Mr. G’s has been abandoned for a long time. The first time I was in Bronwood, in 2009, it looked about the same as it does today. Much has been written about the importance of convenience stores as restaurant choices for people in small towns. I’m sure Mr. G’s served that purpose as long as it could.
This is another church for which I can locate no history, but I think it’s important to document these places, nonetheless.
Second Shiloh is of contemporary construction but the congregation has earlier origins. Per Findagrave, one of the earliest identified burials in Shiloh Cemetery in Bronwood [presumably connected to this church] is that of Steve Harris (1856-1914 or 1919), whose birthdate would indicate he was likely born enslaved. His parents were William and Ella Harris and he was a farmer.
There’s no information to be found about this church online. At least two obituaries of members of this church indicated burials at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church cemetery, so there could be a connection. It’s not something I can confirm. The building is a vernacular Gothic form most associated with Black congregations, but again, I have no information on the history. I would date it circa 1890-1920.
Jason writes: it was supposedly built in 1905, or at least that’s when the congregation first assembled. I’d imagine it would have been built within a year or two of that.
It’s encouraging to see vernacular homes like this saddlebag cottage preserved and restored. Someone did a nice job here, adding a new roof, porch, and weatherboarding.
This might best be described as Folk Victorian, but the Queen Anne details are hard to ignore.
Martin Elementary School is an historic Equalization School in Bronwood, serving grades 1-7. It was named for local Black educator Walter Martin. The L-shaped 13-room International Style structure opened in 1956 and served the community until 1970, when schools were fully integrated in Terrell County. Notably, it was designed by the prominent Georgia Classicist, Edward Vason Jones, and represented a departure from the formal architecture for which he was best known. This was quite a bold move, as most White architects in the state would not work on projects for African-Americans at the time.
In 1955, according to the nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places, “one year after the Brown v. Board decision ruled racially segregated public services and accommodations as unconstitutional, the Dawson News—a newspaper published in Terrell County—reported that local whites were prepared to shut down the entire school system rather than submit to integration and that the local school board had moved forward with its plans to build several new schools for African-American students. The newspaper printed a statement released by Robert Pinkston—county school superintendent—that declared if the local schools were integrated that the county would respond by refusing to collect any further tax revenues. If implemented such an action would have effectively shut down the county’s entire public school system…The Georgia General Assembly considered a similar proposal. Fortunately, only two of its members—one of whom was future governor Zell Miller—supported the plan, thereby sparing the state’s school system from closure.”
Part of the building was used as a nightclub in the late 1980s, but has otherwise been abandoned. There have been suggestions of an effort to restore it for use as a community center but I don’t think that is currently the case.
National Register of Historic Places
The old calaboose is the only historic municipal structure still standing in Bronwood, and as stated in the National Register of Historic Places nomination: “…the calaboose is historically significant as the only remaining evidence of historic municipal law enforcement in Bronwood, and it represents a type of local law enforcement institution now largely superseded by county government in rural areas of the state. The calaboose was used from its construction sometime about 1900 until 1954 as a holding jail, a place where the local Marshall could house prisoners overnight until transportation to the county jail could be arranged.”
There are a scarce few of these such structures surviving in Georgia and all have similar architectural characteristics. The Bronwood version is 16’x9′ and has two cells. It is constructed of heavy sawn timber and sided with weatherboard. It’s in relatively good condition, but its location beside the water tower makes it a bit hard to notice and even harder to photograph. I’m glad it has been saved.
National Register of Historic Places
This building was one of the anchors of the commercial row of Bronwood that was demolished in 2016. Richard Stott wrote of the above building: “When I lived there, the far end of this building was the post office, and next to it was Floyd Herrington’s barber shop.” It was a substantial commercial block, perhaps originally a bank or office space.
This photograph was made in 2010.
This Second Empire house is one of the finest examples of the style I’ve ever seen in rural Georgia. The present owners, Roy and Wilma Brickle, began its restoration in 1990 and have done an exemplary job.
Update: The house was lost to fire in late 2020 or early 2021.