Jewtown, Georgia

History

Jewtown was one of three historic African American communities on Saint Simons settled after the Civil War by emancipated slaves.[2]

The town got its name from the presence of a store established by Jewish members of the Levison family in the 1880s.[3][4] A variant name for the town was "Levisonton".[5] After the Civil War Anson Dodge and the Georgia Land and Lumber Company of New York purchased the Hamilton Plantation at Gascoigne Bluff in 1875 to build lumber mills to take advantage of strong global demand. Sig and Robert (Bob) Levison of nearby Brunswick built a general merchandise store about a mile east of the mills.[6] The store was closed in 1921.

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Jewtown, Georgia
  2. Roberts, Amy, and Halliday, Patrick. Gullah Geechee Heritage in the Golden Isles, 2019.
  3. Doster, Stephen M. G. (2008). Voices from St. Simons: Personal Narratives of an Island&'s Past. John F. Blair. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-89587-481-8.
  4. Fonesca, Felicia; Cone, Tracie (February 26, 2012). "From Negro Creek to Wop Draw, place names offend". NBC News. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  5. Krakow, Kenneth K. (1975). Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origins (PDF). Macon, GA: Winship Press. p. 121. ISBN 0-915430-00-2.
  6. How an Island Neighborhood Got Its Name Retrieved February 15, 2020

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