Stevens Crossing, Georgia

Stevens Crossing, Georgia, is a small rural community in northeastern Emanuel County, approximately 2 miles north of Summertown, Georgia, and 3 miles south of the Ogeechee River at Midville, Georgia, along Georgia Highway 56. The community of Stevens Crossing was named after the junction of the Midland Railway (Georgia) with the Georgia and Florida Railroad (1926–63) mainline that was constructed on the land of Ben B. Stevens in the early 1900s [1]. A United States Post Office at Stevens Crossing [2], and a Georgia & Florida depot at Stevens Crossing began operations in 1914, as did the Sutton and Stevens saw mill. The post office ceased operations in March 1939; the Stevens Crossing to Statesboro line was abandoned in 1950, and the depot and the old Midland Railway tracks removed several years later. In 2004, the Heart of Georgia Railroad subleased the portion of the old Georgia & Florida mainline that ran from Midville, Georgia to Vidalia, Georgia [3]. Today, several descendants of the Stevens and Coleman families live in the community, and the community is also home to the Stevens Crossing Dove Club, owned and operated by a grandson of Ben B. Stevens. The Stevens Family Cemetery [4] is located about one half mile west of the actual old crossing on Stevens Cemetery Road.