved labor, not simply water features along a walking route.
The trail added visible signs for the rice-cultivation site and the Ford Superintendents’ House by February 2025. If you have visited this area for years, you may find information that was not as easy to spot before.
Bryan Neck widens the story beyond Ford
Ford Avenue gives residents a convenient entry point, but it is not the whole history of south Bryan County. The Bryan Neck section reaches older churches, cemeteries, agricultural sites and schools.
Stops in this section include Burnt Church Cemetery, Bryan Neck Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, Kilkenny, the former Ford Clinic, Bryan Neck Missionary Baptist Church and the George Washington Carver School site.
Bryan Neck Missionary Baptist Church was organized in 1869 and is identified in the guide as the oldest African American church congregation in lower Bryan County. The nearby George Washington Carver School was built in 1939 to serve Black children. Carver attended its dedication in 1940.
This section requires more care than the central Ford Avenue cluster. Some locations are active churches or cemeteries. Kilkenny is a private residence. Observe posted rules, park only where permitted and do not enter private driveways.
Fort McAllister deserves its own outing
The Fort McAllister portion is about 10 miles east of I-95 Exit 90 on Spur 144. That makes it better suited to a planned outing than a quick stop between errands.
Several trail stories come together at the park:
- Fort McAllister and its Civil War history
- The sinking of the CSS Nashville, also known as the Rattlesnake
- The Guale village marker connected to Satuache at Seven-Mile Bend
The trail itself is free, but the fort and museum charge admission. Georgia State Parks materials also show continuing interpretive and living-history programs during 2026, so check the Fort McAllister information and event listings when planning a visit.
Fort McAllister Road holds another easily overlooked marker. In 1755, Governor John Reynolds selected Hardwicke on the Ogeechee River as a proposed capital for Georgia. Savannah remained the capital, and Hardwicke later became one of the state’s “dead towns.”
That story is a good example of what this trail does well. It marks places where major plans, communities and events once existed even when little remains to catch a passing driver’s attention.
The app makes the markers easier to understand
The Richmond Hill Convention and Visitors Bureau has updated the trail experience with better tools. Search for the free Visit Richmond Hill app rather than relying on the older trail app name.
The app includes GPS-enabled directions, audio narration, interpretive text and historical photographs. A printed guide is also available through the Richmond Hill Visitor Center at 10750 Ford Avenue and the Richmond Hill History Museum at 11460 Ford Avenue. Explore Georgia states that maps are available at Fort McAllister as well.
The Ford-era portion received a Georgia Tourism Award on February 4, 2025. The recognized updates included a revised booklet and app, additional historic photographs, new audio, improved GPS mapping and antique Model A displays at selected sites. The vehicles have QR-coded faux license plates that connect users with more information.
Official materials do not use one consistent total for the route. Some number the main stops through 30, while the live online itinerary includes another numbered entry and several lettered sub-stops. The safest approach is to think of it as dozens of stops and markers rather than a fixed checklist.
How to explore without overplanning
Use the official Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail itinerary as a reference, then choose one geographic section.
- Ford Avenue: Start with Ways Station, the Bakery, the employee-housing markers, the museum and the barbershop.
- City Hall and J.F. Gregory Park: Connect the Ford marker, Superintendents’ House and rice-field canals.
- Bryan Neck: Focus on church, cemetery, school and agricultural history.
- Fort McAllister Road: Plan time for the park, museum and nearby historical markers.
Several trail locations are private homes, including Kilkenny, Myrtle Grove, Strathy Hall and the former Ford Administrative Office. Do not enter driveways or knock on doors. Churches and cemeteries may still be active, so visit respectfully. Stop only where parking is legal and safe.
The Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail is not hidden because the information is unavailable. It is hidden because Richmond Hill grew around it. Once you know where to look, Ford Avenue, City Hall, J.F. Gregory Park and the roads toward Bryan Neck and Fort McAllister read differently.
That kind of street-level knowledge matters when you live here. It also matters when you are deciding what to do with a home in Richmond Hill or elsewhere in coastal Georgia.
Need a practical answer about your property or next move? Paul Sells Homes keeps it direct. Get a free home valuation or call/text Paul for fast, honest answers.
