Harrison, Georgia

Information taken from Cotton to Kaolin, A History of Washington County, Georgia.

The town of Harrison received its name in 1883 from Mr. Green B. Harrison, a wealthy farmer who gave the right of way for the Wrightsville and Tennille Railroad. The town grew up around the railroad. Mr. Harrison was the first mayor, railroad agent, and a director of the railroad. In 1885, a post office was opened with Dr. C.I. Davis as postmaster.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Harrison was a thriving town, with a cotton gin and warehouses, two drugstores, two doctors’ offices, a large dry goods store, a number of general mercantile stores, guano factory, sawmill, grist mill, hotel, telephone exchange, two barber shops and many other small businesses. Mr. G.W. Perkins, who built a branch railroad from Harrison for timber purposes, put in a sawmill, planer mill, shingle and lathe machines, which operated in 1900. A bank was chartered in 1906.

The Baptist Church was organized from a Sunday school that began in a nearby community know as Chiversville. The first Sunday school superintendent was Dr. Charles I. Davis. The church was constituted in 1884 and the new building was occupied in 1885 with the Rev. Geo. W. Smith as pastor (in 1910 Rev. Smith published a history of the Mount Vernon Association). Mr. Harrison donated land for this church, as well as for Harrison Methodist Church and the Harrison M.E. Church. There was also a Christian church, Harrison Spring Baptist Church, and Landers Grove Church.

In 1895, Mr. R.H. Moye and Mr. Green B. Harrison donated land to erect a school building. Mr. G.W. Bateman was in charge of the school, which was later consolidated with surrounding communities. In 1904 a new library was opened and in that same year, John Joiner was elected president of a debating society. There was a band organized by the town consisting of 24 members.

The main sources of income of the community were agriculture and timber. The town continued to prosper until the boll weevil came, at which time the businesses began to close and people migrated to other areas. Today the population is about 500 and the sources of income are primarily from kaolin industries, pulpwood, and employment in nearby towns.