Ways Station, now Richmond Hill, was Station No. 1-1/2 on the Savannah, Albany and Gulf Railroad and was built on land belonging to William J. Way, who was the first station master and co-owner of Silk Hope rice plantation. Construction of the rail line began in Savannah in 1856 and continued southwest, and Ways Station became a transfer point for rice, cotton, and other products from area plantations. After the Confederacy constructed Fort McAllister on the Ogeechee River in 1861, Ways Station also became the terminal for troops and materials transported to the fort. The rail line was renamed the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad in 1863. The area now known as J. F. Gregory Park was part of Silk Hope Plantation and helped Georgia become the second highest producer of rice in 1860; rice dikes, fields, and some of the original lock mechanisms can still be seen in the northern portion of the park, although rice production diminished after the Civil War. On Friday, December 9, 1864, Union Brigadier General William B. Hazen's division of the 15th Corps in Major General William T. Sherman's army crossed the Canoochee River six miles northwest of Ways Station to destroy the railroad. A train traveling southwest from Savannah soon passed by, and when the engineer realized he had entered Federal lines and attempted to back up, an officer drove a wagon onto the tracks behind the train and shot its mules, causing a derailment. The train carried about 25 passengers fleeing Savannah, including Richard R. Cuyler, president of the Central Railroad of Georgia; Sherman authorized Cuyler's release, but his valuable possessions were destroyed. More Federal soldiers soon arrived in Ways Station. Brigadier General H. Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry division passed through on December 12th with orders to scour Fort McAllister and make contact with the Federal navy off the coast. Colonel Smith D. Atkins made his brigade headquarters at Ways Station while Kilpatrick proceeded with his other brigade plus two regiments before returning on December 15th. Hazen's infantry division camped near King's Bridge over the Ogeechee River after capturing Ways Station and marched through town again on December 13th on the way to attack Fort McAllister that same day. On Friday, December 16th, Sherman ordered the destruction of approximately 40 miles of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad from the Ogeechee River southwest to the Altamaha River, with Hazen's division destroying the line from the Ogeechee River to McIntosh Station in Liberty County and Major General Joseph Mower's division of the 17th Corps continuing to the Altamaha River.