Restoring Darien’s history: Oglethorpe Square

Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive got to help with a very spe­cial project in Darien this spring—restoring a his­toric square that dates back to the time of Gen. James Oglethor­pe, founder of the colony of Geor­gia.

Under the direc­tion of Cer­ti­fied Arborist Jer­ry Hol­comb, Coastal Elec­tric employ­ees teamed up with McIn­tosh Coun­ty Acad­e­my stu­dents on April 18 to plant nine 100-gal­lon, con­tain­er-grown live oak trees on the for­mer site of Oglethor­pe Square.

Found­ed in 1736, Darien is the sec­ond-old­est city in Geor­gia, and accord­ing to City Man­ag­er Richard Braun, this par­tic­u­lar square was part of Oglethorpe’s orig­i­nal design for Darien.

The orig­i­nal square was erased decades ago when the for­mer McIn­tosh Coun­ty Acad­e­my (now McIn­tosh Coun­ty Mid­dle School) and its asso­ci­at­ed park­ing lot were con­struct­ed. For­mer McIn­tosh Coun­ty Schools Super­in­ten­dent Dr. James Pulos kicked off the project by hav­ing asphalt and con­crete removed, and the ground lev­eled to reestab­lish the square as a pub­lic park and green space.

Coastal Elec­tric linework­ers brought in buck­et trucks and oth­er equip­ment typ­i­cal­ly used to set pow­er poles to unload trees, res­cue anoth­er vehi­cle stuck in the sand— and even raise a flag pole for Old Glo­ry.

“Com­mu­ni­ty devel­op­ment often looks like build­ing some- thing new to enrich the lives of the peo­ple who live there,” says Chris Fettes, Coastal Elec­tric CEO, “but it also looks like pre­serv­ing some- thing endur­ing, invest­ing in the rich his­to­ry that makes this place we call home so spe­cial.”

After the trees were plant­ed, McIn­tosh Coun­ty offi­cials held a cer­e­mo­ny on April 21 ded­i­cat- ing them to hon­ored com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers. The cer­e­mo­ny was part of Geor­gia PSC Com­mis­sion­er Tim Echols’ Coastal Earth Day Sum­mit.

“Rur­al coop­er­a­tives have always giv­en back to their com­mu­ni­ties,” Echols says. “Coastal Elec­tric has done this up and down Georgia’s 100 miles of coast, and here they are in Darien, mak­ing an invest­ment in Oglethor­pe Square and going above and beyond.”

To see the first stages of the Oglethor­pe Square project and hear more from the local peo­ple involved, scan the QR Code on this page.