This church originally had a steeple. It’s the oldest church structure in Abbeville, to my knowledge. I recall, quite a few years ago now, when they were re-roofing this church. I was amazed at how anyone could do work on such a steep roof, and I still am.
Sam Mashburn identifies this as the home of his great-great grandfather, Captain Samuel Day Fuller. It’s one of Abbeville’s most recognizable landmarks.
Best known as the Shedd House today, this landmark originally served as a boarding house/dormitory for the Georgia Normal College & Business Institute, which was located across the street. The school opened in 1899 and this house is its only surviving link, to my knowledge. A postcard of the dormitory can be seen here, but it depicts a much larger building with the same architecture. This leads me to believe this may just be a portion of that original structure, also referred to as the Central Hotel. According to Doni Helms, whose grandfather Shedd owned the building after its public use, it also served as a boarding house for railroad workers for a time. He recalls that the brass room numbers could still be found on the doors when they first moved in. Doni has written a book about his experiences in this house and growing up in Abbeville called Tales from 316 Depot Street.
I’m not sure what the name of this school was, but I assume by the architecture that it was one.
One business still open on Depot Street is Abbeville Builders Supply. In the age of big box hardware stores, this is a miraculous survivor.
Smith’s Department Store was Abbeville’s retail headquarters for many years.
Abbeville’s historic downtown is in great danger of being lost if something is not done in the near future. I’ve heard that such an effort is underway. Perhaps some of the monies raised from the admission and vendor fees for the Wild Hog Festival can be used toward this end.
Most people who drive through Abbeville have seen the iconic Coca-Cola sign (below) but unless you get out of your car and walk around, you won’t notice this great tile entryway. Paxson’s Drug Store was one of the busiest places in mid-20th-century Abbeville. Mike Henderson notes that Dr. Estes had his office upstairs.
In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Ocmulgee Wild Hog Festival, I’ll be posting a few photos from Abbeville today. Having attended this festival, I can attest to what a fun time it is. This Mother’s Day weekend, the weather promises to be nearly perfect and if you’ve never been, do your best to make your way to the little town of Abbeville to experience one of Georgia’s most popular festivals. From the festival website, here’s the story of how it all got started: The Ocmulgee Wild Hog Festival evolved from Abbeville’s Flight Through the Pines and May Day Festivals. Mr. D. C. Yancey did not wan the yearly festivals to die so he went to Lanier Keene, Masonic Lodge Mason, and asked if he thought the Masons would like to help with a yearly festival. So Mr. Yancey met with a few of the masons and local citizens; Bill Sims, Lanier Keene, Tommy C. McCall, Jake Keene, Pricilla Whitman, and Dean Clements. These people decided that a festival would go on but now it needed a name. Mr. Bill Sims stated that if they could get a few thousand people to come to the Opossum Festival over in Dexter, why not a Wild Hog Festival. So the Ocmulgee Wild Hog Festival began. The festival started with $750 from the May Day Festival. Each year the Masons have sold BBQ & Stew and the Abbeville Volunteer Fire Department has sponsored a street dance after the closing of the festival. For a few years, the Masons even had a womanless beauty pageant. Our lifelong family friend, Julia Davis, was also an early promoter of the festival.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 