Woodbine History

Woodbine is located in Camden County, one of Georgia’s original counties, created when the state constitution was adopted in

February 1777. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Florida to the south, we are in the very southeastern corner of the State of Georgia. This spot has a rich, diverse history, beginning with the men and women who struggled to carve out a life in the colonial days of Coastal Georgia.

Records of the site where Woodbine is located date back to 1765, when William Trowin, John Brown, William Struthers, and

John McGillvary petitioned for and received fourteen hundred acres on the south side of the Great Satilla River at a place referred to as Pile’s Bluff. The exact location is no longer certain, but historical records locate Piles Bluff near the current site of the town of Woodbine.

The State of Georgia granted the land known as the Woodbine Plantation to Elijah Clarke in 1808. The plantation, as with most

plantations throughout Coastal Georgia, became the center of activity for the area. In 1835, it was purchased by John Bailey, who maintained ownership until what remained of the plantation was purchased by James King Bedell after the War Between the States.

Mr. Bedell built a new house on the plantation, the original having been burned during the war, and the plantation again became

the center of activity in the area. In 1893, when the railroad was laid through Camden County, Mr. Bedell sold the right of way through his plantation. His stipulation for the sale was that the first community that grew up around the railroad would be called Woodbine. On August 17, 1908, the Town of Woodbine name was approved by the people of the settlement and a charter for incorporation was drawn up.

Woodbine really began to grow when the Atlantic Coastal Highway was built through the area in 1927, with more businesses

and residents moving in 1928, when the county seat was relocated to Woodbine.

The town was re-incorporated in 1953 as the City of Woodbine, and has continued to develop in fits and starts ever since, all

the while its citizens striving to create a better place for residents and visitors alike.