An old shotgun store on US Highway 129 in southwestern Putnam County, long hidden by vegetation, has recently been exposed, and along with it, a hand-painted sign advertising the Hotel Lanier in Macon. The sign likely dates from the 1920s-1930s. The sides of buildings, especially stores and barns, were often used for advertising, essentially the billboards of their day. Much of US Highway 129 [sections of which were known as the Dixie Highway] was paved by the late 1920s or early 1930s, and as one of the first major improved north-south arteries in Georgia, was valuable real estate to advertisers. The Lanier House, on Mulberry Street, was considered a “crown jewel” in antebellum Macon, owned by Sidney Lanier’s grandparents. After a fire in the early 1900s, it was remodeled and renamed the Hotel Lanier, but remained a popular gathering place until at least World War II. It was razed in 1975.
So interesting! I bet the hotel was a popular gathering place and had a nice restaurant!
Love the photos and hotel story. Also… what a find!
I bet there were more of these around at one time. Just a stroke of luck to find it.
What a grand old hotel. So sad that it was razed!
https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/hidden-history-macon-hotel-turned-parking-garage/93-f967b1fb-cb5e-4961-8fbf-ef97e9ea1ad3