Category Archives: –HARRIS COUNTY GA–

Cataula, Georgia

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Cataula is one of the oldest settlements of present-day Harris County. It has had a post office since 1836. It experienced a good bit of growth when Georgia’s first narrow gauge railroad, the North & South Railroad, came through the area in 1870, but that endeavor was short-lived. There are varying versions of the origin of the name. One source (Kenneth Krakow) says it’s a variation of the Muscogee word kitali, meaning withered mulberry. An earlier variation of the origin is found on a Georgia Historical Society marker placed in 1958 that ascribed it to the Creek word for “Big Rock”. I’ll just leave it at that, as I’m not an authority on either.

This building, which was built in 1908, was originally known as the J. W. Thompson & Son General Mercantile Store. Many other businesses have been located here over time, and it’s still in use today, albeit not as a general store. New road work and rapid urban growth in the area are having a serious impact on this quiet little community. This structure and the Methodist Church are among the most noticeable landmarks in the area and hopefully will be around for years to come, but it appears other nearby structures will be lost to the current road-widening.

Cataula United Methodist Church, 1917

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According to the Georgia Historical Society, Clowers Methodist Church, organized as “Providence” in 1829, was built of logs by Thomas Clowers and others, with James Dorrough, Jr., pastor. Renamed, it was moved to Cataula. This eventually became the Cataula United Methodist Church, but that affiliation has since changed. The present structure was built in 1917.

Fellowship Primitive Baptist Church, 1907, Shiloh

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Fellowship Primitive Baptist is located just west of Shiloh and while its interior layout is typical of Primitive Baptists, the exterior is a bit more formal than most with its Neoclassical portico. The congregation was constituted on 14 November 1839, and land for the construction of a church was set aside by Thomas A. Middlebrooks, according to our friends at Historic Rural Churches. The present structure was built in 1907. It was never a large congregation, but other than a dormant period from 1929-1936, remained active until it stopped having services in the 1990s. A small attached cemetery and the grounds continue to be well-maintained.

Woodmen of the World Lodge + Post Office, 1910, Shiloh

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The two-story building at right originally served as the Woodmen of the World Lodge, identified by a marble cartouche above the middle window on the second floor, but it is best known as the old post office. Typically, fraternal lodges in commercial settings served a dual purpose, housing a lodge upstairs and various retail tenants downstairs. Woodmen of the World as an organization has always been focused on insurance and financial assistance for its members and in its early years maintained thousands of local chapters.

The altered building adjacent to the Woodmen of the World Lodge was a grocery store at one time, indicated by the fading words “Gro. Dry Goods Hardware” at the top.

W. S. Slaughter Grocery, Circa 1900, Shiloh

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Members of the Slaughter family were living in the Harris and Muscogee County areas before the Civil War. A Georgia historic resource survey identifies this structure as the W. S. Slaughter Grocery Store and dates it to circa 1900. The Slaughter name is also present on signage around the building. It’s obviously a landmark of Shiloh and nice example of a typical commercial structure of its era. It’s in good condition. The same survey that identified this structure also identified a wooden shotgun store nearby, but it has apparently been demolished or moved.

A Black History “Last Supper” in Shiloh

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This old neighborhood grocery and filling station, located on Georgia Highway 116 just west of downtown Shiloh, will definitely get your attention. It features an amazing mural, with loose vibes of Davinci’s The Last Supper, that places Black historical figures in a colorful tableau. It’s an important work of “Outsider/Folk Art” and deserves further recognition.

My friend Cynthia Jennings and I found it completely by accident this past weekend. According to family members, the artist is Kinyotter Turner. I had a delightful conversation with Mr. Turner’s mother, Jeanette, who was rightfully proud of her son’s work. She said Kinyotter’s uncle owned the building, which has more recently been used as a pool room. The image is based on The Last Supper, but since it adorns a pool room and is near a church, he didn’t formally give it that title. She noted that he had always been interested in history and spent a lot of time reading about it when he was younger. And she stated that he has always had a talent for drawing and art. After his son passed away a few years ago, he made drawings of him and gave them to Mrs. Jeanette. She said they were amazing likenesses.

The artist identified the figures, but some were difficult to decipher. I believe the prophet Muhammad and Jesus to be at the center. [Since Muhammad is generally not portrayed in art, the back to the viewer would fall within the acceptable bounds of ambiguous interpretation.] The other figures are Black revolutionaries and educators.

Dred Scott? (c. 1799-1858), Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955), Harriet Tubman (1822-1913), Martin Luther King, Jr. (1919-1968), Jesus

Elijah Muhammad (1897-1975)

Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), Muhammad (c. 570-632), Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), Malcolm X (1925-1965)


Noble Drew Ali (1886-1929), Nat Turner (1800-1831), Paul Robeson (1898-1976)

Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963), in red at bottom right.

Whitesville United Methodist Church, 1854 & 1900, Harris County

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The Whitesville Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as it was originally known, traces its origins to circuit riders and meetings at the nearby home of Reuben R. Mobley in 1828. A congregation was formally established in the 1830s and by 1837 a church building was erected for services. This was the same year the town of Whitesville was incorporated; it was a thriving community at the time, bolstered by its status as a main stagecoach stop on the Columbus-to-Rome route. Many early members were slave owners and the slaves attended afternoon services until the Civil War. [Evidence continues to suggest that most homes that survive from the antebellum were built by enslaved people and I’m doing my  best to label them as such as I publish them across my websites. It is also presumed that churches and other public buildings were their handiwork, as well].

Use of the original structure was discontinued in 1854 when the present structure was completed. The church was significantly remodeled in 1900, with the addition of the larger steeple and the incorporation of Victorian details, including shingle siding on the steeple.

National Register of Historic Places

Whitesville Grocery, Harris County

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Central Hallway Cottage, Harris County

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This nice surviving central hallway cottage has a chimney made of local stone, something common in the earlier houses of this area.

Waverly Hall, Georgia

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The historic core of Waverly Hall remains, though most of the remaining structures are abandoned.