Guyton has had a designated historic district since 1982, and now the signs are there to mark it.

Members of the Guyton Historic Preservation Commission unveiled a historic district sign Monday at the corner of 7th Avenue and Magnolia Street.

“We’re here for the long-awaited sign,” Historic Preservation Commission chair Pearl Boynes said to the supporters attending the unveiling.

The sign at 7th and Magnolia is one of four marking Guyton’s historic district. The district extends north to 7th Avenue, south to Highway 119, west to Highway 17 and east to Magnolia Street.

In the years following the historic district designation, Guyton did not have an organization actively trying to obtain signs, according to Boynes. The Historic Preservation Commission pursued different avenues in recent years and bought the markers with funds donated by the Guyton Historical Society, she said.

Historic Preservation Commission member Claudette Jordan credited the late Willie Grier Todd for her tireless efforts to have Guyton listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Todd, a Guyton native who was a history professor at Georgia Southern, also founded the Guyton Tour of Homes and the Guyton Historical Society and was a charter member of the Historic Effingham Society.

“She religiously worked until she got us designated as a historic district,” Jordan said. “It was through her efforts that we got it established.”

An old steam locomotive is depicted at the top of the historic district signs, harkening back to the days the Central of Georgia Railway ran through the heart of Guyton. The old track is now a landscaped trail leading to the city’s train caboose on Highway 17.

“Guyton was a major train stop back in the day,” Boynes said.