Photography by Randall Davis
Fair Haven Methodist
Jenkins | Organized 1785
Fair Haven Methodist may be the most remarkable and best-preserved rural church in Georgia. Its story cannot be told without the history of the Jones family, whose roots in this region stretch back before the Revolution. Francis Jones Sr. came from North Carolina before the war and settled near the Ogeechee River. His son Philip moved to what became Jenkins County, granted land for his service in the Revolution. He died young, but his son Henry Philip Jones built Birdsville Plantation into one of the South’s most prosperous estates, valued at over ten million dollars in today’s currency.
+ Continue readingHenry Philip’s sons—Henry, William, Joseph, and James—are credited with building Fair Haven on land donated by their father. The present church is thought to be the third sanctuary on this site, possibly dating to around 1785, placing it among the oldest Methodist congregations in Georgia.
Fair Haven and Birdsville lay directly in Sherman’s path during the March to the Sea. According to church records, Union troops removed a drop-leaf table from the sanctuary, only for it to reappear at a nearby tenant farm. It was promptly returned, unharmed except for a missing drawer. That same table now sits on the chancel, a visible reminder of the war years.
For nearly 250 years, the Jones family has remained tied to this land, and for 170 of those years, Fair Haven has stood as a place of worship. Today, the church still hosts weekly services, a living monument to faith and perseverance. Tucked into the countryside, Fair Haven stands as a powerful reminder of Georgia’s frontier beginnings and the families who helped shape its story.