The St. Marys & Kingsland Railroad was originally founded in 1865 by Captain Lemuel Johnson and a charter issued by the state of Georgia. Construction was slow to begin and several bankruptcies and changes of ownership ensued. It was finally incorporated and began full operations on October 24, 1906 with locomotives #207 and #308.
The SM&K eventually became the Atlantic, Waycross & Northern Railroad. After the death of Johnson in 1918, the railroad was sold to the Southern Fertilizer and Chemical Company, with the sale being completed on January 24, 1918. The AW&N was sold in 1939 to the Gilman Paper Company and became the St. Marys Railroad. The SM purchased its first diesel locomotive in 1945. The General Electric 65 ton locomotive was given the number 500 and nicknamed the “Goat.” Rumor has it the crews hated using it because of it’s limited pulling ability. The railroad fully dieselized not long after with the purchase of 2 American Locomotive Company (Alco) RS-3 road switchers. In the mid 1950’s, the railroad constructed a 4-mile spur to service the US Army Kings Bay ammunition storage facility which is now the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay .
The SM was merged into the Gilman Paper Company on January 11, 1999, and operated initially under the Gilman name. The Gilman Paper Company separated the railroad by establishing a limited liability corporation operating under the name of Saint Marys Railroad, LLC. On December 17, 1999, the paper plant and railroad were purchased by the Durango Paper Company (changing its name in 2000 to the Durango-Georgia Company) and the railroad was renamed the Durango Railroad. All federal reporting requirements for the railroad were filed under that name. The company declined to change its reporting marks however, thus the locomotives and rolling stock continued to use the St. Marys Railroad name.
The Durango Paper Company closed its doors in 2002 after two industrial accidents at the plant resulted in hefty fines from OSHA. All employees of the paper plant lost their jobs, putting the future of the railroad in doubt. The railroad continued to operate a small customer base and the St. Marys Railroad right-of-way and assets remained intact.
In January 2007, the St. Marys Railroad, LLC was purchased at auction by the Birmingham, Alabama-based Boatright Companies. The railroad continues to be fully operational with no change in its reporting marks.