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    WAYCROSS HISTORY  
   
    The area now known as Waycross was first settled around 1820 known as Old Nine or Number Nine and then Pendleton. It was then renamed Tebeauville in 1857, and designated county seat of Ware County in 1873. Then it was incorporated as Waycross on March 3, 1874.

Ware County, in extreme southeast Georgia, was formed when Appling County was divided by the state legislature on December 15, 1824. It was named for a man who never visited the area, Nicholas Ware, an active politician known for his flamboyant lifestyle. The lower portion of the county forms a major part of the Okefenokee Swamp Waycross, the county seat, is about 100 miles northwest of Jacksonville, Florida.

The defining of county lines did not stop conflict with the Native Americans, who resented the crossing of old borders, regardless of any treaties. The Wildes Massacre, the last slaughter by the Indians in Georgia, occurred in Ware County in 1838, during the Second Seminole War. Nine people were killed by a group of Creek warriors, who escaped into the vast Okefenokee Swamp.

One of Ware County's borders is the Satilla River, which in the mid- to late 1800s became a busy locale for rafting yellow longleaf pine to sawmills on the coast. The Okefenokee Swamp offered cypress trees, and the famed Hebardville Cypress Mill, considered the largest such operation in the world at its peak period, also underscored this area as a timber cutter's paradise. Unique here at the turn of the century was the narrow-gauge railroad that snaked its way from Ware County's Hebardville to Billys Island in the Okefenokee, transporting cut cypress to the mill.

Ware County was known as a place where trails and roads met, the reason for Waycross's name.

The Indian paths along which many early roads were cut headed toward Trader's Hill, Coleraine, and Camp Pinckney on the St. Mary's River, or to Burnt Fort on the Satilla. Later, the stagecoach would find one of its major relay stations at Peter Bedford's Tavern in the county seat of Waresboro. The county's position as a transportation hub continued to strengthen with the coming of the railroad and the 1874 formation of Waycross, which became the new county seat.

In colonial days, it was the hub of stagecoach roads and pioneer trails. Later the old Plant System and the Brunswick and Western Railroad lines crossed here, giving birth to a modern railroad network.

Waycross marks the beginning of the Okefenokee Swamp and offers many chances to experience the swamp. The Okefenokee has a wildlife refuge in Waycross for people to enjoy the swamp. The city also offers tours of the famous swamp for tourists.

During the 1950s the city had a tourist gimmick. The local police would stop motorists with out-of-state license plates and escort them to downtown Waycross. There they would be met by the Welcome World Committee and given overnight lodging, dinner and a trip to the Okefenokee Swamp. The tradition faded away after the interstates opened through Georgia.

  
                   
    WAYCROSS GEOGRAPHY  
   
    Waycross is located at 31°12′50″N 82°21′18″W / 31.21389°N 82.355°W / 31.21389; -82.355 (31.213860, -82.354911) and is the closest city to the Okefenokee Swamp.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.7 square miles (30.3 km²), of which, 11.7 square miles (30.3 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.17%) is water.

  
                   
    FAMOUS NATIVES AND RESIDENTS OF WAYCROSS GEORGIA  
   
   
  • Gram Parsons - Musician of The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers
  • Ossie Davis - Actor, Writer, Director, Producer
  • Pernell Roberts - actor
  • Stanley Booth - author, journalist, music critic
  • Sonora Webster Carver - First woman horse diver
  • Burt Reynolds - actor, director, writer, producer, casting director, singer
  • Nikki DeLoach - Former member of the new MMC and the girl group innocence and actress on the television series North Shore and Windfall
  • Will Denton - Drummer for dc talk and Steven Curtis Chapman; currently on tour with LeAnn Rimes
  • Tim McCray - Professional football player from 1985-1990 in the CFL
  • Caroline Miller - Pulitzer Prize winning author
  • Rory Segrest - Defensive Line Coach for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles
  • Jay Gogue - Auburn University President
  • Arthur Albertson - silent film actor
  • Covington Barrett - silent film actor
  • Candance Gosch - actress
  • Lindy Newton - actress
  • Johnny Archer - American professional pool player - "The Scorpion"
  • Bill Darden - Founder of The Green Frog, Red Lobster and Darden Restaurants which owns Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Smokey Bones, LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille.
  • Leodis McKelvin - Attended Ware County High School in Waycross now plays as a NFL player with the Buffalo Bills.
  
                   
    WAYCROSS TRIVIA  
   
   
  • After his banishment from Major League Baseball following the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, Shoeless Joe Jackson played numerous minor league baseball games in the city of Waycross.
  • Waycross is the hometown of the character Stroker Ace in the Burt Reynolds movie Stroker Ace
  • Barbecue Bob recorded a song about the city in 1928 called "Waycross Georgia Blues"
  • Mickey Newbury's 1969 epic song San Francisco Mabel Joy tells the story of a Waycross farm boy's tragic life.
  • The Madea character created by Tyler Perry once lived in Waycross.
  • The 1960 Hank Snow song, Miller's Cave, is set in Waycross.
  
                   
                   
                   
                   
   
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