This house has always beckoned me to stop and make photographs, and I made these in 2011. It’s a classic single-pen tenant house, complete with “tar paper” to keep cold out of the cracks in winter. The last time I checked, it was still standing, albeit in worse condition. I’ve often encountered a wake of buzzards perched on the roof, and once even scared a bunch from inside the house. In my notes, I call it the Buzzard House.
Hard to believe (as a “city boy from Savannah”) that people actually lived in these little houses. But, Georgia was poor state, for many years, especially after the US Civil War, when Sherman’s troops devastated a wide swath of the state — which, I have been told, took 100 years to rebuild and recover from.
I know Ben Hill County from my former days in my family’s now-defunct wholesale hardware business in Savannah. We had two very good long-time retail customers there, Fitzgerald Hardware and Robitzsch Hardware.
I am not sure if either of them are still in existence. Many of our small town customers have gone away, as the owners have retired or died, and may or may not have been succeeded by others.
Businesses like this were the backbone of small towns across the state. Like many of the buildings Brian showcases, it is a shame to see them disappear over time.
I did not learn of the unique history of Fitzgerald until much later. Another of Georgia’s many “unique” stories.
Thank you for sharing these pix.
Rafe, My grandmother worked at Fitzgerald Hardware for many years, in the back beside John Henry Dorminy’s office. I also knew Bill and Irene Robitzsch well. Bill was such a nice guy. Irene’s sister Pauline was a neighbor of my grandmother.
What a small world! Both businesses were among the 95% of our customers who always settled their accounts promptly each month, so I never had any direct dealings with them on that issue, just remember seeing their checks come in like clockwork on the 10th of each month.
Looking back, I should have undertaken a trip around our territories to visit all of our customers at least once; it would have given me a much better picture of our business. But I was so busy at first, figuring things out, setting up procedures, and dealing with the 5% who required closer attention, I just didn’t have time for much else. At least I did get some “boots on the ground” experience one summer when I was a truck driver’s helper, in rural GA and SC, and that was very useful. Thanks for your note. Rafe