This general store faces the railroad tracks in what was the commercial center of the Kildare community of northern Effingham County. Following W. H. White’s death in 1930, his daughter operated the store.

It’s typical of myriad general stores in Georgia, and was built in the practical “shotgun” form, more often associated with houses. It’s quintessential rural Georgia to me, and I’d wager that every one of our 159 counties had at least one place like this in the past. It was easy to build, relatively inexpensive, and served its purpose without fuss or fanfare.

As the iconic photos taken by the WPA and FSA photographers during the Great Depression attest, most of these little stores were covered with tin signs in their heyday. When those signs became valuable, the ones not secured by their owners were stolen.