What do we think about progress? Last week, the historic Tattnall Bank, which was Reidsville’s most significant remaining commercial building, was demolished, along with other adjacent storefronts, to make way for the construction of a Circle K convenience store. Local leadership embraced this as progress. This is really sad for Reidsville, which has very few historic commercial structures. The loss of these buildings essentially wipes out the historic downtown, after the razing of a row of buildings down the street about a decade ago.
Michael Williams reached out to me last week to let me know that one of Hazlehurst’s most recognizable landmarks, the home and office of Dr. Samuel L. Martin (1876-1966), was soon to be demolished if no one stepped forward to move it before a new fast food restaurant (Taco Bell) would be built on site. I understand that the land has already been sold.
As our friend Jesse Bookhardt said back in 2024: “Everybody loves Dr. Martin’s old home, but nobody seems to love it so much that they are willing to save it, so it continues to vanish bit by bit.“
Dr. Martin was a graduate of the Atlanta School of Medicine (now Emory University), who also dabbled in politics. He was a city alderman and mayor of Hazlehurst, in addition to service in both houses of the state legislature. While serving in the senate, he promoted a bill which provided scholarships for medical students who would practice for four years in small towns who were underserved by health care.
Even in its deteriorated state, the house has been a favorite to many who have seen it and photographed it over the years. It has most recently, to my knowledge, been some sort of antique store, but it has been abandoned for quite some time.
The architecture is quite eclectic, especially the asymmetrical front. I think the front and colonnade may be early additions to the house, which was originally built by Charles Felder Chapman (1879-1951) for his wife, Winnie Mae Roberson Chapman (1890-1931).
The carriage house became Dr. Martin’s home office, though he was an old-fashioned country doctor and spent much of his time on the backroads of Jeff Davis County, taking care of rural patients.
It is always sad to share news like this, but I’ve seen so much of it over the years, I can imagine the outcome. The best possible scenario would be for someone to move and save the house, but short of that, it will soon be gone forever.
After the Civil War, the enslaved people of nearby Midway Congregational Church formed their own congregations throughout the county. The African-American community chose names based on the South Carolina locations where they came from, including Dorchester and Beech Hill. At some point, the spelling of Beech Hill was changed to Beach Hill. I haven’t been able to find a date for the organization of this congregation, but it would likely be circa 1865-1870, a common establishment date for the Freedmen churches of the area. In fact, Beach Hill is very close to the historic Freedman Grove community. The present church, originally a wood-framed structure, features the iconic “wedding cake” steeple often found in historic Black churches.
As best I can determine, St. James AME Church is a historic Freedmen’s congregation. While the present-day address is Fleming, it is primarily associated with the nearby Freedman’s Grove community.
Dixon Branch Missionary Baptist church is a historic Black congregation near Rocky Ford, organized by freedmen on 27 June 1871. The name refers to Dixon Branch, a nearby tributary of the Ogeechee River. There were many plantations in this area, and after emancipation, formerly enslaved people who had once been forced to worship with their enslavers desired their own places of worship. They likely met in a brush arbor for their earliest services but eventually built a formal church (circa 1900), which was a typical white clapboard structure, with a “wedding cake” steeple to the left. That structure was replace by the current building, but I haven’t been able to confirm a date.
The small historic cemetery features a variety of memorials, ranging from vernacular to commercial, and many of the early families still have ties to the congregation. The examples presented here are completely random.
F. J. Nelson (birth and death dates unknown)
This simple marker memorializes someone who is now lost to history. I am always hopeful that someone will know these forgotten souls.
Maud Singleton (21 May 1888-March 1897)
This memorial is of a typical vernacular style, featuring stenciled letters with a floral design. Maud Singleton was the young daughter of M. H. and G. A. Singleton.
R. Rease (15 March 1842-22 August 1907)
This commercial monument contains the sentiment: “A kind wife mourns in thee, a husband lost. The poor, a friend who felt, what friendship cost.”
Johnson Bradley (8 February 1868-9 March 1925)
Mr. Bradley, a Prince Hall Mason, was born in South Carolina to Joe and Nancy Bradley. His wife’s name was Lydia. His memorial contains the sentiment “There is rest in heaven”.
