Riddleville Georgia

Riddleville was the third settlement in Washington County to be incorporated. Two of the influential early settlers were Anderson Riddle and James Page. Mr. Riddle, born in North Carolina, settled in this area in 1815. The Acts of the Georgia Legislature,

approved in 1859, not only incorporated the town, but incorporated a board of trustees for the Mount Vernon Association of Baptist Churches, and granted a charter to Mount Vernon Institute, to be located in Riddleville.

Mr. Riddle gave 300 acres of land for the college, and for building a town around it. Mr. Page gave 20 acres. When it came time to give the settlement a name, legend tells us the two men flipped a coin, or cast lots, and Mr. Riddle won, thereby establishing Riddleville instead of Pageville.

Riddleville became a thriving farm community, boasting several gins, stores, and fine

houses. Two of the old houses still survive: the William G. Bryan house, built in the 1830’s, and the Greek Revival cottage built around 1850 by a man named Wescoloski from Savannah. This house is listed in the book, Architecture of Middle Georgia, and is currently the pastorium for the Baptist church.

At the center of town stood Mount Vernon Institute, a college whose charter gave it the same authority to grant degrees as Mercer University in Macon. This college remained active until 1890’s. A boarding school was once located across the street from the college.

Strongly opposed to “spirituous liquors,” authors of the town’s incorporation act provided that no liquor license would be granted within a radius of 3 miles of the school unless a majority of local voters signed a petition requesting otherwise. They never did.

A post office was established in Riddleville in 1879 and abolished in 1910, at which time the area began to be served by rural delivery routes.

As happened to other Washington County towns, over time many of Riddleville’s businesses

eventually closed and its citizens moved elsewhere. In 1975, a Riddleville Fire Department was organized, and a firehouse was built in 1978. The churches continue to act as centers for social activities in the community. In 2008, the population of Riddleville was 125.

This information was taken from Cotton to Kaolin, A History of Washington Co., Georgia