This house has always been a landmark of my travels on the old River Road, dating back to going with my great-grandmother to visit all her relatives in Eastman. I made the photograph in 2010. Mark Studstill writes: The home is still standing. It now belongs to the Studstill family who’s grandmother was Mr. Enoch Bowen’s (owner/builder) daughter. We are very proud to have the opportunity to have this home along with the heritage and history that goes along with it. Can still remember the stories our dad told about living in and hanging out around this old house. He could even remember the names of dogs that slept in the open hall.
In her History of Dodge County (Atlanta, Foote & Davies, 1932), Mrs. Wilton Philip Cobb wrote: Situated about eight miles north of Eastman, on the Southern Railway, is the little town of Gresston. This town was named for Mr. [George Valentine] Gress (1846-1934), who in 1883 built one of the largest sawmills in the South at this point. In connection with the sawmill was a large dry kiln plant, the first of its kind in this section. Although here was the best yellow pine timber, which was both plentiful and cheap, the mills at that time were having trouble in disposing of their lumber…because of low price and the lack of demand. G. V. Gress was quick to see the advantage of selling a finished product, and he made a trade with a Mr. Moore, of the Moore Dry Kiln Co., to build these dry kilns, which were among the first in the South.
…the Gress mill had a big advantage over the less progressive manufacturers and as a result the Gress Lumber Company built up a profitable business…
…The mill town of Gresston grew and flourished for many years, but like all sawmill towns of those early days, when the mills were through and moved away, the town also went. All that is left of this once flourishing town are a few residences and a mercantile establishment and a large ginnery that are owned and operated by Ragan Brothers…Claud and R. T., of Eastman.
After retiring from the lumber business, Mr. Gress moved to Atlanta, where in 1889 he presented the city with the menagerie that would become today’s Zoo Atlanta. He also purchased the Cyclorama in Grant Park and presented it to the city. He later moved to Jacksonville, Florida.
Jerry Whigham writes: This is my grandfather’s (Jim Whigham) house that he built by hand in 1951. He lived here until 1990. In 1951 power lines were run down this highway. He was already living on this property in an older house near the old barn about a quarter or half mile back from the highway, but it was cheaper for him to build a new house near the road than to have electrical service run back to the existing house. He used his own trees for lumber which he took to the sawmill. He used his own labor. He also used parts and pieces from the old house. My father (Joseph Neal Whigham) wired or helped him wire the house.
Update: As of 2018, this house has been torn down.
Designed by the great courthouse architect J. W. Golucke (Golucke & Stewart), Dodge County’s historic jail was built by the Pauly Jail Building Company, which is still in business today. It originally featured a three-story tower in the center, but that was removed during a roof renovation. It closed in 1973 upon the completion of a more modern facility.
The detailed metal window arch inserts are quite decorative for a jail. As evident in this photograph, serious structural damage is an immediate threat.
A hanging room with trap door and lever are still intact, but leaks and continued neglect will need to be addressed soon to stabilize the structure. Hopefully, Dodge County will utilize the jail in the future for a cultural resource center or something of that nature. Since its inclusion on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2010 Places in Peril listing, little, if any, restoration has been done.
Dodge County’s Neoclassical courthouse was designed by Edward Columbus Hosford (1883-1939), an Eastman native. It’s the second courthouse in the history of the county; William Dodge had a two-story frame courthouse built at his expense as an appreciation for the county having been named in his honor. It was torn down in 1906 or 1907 and replaced with this structure.
Besides its fascinating history, Orphans Cemetery is a real gem of landscape architecture and cemetery design. It’s one of the most beautifully maintained in the state, and the rare cedars and other trees make it feel more like an arboretum than a burial ground. Interred in the mausoleum are Albert Genavie Williamson (1 August 1854-4 December 1925) and Martha “Mattie” Jane Buchan Williamson (10 April 1858-11 May 1938). Jay Gould Williamson, the nephew and adopted son of the Williamsons depicted as a young boy in the memorial, was born on 17 August 1893 and died on 23 September 1982. He spent his last 35 years on St. Simons Island and is buried at historic Christ Church Frederica. Three of the orphaned Williamson brothers are also buried in the cemetery.
From the marker placed by the Georgia Historical Society, Orphans Cemetery Association & Dodge County Historical Society in 1999: Albert G. Williamson, a Dodge County entrepreneur, donated land for a burial place in Orphans community following the death of a neighbor´s child, George P.A. Barnes, in 1887. The community was named in honor of the six orphaned Williamson brothers who moved here in 1873-74 from North Carolina. The earliest burials were children of the Thomas, Weldy, and Lashley families. Other common names in the original acre are Hardy, Manley, Steele, Stuckey, and Williamson. The statuary above their mausoleum depicts A.G. and Martha Buchan Williamson and their nephew, Jay Gould.
The mausoleum was erected by the Cordele Consolidated Marble Works on 17 August 1912. The statuary was cut in Italy of Cararra marble, from a photograph made in 1903. The details and life size depiction of the Williamsons is a stunning work of public art.
Mr. Williamson’s Magnolia, as this giant tree is known, was planted in 1887 beside the grave of George Paul Alexander Barnes. Today it provides a spot for refuge and reflection, with two swings hanging from its branches.
