Thanks to Kenneth Dixon for the identification. The home was built by Peter Cone Waters (1859-1927). Later owners were the Preetorius and Flake families.
P. C. Waters House, 1898, Brooklet
3 Replies
Category Archives: –BULLOCH COUNTY GA–
Friendship Baptist Church, Bulloch County
Tobacco Barn, Bulloch County
Lee House, 1890, Stilson
This house has an overall Queen Anne appearance, but is more properly a Folk Victorian. The style is relatively uncommon but I’ve found several examples throughout Southeast Georgia.
This example retains its large original kitchen, attached at some point by a hallway.
Update: Edwin Akins writes: “It is sad to report that this house is no more. Today, April 22, 2023, it was a controlled burn by the Bulloch County fire department to remove it. Just another example of the old historic homes being neglected and having to be destroyed. Always sad to see it happening all over the county and Georgia. But the reality of life is that they are so expensive to renovate then the continuing upkeep.“
False Front Store, Stilson
Brown’s Sinclair Station, 1937, Stilson
This long abandoned filling station on the edge of Stilson last served as an antique store, I believe.
John A. Brown shared this circa 1950 photograph. The station was built in 1936-37 by his grandfather, John Franklin Brown (1880-1960).
Stilson Community Center
This is the community center and voting precinct for the Stilson area. An historical marker placed here by the Bulloch County Historical Society in 2014 notes: When the Savannah & Statesboro Railway was completed in 1899, some of the stations along the track began to grow into villages. One of these was Stilson, named for Stilson Hutchinson who was instrumental in getting the Railway to pass through this area. The first postmaster was William Strickland in 1899 and the last was Edith Hutchinson in 1966. In 1900, Stilson had a population of 138. Businesses in 1909 traded in naval stores, melons, cotton, timber and turpentine. The town was surrounded by prosperous farmers.
Dr. Frank Forest Floyd was the first doctor in Stilson. When he moved to Statesboro, Dr. Dan L. Deal began his practice in 1910. In 1901 the new town built a two story school called Stilson Academy. The advertisement announcing the school read, “All Branches Taught. Board moderate. Tuition reasonable.” Professor Ingraham was the first teacher. In 1952, Stilson High School won both the Boys and Girls State Basketball Championships..
In 1903, the Presbyterian minister in Statesboro, S.W. DuBose, established a Presbyterian Mission in Stilson. In 1952 a chapel was dedicated. The mission closed in the early 1970s. With the demise of the railroad and the growth of US Hwy 80 west of town, Stilson began to decline. By 1955, Stilson High had closed and students were sent to Southeast Bulloch High School in nearby Brooklet, Ga.
Notables from Stilson are Bette Beasley Anderson, Under Secretary of the Treasury; B. Avant Edenfield, Senior Judge U.S. Court Southern District; and Faye Sanders Martin, first woman Chief Judge Superior Courts, Ogeechee Judicial Circuit.
Blitch-Lane House, 1875, Bulloch County
In From Wiregrass to Sawgrass: The Blitch Family in the Southeast, Diana Voncelle Goolsby Hunnicutt notes that this land was originally owned by pioneer settler James Young. It passed to his son, Major Thomas Jones Young, whose widow, Laura M. Williams Young, later married John Gideon Blitch. Blitch built the landmark house in 1875. He died just a year later, in 1876, and his brother, William Homer Blitch, Sr., became guardian of the couple’s children. William’s family sold it to Ebenezer (Eb) Starnes Lane in 1905.
Thanks to Kenneth Dixon for sharing the history. Thanks also to Shahn-Ryan Schumacher for bringing it to my attention. The house and grounds are beautifully maintained. It is a private residence.
Meat Packing House, 1917, Statesboro
Known simply as the “Packinghouse”, the Bulloch Packing Company facility that opened here in 1917 was only in business for three years before a fire took out the boiler room on an upper floor in 1920. It’s considered one of Statesboro’s most ‘haunted’ places, but all of the lore is based on complete fiction. Brooks Simmons, who inherited the Bank of Statesboro from his father, was the president and a chief investor in the business. He lost his investment with the fire but more importantly, during the Crash of 1929, the Bank of Statesboro failed and Simmons lost what remained of his fortune. He committed suicide in 1931, and over time that somehow morphed into the legend that he killed his employees and then himself. But the stories persisted and the structure became a favorite with ghost hunters, urbexers, and squatters alike. In 2015, former Georgia Southern student Scott Taylor bought the packinghouse with the intention of rehabilitating it for use as apartments. It’s actually much more structurally sound than it appears and hopefully, it will soon have a new lease on life.
Lanier-Franklin-Deal House, Bulloch County
This Plantation Plain farmhouse, with Folk Victorian details, is part of Jeff Deal Farms. It was built by Lem Lanier. It was later owned by Joe Franklin and Emory Deal and family. Thanks to Kenneth Dixon for the history.