Dorchester Puritans of Midway, Georgia

Just off Highway 17, about 10 miles south of Richmond Hill, sits a small historic town named Midway, GA. In colonial days, the area was called ‘Midway’ because it served as the halfway point between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers.

Like much of our coast, Midway was settled by Europeaners in search of religious freedom and farmable land. Those that settled Midway were English Puritans, who made their immigration obvious to trace.

The Midway settlers originated in Dorchester, England. From here, they moved to Massachusetts – and fittingly named their first settlement Dorchester, MA. They eventually continued their journey to South Carolina, where, once again, they named the area Dorchester, SC.

However, in the late 1600s, members of their group moved once more – further south to the area of Midway, GA. What did they name their new village? Dorchester, of course!

What drew the small group of Dorchester Puritans to move to this unsettled, remote area? A grant of approximately 30,000 acres of land from the trustees of Georgia.

Why so much land? Because colonial officials wanted to outnumber the local Creek Indians, so they tried to incentivize settlers to move to the area.. And, their plan worked.

In the 1690s, it is recorded that an influx of approximately 800 people had moved to the Midway District (300 white settlers and 500 slaves).