This is one of just a few historic structures located in Fleming. It has a saddlebag floor plan, with a wing added later, though one could easily see it as Georgian Cottage in miniature.
Saddlebag Cottage, Fleming
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Mt. Olivet Methodist Church, 1881, Fleming
Sources are quite varied as to the early history of Mt. Olivet Methodist Church, but I believe it was established circa 1843, per the Liberty County Historical Society, and the present structure built in 1881. A bicentennial history of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, published in 1984, posited that the congregation was established circa 1768-1770 as Pleasant Grove. My understanding is that Pleasant Grove was a satellite congregation of Midway, established in the early 1800s. Because of a plantation association, it catered more to its enslaved congregants, and as a result, its white members eventually established Mt. Olivet.
Stacy Ashmore Cole has done excellent research on the subject of the Pleasant Grove name and concluded: “There are several Pleasant Grove churches within the history of Liberty County…” including the “now-defunct Pleasant Grove Methodist Church that was an offshoot of the Midway Congregational Church. Founded in the early 1800’s, it was attended by both white and black – enslaved and free – members…The white membership of the church later founded the Mt. Olivet Methodist Church in Fleming, Liberty County, which still exists.”
I feel that this is the same Pleasant Grove referred to by Lillie Walthour Gillard in Liberty County: A Pictorial History: “A meeting house was erected on land between the North and South Newport rivers in 1806 and was named Pleasant Grove [possibly on Roswell King’s South Hampton plantation]. According to Dr. Stacy’s history of the Midway church, “Messrs. Bradwell, John Ashmore, Colonel Joseph Law and others held reading services every Sunday for the Negroes in that area. Later the Methodist circuit riders made it a station from which the Negroes benefited.”
Saddlebag Tenant Farmhouse, Bulloch County
I made this photograph in 2013 and don’t know the fate of this little saddlebag cottage. It was located near a larger farm, so I presume it was a tenant dwelling.
Mt. Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church, Bulloch County
Also known as Fish Trap Primitive Baptist, Mt. Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church is a Freedmen’s congregation established by Elder Aaron Munlin in 1883. It’s one of the oldest Black congregations in Bulloch County. Elder Munlin was born into slavery in South Carolina in 1843 and was sold to an enslaver in Bulloch County in 1856. After the Civil War, he helped establish other congregations of Black Primtive Baptists in Bulloch County, including Banks Creek and Bethel.
According to Alvin D. Jackson of the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center: “Mt. Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church is located in Bulloch County, Georgia. It was organized on November 21, 1883. There were only 5 people present at the time of the organization. Brother Howard and Sister Martha Kirkland, Brother Cain Parrish, Elder Aaron Munlin and a white Brother, Elder J. L. Smith, who acted as clerk during the organizational. These few met on Thursday, before the 4th Sunday in November and constituted the church (Mt. Pisgah). The door of the church was open to accept members. On came – Brother Andy Donaldson. They chose Elder Aaron Munlin to be their pastor. These few began doing work for the master in their own way and God blessed them.”
“Elder Aaron Munlin served as pastor 18 years. He was a great man, sold as a slave, the founder of Sister, Bank Creek Primitive Baptist Church and Moderator of the Mt. Pleasant Association. He departed from this life April 11, 1911. The 2nd pastor was Elder Washington Hodges. He served 20 years. The 3rd pastor was Elder Hershel Smith who served 12 years.”
Hay Barn, Candler County
I believe this barn may have been associated with this historic farmhouse. It’s a classic hay barn with a tractor shed on one side and stock stalls on the other. The photograph dates to 2013.
Gabled-Ell Farmhouse, Candler County
I originally published this photograph on 17 July 2012, but the file was temporarily lost. I’m glad to have relocated it. Allison Charles wrote that her mother owned the land and she lived here as a young child. She said she called it “the old white house”.
Hall-and-Parlor Tenant House, Candler County
I photographed this house in July 2012. It’s a typical two-room form, most often used as tenant housing. Since it wasn’t near a farm, it may have been related to turpentining.
Metter Manufacturing Company
The Mid-Century font on this abandoned factory suggest it dates to the 1950s or 1960s. I believe Metter Manufacturing Company was still in business at another location recently, but may be closed now. This photograph was made in 2020 and I’m not sure if the building is still standing.
While not very aesthetically appealing, buildings like this had great importance in our small towns, often employing hundreds of people. As industrial agriculture began to displace many farm workers, industrial work often took up the slack.
Eclectic Cottage, 1910, Metter
Here’s another one of the Eclectic Cottages, located just north of the historic district. Like most examples in Metter, it has strong Victorian influences.
Garage Apartment, Metter
Garage apartments were a phenomenon linked to the growing importance of automobiles in the 20th century, and an example of innovation in utilitarian architecture. From what I can tell, they were most popular from the 1930s to the 1960s. They are still being built today in more modern forms.
South Metter Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places