Step 3: Pick Your Favorite Jasper County Photo

"While traveling along East Main Street in Ridgeland, just east of the railroad tracks, you can see Gopher Tortoise Square. Prior to the 1890s, Ridgeland was known as Gopher Hill in honor of the many Gopher Tortoises that inhabited the nearby sand hills. Gopher Tortoises typically live 40 to 60 years. While they can still be found in the rural areas of Jasper County, they are no longer abundant and are now a protected endangered species. Featured at the park is the Gopher Tortoise sculpture, in tribute."

"This church is one of the last remaining buildings in the old town of Gillisonville, located in Jasper County. The town was burned in 1865 by Sherman's Army. The words 'War of 1861 & 62 & 63 & 64 Feb. 1865. This is done by a Yankee Soldier' have been etched into the church's communion silver."

"Today, traces of small scale fishing and crabbing are present along the Pocotaligo's shores just as they must have been in times past. Mankind has always depended upon fishing in this part of the low country. Development to the south threatens to encroach the Pocotaligo marshes, but as yet they stand undisturbed for the most part."

"The Coosawhatchie River marshes seem boundless as they stretch from the foreground to the horizon. A distinct impression of wildness pervades the senses. At low tide, its shoals exposed, it emits its pungent smell of an endless cycle of life and death that takes place here in its waters and mud. As dawn approaches, the sky suddenly brightens and colors, reflected on the Coosawhatchie waters as they course inward on a rising tide. The day is born."

"Saul's Funeral Home is the last place of our dearly departed. Many a friend and family have gathered there over the past years to bid goodbye to those they loved. It is a place to visit with friends you haven't seen in a very long time and reminisce about the good old days and the fond memories of the person who has left this earth for heaven's reward."

"Time has mostly stood still in the upper Pocotaligo River basin. Gazing at the river from the bridge on King's Highway, one may as well be standing there 200 years ago. One feels that sense of timelessness. The river winds majestically up through the low country of northeastern Jasper County, its banks shaded by giant oaks and thick underbrush."