Q: The state operated a ferry across the Flint River near Marshallville until a 600-foot bridge was constructed in the late 1980s. How long was the ferry in operation?
—Scott MacLean, Forest Park
A: I wondered when we'd cross this bridge. Or ferry, in this case. The Marshallville Ferry began sometime around 1837 – the exact date is uncertain — and it's amazing to think that it was still in use until 1988. There were several ferries on the Flint River in the early 19th century, so local historians aren't sure when this one first kept people's feet dry, but the state OK'd a crossing in that area of what is now Macon County in 1837. It took one minute for the ferry, which was powered by a 1954 six-cylinder Chevy engine, to complete its journey to the other side of the river in 1985, according to an Associated Press article, as it connected State Routes 49 and 128, north of Montezuma. The ferry was no doubt obsolete in its later years, but it didn't seem out of place since it connected a dirt road (Ga. 127), one of the few remaining unpaved state highways in Georgia at that time. And it had its limits. It could carry only one car at a time, was closed at night and couldn't operate if the river was too high or too low.
Q: When we go to Tybee Island, we pass through a little town called Thunderbolt, just outside of Savannah. How did it get its name?
A: Thor likely didn't have anything to do with it, but legend has it that a bolt of lightning struck the ground, or possibly a rock, and created a freshwater spring, leading to the name. Thunderbolt was gone in a flash when the town was incorporated as Warsaw in 1856, but the name reverted to Thunderbolt in 1921 as it grew to become a vital part of Georgia's shrimp industry.
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