Albert G. Williamson’s obituary provides more background as to his life and activities in Dodge County: Hon. A. G. Williamson, for fifty years one of Dodge County’s prominent citizens, died at his home in the city Friday night about nine o’clock, following an illness of more than a year, during which time he was practically an invalid. Mr. Williamson’s body was embalmed by J. W. Peacock Co., undertakers, and according to instructions previously given by him, was deposited in a vault at Orphans Cemetery at sundown Sunday afternoon. This vault, above which rested life-size statues of Mr. Williamson, Mrs. Williamson and J. Gould Williamson, a nephew and adopted son,, was erected by Mr. Williamson about fifteen years ago, and full directions were given by him as to the disposal of his body at death. The body, lying on the left side, reposed on a cedar cot, which had also been provided by Mr. Williamson, and in this position was deposited in the vault. The funeral service, which was conducted by Rev. Frank Adams, of the Christian church, consisted only of scripture reading, prayer and two songs. The scripture was from the 14th chapter of St. John, the second to fourth verses, inclusive. The songs ” I Shall Know Him, ” and “Asleep in Jesus, ” were rendered by a double quartet composed of O. V. Lashley, Henry Manley, Robert Bennett, Mrs. Jeter A. Harrell, S. H. Goolsby, H. E. Dickens, John Parkerson, Mrs. C. F. Coleman. The active pallbearers were the following: W. Fitzgerald, W. H. Smith, C. F. Coleman, C. H. Peacock, R.G. P. McKinnon, C. C. Burch. An honorary escort was composed of C. D. Phillips, W. J. Deffinall, C. B. Murrell, J. H. Rogers, W. W. Puett, J. C. Wall. The floral offerings were banked about the mausoleum in abundant profusion and were magnificently beautiful. A throng of about one thousand people was in attendance.
Mr. Williamson was born in Columbus County., N. C., and was 71 years old August 1st. He came to Dodge County 52 years ago and secured employment as woods-rider for Coleman & Sessoms, a naval stores firm. Soon afterwards he was married to Miss Mattie Buchan, daughter of Dr. James Buchan, by whom he is survived. Being a man of keen and accurate judgement, he early realized the value of lands in this section of Georgia, and through this judgement and his untiring energy, he acquired as the years went by, 8,000 acres of Dodge County land, also large holdings in Eastman city property and government bonds. His estate is valued at between $400,000 and a half million dollars. Several months ago he deeded a large part of this property to relatives, his wife and adopted son being the principal beneficiaries.
Mr. Williamson united with the Christian church when quite a young man, and as long as his health would permit, took a very active interest in its affairs. He built the Christian church at Orphans and was an important factor in the erection of the Christian church in Eastman. To both of these institutions he was a strong pillar and liberal contributor. Mr. Williamson was Ordinary of Dodge County two terms, beginning about 1895. His administration of this office was marked by splendid efficiency and admirable economy, he rendered to the people the same fine business management that characterized his personal affairs.
Mr. Williamson’s life and character constitute a remarkable demonstration of what a man may accomplish through the exercise of economy, energy and industry, coupled with the practice of rigid honesty and justice that marked all of his transactions.
Source: Tad Evans, Dodge County Newspaper Clippings Volume IV 1920-1928.
In their 2015 Places in Peril notation, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation writes: Chauncey was the first city in Georgia to issue bonds to construct and equip a modern school building. As a result, the Chauncey School was built in 1914 on a budget of $10,000. The building featured six classrooms, a state of the art science laboratory, and a regal auditorium. Boasting a Neoclassical Revival façade, the interior of the building contains numerous details common to early twentieth century architecture, such as pressed tin ceilings, elaborate moldings and glass doorknobs.
I met a nice gentleman who told me he had a farm just down the road and had lived his whole life in the area. He was glad I was photographing the old schoolhouse and shared many fond memories of his days there in the 1950s.
Were it not for the name Suomi Road, there would be no hint that such a strange-named (for rural South Georgia) place ever existed. The origins of the name are lost to history, but John Goff (Placenames of Georgia, UGA Press, Athens, 2007) proposed that it was likely settled in the 1870s or 1880s when the lumber industry and the Dodge Land Wars were in full swing. It’s located very close to Normandale, a historical community that was the epicenter of the Dodge Lumber operations. Goff guesses that another mill may have been located here and that a railroad siding or station was probably given the name Suomi (in honor of the Finnish word for Finland) by Finnish lumbermen who may have been working in the area. They were most certainly transient workers as Goff posited no evidence of Finnish surnames in the area. The area has a Chauncey address today.
Jerry Jarrard writes: Suomi was a rail stop in Dodge Co. Ga. I remember when Grandpa took down the Suomi sign and put it in the barn. He owned what had been a hotel for the Finnish lumbermen. It sat behind the rail stop. It has since burned. In those days there was a country store beside the Suomi sight. it may have been named Weeks store. A weeks family lived two houses to the right of the old hotel The platform for the rail stop was a concrete pad, which is probably still there.
This house appears to be a hall and parlor form, but the patch at the middle of the roof suggests there was once a chimney there, and it may have originated as a saddlebag.
