Sometimes I get the urge to explore with no end goal or desired destination in mind; I like to simply hop in my car and just drive until I come across something that fascinates me. A few weekends ago I decided to drive north out of Jacksonville down some back roads, passing through small communities until I passed the Florida-Georgia border.

I drove with my father, as he and I have gone on these little exploration trips since I was a kid. On this trip, which took no more than five hours total, we passed two American Revolution sites, something that surprised me, as I never knew the American Revolution made its way all the way down to Florida.

A marker describing the Battle of Thomas Creek sits off one of the roads where a group of British soldiers, Loyalist militia and British-allied Indians ambushed the Georgia Militia. The attack resulted in a British victory. The other American Revolutionary War sign was in Callahan, a small town in North Florida. While not a battle like the Battle of Thomas Creek, this marker identifies this site as a “skirmish.” This incident occurred on Alligator Creek, in which the American cavalry attacked a column of the British, resulting in an American victory.

This sign stood outside of a local seafood restaurant. The air was warm, and you could hear bugs in the air, and my father and I stood there talking about how different a world it must have been for the British who died in a field in North Florida, miles away from home in seemingly different universe altogether.

Our final stop was Folkston, Georgia, a small town right past the Florida-Georgia border. Although it was a Saturday, the town appeared as if it were a late Sunday evening, with nearly every shop closed and the two main streets empty of cars. We first stopped before the Charlton County courthouse before venturing down one of the two main streets comprising the town. A single stop light reminded me of the blinking intersection light from the Disney film Cars, where little movement or activity occurs in the town and yet the light still flashes for traffic that never comes.

Many of the buildings are old, and it’s evident through the warped-looking panes, rusted awnings and wooden beams and columns adorning several of the businesses. Several murals lie on the sides of buildings as well, with one depicting a Native American alongside a train. A train track runs through the middle of the town, with a quaint (and closed) train museum sitting just off the train crossing.

One of the other murals points to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, located just 7.5 miles from Folkston. This mural depicts a hiker surrounded by alligators, otters, cypress trees, egrets and other wildlife found in the park. While I have yet to visit, this was a neat mural to see in a small town.

I thought I had come across a third mural when, upon getting closer, I realized it was the original painted sign of a business. This stand-alone brick building was once South Georgia Timber Co., Inc., some long-forgotten company with its remaining presence left in the fading paint on the building’s side.

I had never known about this town before but was glad we came through it and walked around it for a while. I hope to find more of these types of places around Jacksonville to see some of these often-overlooked spots that people still call home.

— Aoife O’Riordan, associate editor