Midway Historic District
Also known as: Midway Church and Cemetery; Midway Museum; Old Sunbury Road
Why it's listed
Midway Historic District is a small cluster of resources at the crossing of US Highway 17 and Georgia Highway 38 in Liberty County. It includes Midway Church, completed in 1792 on the site of an earlier meeting house burned by the British in 1778, and a cemetery laid out about 1756 and enclosed by a brick wall. A live-oak-lined stretch of the Old Sunbury Road and the Midway Museum, built in 1959 from research on colonial low-country cottages, complete the district. Settlers from Dorchester, South Carolina, organized the Midway Society in 1754, and the community grew wealthy on rice and indigo. Residents were active advocates of independence, and the area produced Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett, two Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence. The Civil War left the community unable to recover, and little of it remains beyond these resources. The district was recognized for its religious, political and architectural importance and as the symbolic center of a nearly vanished community.
Significance in brief: Midway was for over a century an influential political, economic and religious center near the Georgia coast, and its settlers produced notable figures, including two Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence. The church is a typical 18th-century Protestant meeting house, and the cemetery holds early settlers and Revolutionary figures. The museum was included because it interprets the area and no 18th-century residences survive nearby.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 73000625, listed March 1, 1973. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Jct. U.S. 17 and GA 38, Midway |
|---|---|
| County | Liberty County |
| Listed | March 1, 1973 |
| Reference number | 73000625 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Thomas G. Little (architect of Midway Museum) |
| Architectural style | Protestant meeting house resembling a New England meeting house; museum designed as an 18th-century Georgia low-country raised cottage |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Politics/Government, Architecture, Religion |
| Level of significance | National |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition listed as excellent and altered; the church was moved 40 feet in 1956 for road widening, and regular services are no longer held. The museum serves as a visitor center. |
| Acreage | 20 |
| Coordinates | 31.80633, -81.43079 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 73000625.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6843289
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.