Deacon Arthur Oldredge Burke (27 December 1889-22 July 1964)
Deacon Burke was obviously an important member of Dixon Branch Missionary Baptist Church. His memorial may be the nicest in the cemetery. It features a Sacred Heart of Jesus relief, which is most often associated with the Catholic faith, though it has been adopted by Christians of all affiliations.
Rev. James Cail (7 October 1931-30 November 2017) and Ruby Cail (28 July 1933-3 December 2015)
Rev. James and Ruby Cail led Dixon Branch Missionary Baptist Church for many years. A rosary adorns Mrs. Cail’s memorial.
J. F. Fields (1858-1932) was a merchant, who began selling soda water at his popular New York Bargain Store in 1894. By 1900, Field and Dempse Barnes (1875-1912) were in business as the Fields and Barnes Bottling Works, manufacturing numerous brands of soda. In 1901, Fields purchased the Statesboro Bottling Works and Ice Business from B. P. Maul. Dempse Barnes bought Fields’s interest in 1903 and formed the Statesboro Bottling Works. The turn of the century was a time of great growth in the soda water business and in 1906, Dempse Barnes, through acquisitions of competitors and expansions, brought the first Coca-Cola Bottling Works to Statesboro. The structure pictured here was built in 1934 and after operations moved to another facility in 1998, has housed several businesses. It is in serious need of preservation.
This Second Empire home was built at a cost of $16,000 by local contractor Francis Grimball for Henry Brigham (1811-1883) in 1879. Brigham was a native of Southborough, Massachusetts, who came to Savannah in 1835 and established himself as a merchant. As his wealth increased he was associated with several banks, eventually becoming president of the Merchants National Bank. He was also a city alderman from 1860-1876.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places
The Harper Fowlkes House was built by prominent architect Charles B. Cluskey as a Greek Revival townhouse for Savannah shipping magnate Stephen Gardner on Orleans Square in 1844. Financial difficulties soon compelled Gardner to sell the house to his brother, who then sold it to Aaron Champion (1792-1880). Champion’s daughter, Maria Sophia McAlpin (1832-1890), used the house for in-town entertaining while living at the Hermitage Plantation. Her husband James McAlpin was a trustee of that property. By 1895, Maria’s son, Henry McAlpin (1860-1931) and his second wife, Isabel, were living in the house, and Isabel was responsible for the addition of a third floor and mansard roof, to accommodate servants. Alida Harper Fowlkes (1908-1985) purchased the home, which today bears her name, for $9000 in 1939. Mrs. Fowlkes, who owned the Georgian Tea Room in the Olde Pink House in the 1930s and 1940s, later became an antiques dealer and preservationist, restoring ten houses in Savannah. In her will, she left the house to the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Georgia and stipulated it never be sold. It is operated as a house museum today by the Coastal Heritage Society.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places
Orleans Square was laid out in 1815 to commemorate General Andrew Jackson’s victory in the Battle of New Orleans. A nice open square located adjacent to the Savannah Civic Center, its centerpiece is the German Memorial Fountain, installed in 1989, by the German Heritage Society, German Friendly Society, and the Georgia Salzburger Society.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places
The Telfair family’s Regency townhouse, which after a bequest to the city became the first art museum in the American South, was designed by architect William Jay, and stands as one of his few surviving designs.
Alexander Telfair, portrait, public domain image via Find a Grave
Originally designed for Alexander Telfair (1789-1832), a bachelor son of early Georgia governor Edward Telfair (1735-1807), the house eventually passed to his sister Mary Telfair (1791-1875), who was known for her outstanding art collection.
Mary Telfair, contemporary photograph, public domain image via Find a Grave
Mary, who never married and was the last of the Telfairs, left the home to the Georgia Historical Society to be operated as an art museum. It was remodeled for use as a museum in 1886 by architect Detllef Lienau. It is one of three properties that now make up the Telfair Museums. Her bequests also included the Mary Telfair Women’s Hospital, now a part of St. Joseph’s Candler Hospital.
In front of the building are sculptures of Phidias, Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Perhaps the most famous work inside the museum is Sylvia Shaw Judson’s Bird Girl sculpture, known for its appearance on the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
