By 1908, Valdosta already had railroads and so did Nashville. Now The Douglas Enterprise reported the Georgia & Florida Railroad would lay track to close the 26 mile gap between them, “Two of the brightest stars of the group of South Georgia’s cities bound by a band of steel.”
The citizens of Ray’s Mill had secured the routing of the tracks to pass through the small community, over a competing route that would have passed through Cat Creek (see Rays Mill Wins Route for the Georgia & Florida Railroad).
At that time Mr. J.S. Swindle owned much of the land around the present site of the town. It is said that he bargained with the railroad company to give them the right of way if they would give him a station. This agreement was made and thus started the town [of Ray City].
It was projected that regular passenger service on the new G & F line would begin on October 1, 1908. Two trains a day would stop at the station in Rays Mill. The train depot and local offices of the Georgia & Florida Railroad were to be among the first businesses in the newly incorporated town of Ray City. In addition to the depot, the railroad would build a number of section houses at Ray’s Mill to house railroad employees and their families. The new line, it was said, “opens up a splendid territory in this [Lowndes] and Berrien County.” Ultimately the G & F Railroad would connect Augusta, Georgia and Madison, Florida.
By March, 1908 surveying was underway for the final segment of the Georgia and Florida railroad connecting Nashville and Valdosta, GA.
Surveying the route of the Georgia and Florida Railroad. Valdosta Daily Times, March 7, 1908
Valdosta Daily Times
March 7, 1908ROAD SOON TO BE COMPLETED.
Work on the Line to Nashville to Start in Short While.
The Georgia and Florida Road Secures Additional Offices Here to be Used During the Period of Constructing the Line – The New Outlets at Augusta.
(From Tuesday’s Daily.
The links that will complete the Georgia and Florida Railroad are to be built at once and the big road for which Valdostans have hoped and wised so long will soon pass from a dream to reality.
Mr. G. M. Jones, assistant chief engineer of the road, arrived in Valdosta yesterday. He has located an office in this city from where he will supervise the construction of the road between Valdosta and Nashville. It is learned on good authority that work will begin right away and be pushed to completion as early as possible. This is the only line of much length between Madison and Hazlehurst, unless a new one from Douglas is built which would straighten the main road considerably between that city and Hazlehurst.
It is thought that by the end of the year the whole road will be finished and that through trains will be running from Augusta to Madison.
It is hard to estimate the benefit this road will be to Valdosta, as it will give the city direct passage into a rich and fast developing territory that it has been hard to reach heretofore.
It will give her another big trunk line which, it is claimed will be the equal of any one of the lines she now has, which is a pretty big claim.
With the completion of this road new enterprises are bound to spring up which will add greatly to the city’s material prosperity and growth.
There is now a road being built from Augusta to Elberton the Southern has a road from Elberton to Toccoa, and when the Georgia and Florida is completed a direct route into North-east Georgia will be had which will add greatly to the travel and trade from that part of the state.
It will open up a field in Georgia for the early melons and truck and field products of this section that has hardly been touched heretofore.
With the Georgia and Florida road in operation Valdosta should become one of the biggest truck and melon centers in the South.
It will open up a new territory for the foundries and machine shops, buggy and harness factories and for the production of every factory and field of this section.
It will be a glad day for Valdosta when train begin to move between here and Augusta.
CONTRACT IS LET
On March 18, 1908, Engineering and Contracting magazine announced that a contract had been let for construction of the railroad line that would pass through Rays Mill, GA:
“Valdosta, Ga.—Georgia & Florida Ry., J. M. Turner, General Manager, Augusta. Ga., is to construct a line from Valdosta to Nashville, Ga., about 30 miles, to link two of the properties of the company. A. & F. Wright have been awarded the contract. The Georgia & Florida Ry. controls a number of small roads which it is proposed to connect. Much of this work has already been done.” – Engineering and contracting. (March 18, 1908). New York: The Myron C. Clark Pub. Co. Pg 25
Related:
- Rays Mill Wins Route for the Georgia & Florida Railroad
- Rays Mill Gets G & F Depot
- Ray’s Mill has Arrived
- Whangdoodled on Panama Canal Contract, Billy Oliver put in a Bid to Construct G & F Railroad Through Ray City
- The Georgia and Florida Construction Company
- 1910 Train Wreck in Valdosta, GA
- M. W. Henderson and the Wreck of the G & F
- Luckie Stop at Ray City
- 1910 Train Wreck Gave Charlie Taylor A Fat Lip
- Mayhaw Lake Resort at Ray City, GA
- Southern Georgia: Railroad Pamphlet
- 1914 Box Ball Alley ~ Mayhaw Lake at Rays Mill, GA
- 1922 Ray City Bus Service was Competition for the G & F
- Batts Goins ~ Tie Chopper
- Railroad Horror! 1888 Train wreck kills John T. Ray and 30-odd others
- General Levi J. Knight ~ Railroad Tycoon
Ray City History Blog 
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