Like the City Hall next door, the Lilly Drug Company building is one of the few to have survived a fire in 1920 which destroyed most of the town’s commercial core.
Lilly Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Though resources note that this tiny structure was originally a doctor’s office, built in the 1920s, Blakely Humber and Amy Thompson note that it later served as their grandfather’s (Claude Hugh Murray, d. 1965) barber shop.
Lilly Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This vernacular Greek Revival was likely built between 1902-1905. Emily Guerry writes, “This is the Frank Lilly house, now the property of his granddaughter, Sally Strain. Frank Lilly was one of the three brothers for whom the town is named. His sister was my great-great- grandmother. Frank Lilly and his wife, Sarah, along with his parents, are buried in the city cemetery adjacent to the Baptist Church.”
Lilly Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Diane Couch, who identified this house for me, wrote soon after: Thank you so much for preserving south Georgia in photos. (This) house…is now being demolished. How sad. Sad, indeed. It would seem I got there just in time to document it, but so many more will be lost.
Though it’s been moved a short distance from its original location, the old AB&A Depot at Lilly is one of the best unrestored examples of early 20th century railroad structures of this type in Georgia. It’s an iconic structure which attracts numerous photographers to the area.
Victor McGough writes: When I was very young, I remember seeing the depot operating in full vigor. There were two sides. One side held freight. the other side was for passengers. I remember seeing a man with an eyeshade on sitting at a desk working at something. Later on when this depot ceased to be a working depot, the Atlantic Coast Line RR built a small shelter painted white & purple, the color of their locomotives. I only saw people get off in Lily once. I have stated before that I use to watch Mr. Pierce Nelson string up the mail bag for the train to come roaring through and drop the incoming mail on the ground. I have a video of my son waving to the engineer in a train going by the depot in the picture.
Lilly Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
On my return photo trip to Lilly I was lucky enough to meet Mike Bowen, who shared the history of the school and the church across the street. He also let me go inside and look around, which I greatly appreciated. The school was built by Governor George Busbee’s father, Perry, at a cost of $1500. Though monies were appropriated several years ago for restoration, it has never been completed. Mike reports that a buyer with a mind toward preservation is planning to restore it. Janis McGough Taylor added this to the history: My great-grandfather James E. McGough donated the land for this building. My father, uncles and aunt attended here as did my mother and her sister. My great grandfather’s house was a large 2 story in the lot beside the school. It burned after he died in about 1939. My father had many cousins who attended here, also. They went home for lunch (dinner in the south) but my mother had to bring her lunch as they lived out in the country.
The wainscoating is found throughout and one of the rooms even has the original blackboards.
The Lilly School is one of just a few surviving schoolhouses in Georgia with an auditorium on the second floor. Betsy McGriff notes that the old Stillmore School (recently burned) had one and Rebecca Wind states that the old Atkinson County High School building in Pearson also has one. It’s quite an interesting feature, as the following photos will attest. The chairs are not original to the building; they were surplus, given by a school in Wilcox County.
Lilly Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This is among the grandest homes in Vienna, which has a wonderful historic district full of surprises like this one. It was built by P. G. McDonald from timber cut at his Dooly County farm. In the years following, it was owned by longtime Vienna mayor Jack DeLiesseline and his wife Ethyl, who was a well-known poet and camellia cultivator. It was purchased in 1976 by the Couch family, who have beautifully maintained and restored it ever since. Thanks to Laura Couch Fokes and her delightful mother, Diane Couch, for sharing the history of this special place. Diane’s love for the house and its history is truly inspiring.
Claire DeLand writes: The home has always been known as “Rose Hill” by the family. It was…the family home of the McDonalds. Ethel McDonald married John Thompson (Jack) DeLiesseline, a native of Charleston, SC., on June 18th 1912. They lived in Atlanta for quite a while and Jack was the Southeastern District Manager of the Remington Typewriter Company.
It was after he retired that they moved to Vienna to live in the family home [of] Ethel and her sisters – Vera Claire McDonald Shipp, Lilla Mae McDonald Ketchum, and her brother Middleton McDonald. Jack was elected Mayor and served for a number of years in that position. Ethel taught piano, voice and violin. She wrote several books, and was Poet Laureate of the State of Georgia. Her gardens were gorgeous places of peace and loveliness, and she started several new Camellia varieties over the later years of her life. She was my Great Aunt and I spent many wonderful summers with her and Uncle Jack at Rose Hill.
Vienna Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Gothic design was all the rage in Vienna in the first decade of the 20th century, at least on Church Street. This beautiful structure, as well as the Methodist church just a couple of blocks away, are two of Vienna’s most architecturally significant houses of worship. This congregation was organized in 1836 as Providence Baptist Church and renamed First Baptist Church of Vienna in 1890.
Formed in 1849 as the Vienna Episcopal Methodist Church, Vienna United Methodist Church is today located in this beautiful Gothic Revival landmark. It’s the third location to house the congregation.
Vienna Historic District, National Register of Historic Places