Historic Ruskin Church observes its 130th anniversary with a community celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, October 10.
The church, which remains active under the pastorship of Jerry Brown, is located on its original grounds at 3579 17th Street in rural Ware County. It’s accessed across the railroad tracks off U.S. 84 West toward Homerville for a 10 a.m. service each Sunday.
Brown said the observance will include tours of the grounds and the church structure that’s been renovated and updated inside and out.
There also will be displays for memorabilia, photos, historial documents, and a timeline of the church’s history from its origination in 1896 to present that Brown has collected while researching the church’s history.
He said renovations began at the church about six years ago and have continued in phases during that time. The upgrades have included exterior wood restoration and painting, a new porch and windows, and interior painting and repair.
The sanctuary contains its original pews that have been refurbished. An outdoor congregational shelter is all that is left on the upgrade list, Brown said, adding that task is in the works.
Those responsible for the life of the church have local descendants today, Brown said his research revealed.
Walter Thomas Lott, great grandfather of Waycross business man Jack Lott, donated the land for the church and was instrumental in construction in the mid- 1890s.
The elder Lott, however, died December, 29, 1896 at age 39 from infection resulting from a railroad accident before the church was completed.
Among the church’s early pastors was the Rev. Mose Thrift, great grandfather of Ware County Commission Chairman Elmer Thrift. The longest serving pastor was Johnny Crumbley, who guided the church for nearly five decades.
Among his family is son Donald Crumbley, who along with wife, Penny, have been among the collection of the church’s current congregation who’ve handled the renovations through donations of money and effort.
In addition to Brown and his wife, Janice, others are Paul and Patty Barber, Hamp and Annette Tatum, Bill and Jangroup nell Collins, and Raymond and Barbara Pitts, said the current pastor, who’s an engineer by trade and retired from Memorial Satilla Health after two decades.
The church appears in the movie “Savage Salvation.” The film that was released in 2022 and included Robert De Niro and John Malkovich, was partially filmed in an around Waycross in the spring of 2021.
In its infancy, the church was part of a thriving area called “Duke” that had sprung up after the Civil War as a sawmill village along the railroad tracks. The church served a Methodist congregation at its founding.
Around 1898, a new of settlers arrived from central Tennessee looking to start a unique type of community, according to The Forgotten South website.
Known as “Ruskinites” after their founder, John Ruskin, they sought to “build a utopian society on land being farmed traditionally with menial mechanical assistance.”
Ruskin was an English art patron and socialist who with his group bought about 1,000 acres in the Duke community and renamed it “Ruskin.”
About 100 families ventured from Tennessee, mostly by train, to “establish a community of people on a cooperative basis of industrial brotherhood.”
Included in the community were a printing press and two newspapers, leather maker, wood planing mill, library, post office, train depot and hotel.
However, the desired life never was realized as one of the newspapers announced in 1901 the village was to soon be abandoned with the “Ruskinites” returning to their original homes.
The church, however, remained, continuing to serve the residents of the original “Duke” village and later its descendants.
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