I photographed this old farmhouse on Herschel Vickers Road in 2009 and again in 2011. It looked about the same both times, but I imagine it’s gone today. Places like this have been sentinels in my dirt road travels for nearly a quarter century but are becoming rarer today. Most are just victims of time and the weather.
Sad these classic structures are disappearing, but glad you have preserved them in your images, Brian. Social and architectural documentary photography at its best.
Thank you, as always. I truly appreciate your comments.
Brian, the Vickers family are related, Mr. Vickers was postmaster at Brunswick but came from Ocilla I believe. My Great Grandfather donated the land for Frank Baptist Church in Ocilla and the Paulk graveyard is there. My father, grandfather, and great grandfather are buried there along with many relatives. My Great Grandfather’s obelisk grave marker is impressive, and though his name was James Paulk, he was called Joe Paulk. My grandfather’s house that he built before 1900 is there and occupied by Mr. John L Sumner’s grandson. Mr. Sumner managed the farm when Grandpa moved to Glynn County in 1920 when my father was 10 years old. I loved to ride around the farm in his pickup truck and help with chores like moving the cows to another pasture. The house is adjacent to the 125-acre mill pond where I loved to fish on visits there with grandpa. The millhouse burned down at some point, but I remember the big stone grinder for turning corn into grist. Water going over the dam turned a wheel. As a little boy, I was so impressed with everything about the farm, the cows, the huge pecan orchard, the mill pond, tobacco fields, and riding the sled pulled by a mule to the tobacco barn. As an adult, my brother and I went bass fishing there when I came east on visits where my dad kept a couple of boats. My new book, Shaking Up the World, is now available on Amazon, check it out. I think you would enjoy it; the History Department recently designated it as a prime source for research purposes. Jim Paulk, Kingsland