Category Archives: –CALHOUN COUNTY GA–

Baxter House, Edison

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James Baxter writes: This was the first house my parents, Robert and Alma Baxter, lived in when they moved to Edison. I have many memories of this place. I have a huge scar on my left knee incurred when I fell off of the porch as a toddler and a small pipe upright in the ground went through my knee. My mom, Alma Garrett Baxter, was from Arlington and my dad took a teaching job in Edison. He eventually became the principal of the high school and the superintendent of Calhoun County schools.

Update: As of July 2020, this landmark is being torn down.

Arlington Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1908

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Now the Arlington United Methodist Church, this congregation originated as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. It was chartered around the time of Arlington’s founding, (1873). Designed in the Romanesque Revival style by T. Firth Lockwood, Sr., it is the oldest church in Arlington and remains a center of community life.

National Register of Historic Places

Ward’s Bonded Warehouse, Arlington

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Richard C. Ward III writes: John A. Ward, his wife Ewing, and his sons Clarence Ward and Richard C Ward Sr. came to Arlington from Abbeville,, Alabama in 1910 and started Wards Bonded Warehouse. All three of R C Sr’s sons worked there growing up. My first job was at the warehouse at the age of twelve in 1964. I worked there until I graduated from high school. Uncle Bruce was my boss. It was a great time in my life and very hard work. I mostly worked in the peanut seed sheller that Bruce and R C Jr (my daddy) owned.

Abandoned House, Arlington

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This is an interesting vernacular form, akin to the saltbox, but on a much smaller scale.

Update: As of 2018, I can’t locate this house. I believe it may have finally been torn down.

Arlington High School, 1925, Calhoun County

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This historic school is in need of immediate stabilization but in reality will likely be lost. As you can see in the closeup below, the tile roof has already been replaced in one section and is collapsing further. The first school in the community was known as the Arlington Academy. Built in 1888, it was destroyed by a tornado on 22 March 1897. Its replacement was used until it was lost to fire in 1924. The Arlington High School was built in 1925 and used until consolidation in 1963. These buildings were used by lower grades until 1978, when they were finally abandoned.

The gymnasium (below) also survives, but is in poor condition, as well.

Update: Jessica McDaniel reports on Southwest Georgia in Photographs that the old school has been leveled, as of 2017.

Leary, Georgia

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Don King notes: I was the Police Chief in Leary from 1989 until 2000. The small white block building by the railroad track pictured above was the City Hall and Police Station when I started there. It was originally a service depot.

Central of Georgia Depot, 1870s, Leary

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This historic depot is one of the last remaining commercial landmarks in Leary and should be restored.

Bill Sheppard Ford, Leary

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Milton Kidd notes that the building pictured here, before it was rented out for other uses, was originally home to Bill Sheppard Ford, one of the many small-town dealerships around the country that thrived when economies truly were local. It think it was last used as a convenience store.

Bank & Masonic Lodge, Leary

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This is the only commercial structure remaining in good condition in Leary. It served as both the bank and Masonic Lodge. Carole Mallett Lechner writes: This was the Leary Bank. It was built, owned and operated by William Harvey Jordan and his wife Marjorie McClellan Jordan.

Jesse Marshall Jordan House, Leary

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Thanks to Carole Mallett Lechner for the identification.