Ray City History
Sugar Cane
Sugar cane cultivation was introduced into south Georgia by John Moore when he moved to Lowndes County around 1828. John Moore established his home in the sparsely populated area north of the Grand Bay swamp. At that time, the nearest village to the Moore homestead was called Allapaha, a community which later came to be called Milltown, and in 1920 became the city of Lakeland, GA. The Moores were among the earliest pioneers in this section of the country.
By 1876 sugar cane was one of the field crops of south Georgia, and an important staple in the farming and agriculture of Ray’s Mill (nka Ray City), and the section. “Sugar, Syrup, and Molasses are made on a considerable scale in the southern part of this State from tropical Cane.” Hundreds of gallons of cane syrup could be produced from a single acre of sugar cane. “Mr. John J. Parker, of Thomas County, produced in 1874, on 1 acre, 694 gallons of Cane Syrup, worth, at 75 cents per gallon, $520.87; total cost of production, $77.50—net profit, $443.37.”
In 1879 the Columbus Daily Enquirer reported, “The Berrien county News contends that cane planting can be made as profitable in Southern Georgia as in Mississippi, Louisiana or elsewhere, and that Southern Georgia syrup cannot be excelled by that made anywhere.”
See more about Ray City History at Ray City, GA. / Sugar Cane.
For more about the historical and modern production of cane syrup in south Georgia, see http://www.southernmatters.com/
Ray City History Blog 
Shellen Bryant said,
June 9, 2019 at 5:12 pm
Is your sugar cane syrup sweet, NOT SALTY and can I order and get it shipped to Locust Grove, Ga. please???