Sadly, Leary’s small commercial core on Main Street is greatly endangered. The only building that appears to be in really good condition is the Masonic Lodge (brick building with arched windows).
As of late 2016, I understand the building on the left has been razed. Bob Kemerait shared this photo.
The Mission Revival style saw its greatest popularity between 1890-1915. Once relatively popular in South Georgia, few examples survive in good condition. I don’t know if this was always a hardware store; the Ace sign likely dates to the 1970s, indicating it was open until at least that time.
I believe this was razed in late 2016.
Though it’s barely discernible, this old Coca-Cola mural, like many others around Georgia, can still be made out if you look closely enough. The building it once brightly adorned was likely a general or grocery store.
According to Don King, this was part of the Sheppard Ford dealership at one time, but then became a business of its own: This used to be a Ford dealership years ago. It then was changed to Sheppard oil company. A diesel oil and gasoline distributor. They also sold gas and worked on cars. It was owned by the late Stanley Sheppard. It was in business while I was Police Chief there and closed while I was still there around 1996.
Viewed in perspective, these are the Jordan houses seen in the previous two posts.
Like it’s neighbor on the other side of the block, this house has been painted since I last photographed it in 2010.
From a nearly identical perspective, here’s the same house in 2010.
I’m not sure of the history of this house, but it’s one of the most perfectly classical I’ve yet seen. I’ve been told that it’s known locally as the Jordan Farm. Jimmy Webb writes that it’s now owned by Bob & Barbara McLendon. Barbara McLendon writes: Bob McLendon and I own this house. This farm was purchased in 1950 from a family from Chattanooga by my father, William Harvey Jordan. Prior to it being purchased, the farm was managed by Frank Worthy and they lived in the home. The cemetery is in the field located adjacent to the house. If anyone would like to see this house or visit the cemetery you can call Bob McLendon at (229) 881-3201. It is better to visit the cemetery in the winter months when there is not a crop planted in the field.
I first though this was a juke joint, considering its small size and location just outside the city limits of Morgan. Shawn Weathersby wrote that it might be associated with the Milner Grist Mill but Toni Milner writes: It is an old beer joint. My grandfather Sonny “Plunk” Milner sold beer out of it back in the day. The Grist Mill is housed in the building to the left of this building.
Update: As of 2023, this structure is gone.
Perhaps due to to its lyrical name, the Ichawaynochaway is one of the best known waterways of Southwest Georgia. (Locals often shorten the name to Nochaway). But it’s also one of the longest “creeks” in the state, cutting its way through nearly 84 miles of red Georgia clay. It rises near Weston, in Webster County and flows through Stewart, Randolph, Terrell, and Calhoun counties before joining the Flint River in Baker County. Perhaps dry runs in the summer months are the reason it isn’t called a river, but when viewed at high water in wet seasons it’s as much a river as any other in the region.
There’s debate as to the origin of the name, but it’s a Muskogee word. Some suggest it refers to either beaver or deer but the more popular theory asserts that it means “the place where deer sleep”. The latter seems likely, considering it runs adjacent to some of the best hunting lands in Georgia.