A fire destroyed much of the commercial district of Quitman in 1897. The building on the right dates to 1898, indicating it was among many businesses rising from the devastation the following year.
Quitman Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Though the Brooks County Courthouse is generally noted as having been built in 1859, that date is misleading. Construction began that year, but due to the Civil War and the death of contractor Charles H. Remington in 1862, the courthouse was not completed until 1864. It was extensively remodeled in 1892 by the firm of Bruce & Morgan, in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.
National Register of Historic Places
A couple of weeks ago I shared an older photo of Brewer Pope’s Store. I made it a point to stop by here on a recent trip and to my amazement, the place hasn’t changed a bit in five years. It’s a good thing because this is one of the coolest country stores to be found in South Georgia. I’m not sure when it closed but it was open as late as the 1980s. For many years, this was a public pay fishing area and the store probably served primarily as a convenience for fishermen. When I first posted the photo on Flickr six years ago, an unidentified user wrote: I remember going to this store in the early 1980s when my dad worked on a farm not too far away. Crickets chirping and getting a cold Coca-Cola, out of the coffin cooler, which was sweating in the hot summer heat of south Georgia.
With the exception of the Ichauway Store in Baker County, I can think of no other in South Georgia with a more idyllic setting. It served generations of folks who probably appreciated its setting as much as I do. The millpond itself is a natural wonder and well-known landmark of Brooks County.
Somehow, these old tenant houses just keep hanging on.
This historic congregation dates to 1855.
This house is to me one of the great rural landmarks of South Georgia, due not only to its imposing stature but its pastoral setting behind mossy oaks. I never knew anything about it until recent correspondence (October 2017) with Alysssa McManus, a Florida architectural historian who has been as fascinated by it as I have.
Some sad history about people connected to the house has arisen. One of the daughters of the Snow family, Jamie Snow Branch, whose family owned this house, was murdered, along with her husband, by her brother, but that DID NOT HAPPEN HERE, despite what some social media posters claim. According to people in Quitman, the murders occurred in this house. It’s located on Court Street, downtown.
Thanks to Marian Phillips and Michael Williams for sharing photographs and inspiring me to find this place.
Quitman Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Quitman Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Terry Miller writes that though founded in 1898, this is not the original location of the church.
Quitman Historic District, National Register of Historic Places