Category Archives: –LANIER COUNTY GA–

Alapaha River at Pafford’s Landing, Lanier County

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This view of the Alapaha River looks north from the US 221/US 129 bridge just east of Lakeland at Pafford’s Landing. Heavy winter rains have resulted in a much higher water level than normal. The privately owned launch and beach are publicly accessible at the landing, but not all of the property is open to the public.

The Alapaha is popular with fishermen and kayakers today. It’s also of historical importance as an integral feature in the settlement of this section of the Georgia Wiregrass region.

Stockton School, 1920s, Lanier County

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This facility, which housed grades 1-11, was built in the Mission Revival style popular in schoolhouse architecture of the 1920s. The interior remains in fairly good condition; the stucco siding is non-historic and was obviously added later. A full restoration would require removal of the stucco.

Tenant Farmhouses, Lanier County

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These are some of the most authentic remaining tenant farmhouses I’ve encountered. Two survive, as well as the chimney of another.

It’s nice that the landowner has allowed these to stand all these years and though they appear to be in their last days, they’re important sentinels of another time and place.

Update: As of 2023, these structures are gone.

Powell Farm, Lanier County

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The Powell farmhouse is located just north of Lakeland. It’s an interesting vernacular form which immediately caught my eye as I was driving toward Pearson. It’s part of an historic farmstead that is presently listed for sale. The house appears to date to the late 19th century, perhaps the 1870s.

Two pack houses or seed barns are located on the property.

A nice tobacco barn also survives.

Update: Sadly, as of 2019, the farm has been demolished, with not a building left as I understand it.

Banks Lake, Lanier County

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Banks Lake is a natural blackwater lake characterized by shallow water and cypress trees. Located just east of Lakeland, it was owned for much of the 2oth century by the family of Governor Ed Rivers.

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Joshua Lee operated a grist mill here in the mid-1800s. When he dammed the Carolina bay  on his property, the lake was created.

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Unsubstantiated sources suggest that Governor Ed Rivers’ family attempted to develop the area in the 1920s and that his estate threatened to drain and log the lake in the 1970s, but regardless, the property was purchased by the Nature Conservancy in 1980, assuring its preservation. In 1985, the Conservancy sold the lake to the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who redesignated it Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

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With around 20,000 visitors per year, Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge is one of the least crowded parks in the system. It almost feels like a roadside park because, effectively, it is. There are docks and a short boardwalk and an outfitter on site. A gentleman I met on the dock told me that fishermen tie strips of cloth to trees to find their way around. It’s apparently quite thick with cypress.

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Banks Lake is part of the Grand Bay-Banks Lake ecosystem, the second largest freshwater wetland in Georgia, after the Okefenokee Swamp.

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The refuge, managed by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, does not have on-site staff. Fishing is allowed, for those with valid licenses.

Lanier County Ga Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2016

For information on this natural wonder of Georgia, please visit the refuge website.

Governor E. D. Rivers House, 1940, Lakeland

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If you’ve ever driven west on Georgia Highway 37 to Lakeland, chances are you’ve passed by this house and not even noticed it. It was the longtime home of Governor E. D. “Ed” Rivers (1895-1967). From the historical marker placed in 2002 by The Georgia Historical Society*, et al: Eurith Dickinson Rivers was governor of Georgia from 1937 to 1941. He actively supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Program. Rivers’ innovative leadership produced Georgia’s first Department of Public Welfare, free school books, the State Highway Patrol, and modernization of the state highway system. Born in Arkansas, Rivers married Lucile Lashley in 1914 and moved with his family to Milltown (later Lakeland) in 1920 to practice law. He is buried in Lakeland. Built in 1940 on the shores of Banks lake, the ranch style house, designed by Frank Byrd, was relocated to this site in the early 1980s.

Governor Rivers met Miss Lashley while a student at Young Harris College and they were married in 1914. After earning a law degree from LaSalle Extension University in Illinois, the family moved to Cairo, where Rivers served as justice of the peace as well as Cairo City and Grady County Attorney. They then moved to (Milltown) Lakeland where Mr. Rivers became editor of the Lanier County News. Background on Rivers’s political history can be found here.

*- Though the Georgia Historical Society is well aware of the fact, they made no mention of the fact that he was an active and known member of the Ku Klux Klan. In my opinion, this cannot be separated from anything good he may have accomplished.

Lanier County Grammar School, 1925, Lakeland

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According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form (1986): The Lanier County Auditorium and Grammar School is significant as an unusual and distinctive example…of eclectic early 20th century architecture. The compact, regular massing of the buildings, the use of brick, and details such as quoins, keystoned arches, and pedimented front entryways suggest traditional, institutional Georgian Revival architecture. However, these elements area handled in a free, non-traditional way that reflects a contemporary early 20th century design approach…These architectural characteristics result from the fact that the buildings were designed by Lloyd Greer (1885-1952) of nearby Valdosta, Georgia, a highly trained, versatile architect known for designing many other schools, public buildings, and private homes throughout the South Georgia and North Florida area.

The buildings are…the only remaining facilities associated with the county’s first consolidated school system. The county was created in 1920, the same  year the city and county schools began consolidation as part of a statewide movement toward consolidation. After this consolidation took effect, more school space was needed and thus these two buildings were built in 1925 to augment the existing Lanier County High School. The auditorium has served many county groups as a meeting space since it was the largest meeting space in the county. The loss by fire of the pre-existing Oaklawn Academy/Lanier County High School building in 1950 left these two structures as the only representatives of this early Lanier County educational effort.

National Register of Historic Places

W. S. Moorman House, 1905, Lakeland

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This is one of the oldest homes in Lakeland and was originally used as a boarding house. The columns were added a few years after the house was built.

M. W. Bargeron House, 1910, Lakeland

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Thanks to Kenneth Goff, the present guardian of this landmark Queen Anne, for sharing this wonderful history: In 1906 Mary Banks, whose husband was namesake of Banks Lake, formed the South Georgia land and Industrial Company to lay out lots of land on Main street for sale as well as the damming of Mill Creek to form lake Irma. In November 1906, P.G. Mallory purchased the lot on the corner of Main and Miller Street.

On December 26, 1906 Mr. Mallory sold the property to M.W.Bargeron. Mr Bargeron served on the board of trustees for Oaklawn Academy where he was a teacher. Also Mr. Bargeron was the cashier for the Milltown bank. Later Mr Bargeron would be elected on December 1, 1920 as Lanier County’s first county treasurer.

In 1910 Mr Bargeron built the Queen Anne structure that stands at its present location corner of Main and Miller. The house was built by J.L. Byrd with home made cement blocks made on site. In December of 1921 Mr Bargeron sold the property to William J Lee. The house stayed in the Lee family until it was sold to John W. Harrell in 1945. In April 1947 the house was purchased by Lakeland Funeral home and was used as a funeral home until 1954 at which time Mr. L.R. Howell purchased. The house remained in the Howell family until Ms. Norma Gaskins Akins in 1992 purchased the house and completely remodeled the house. In 2022 The Goff family purchased the house and has continued the preservation of the historic house. In 2023 an expansion began that will at a three car garage, office, game room, library, and three additional bedrooms. The addition has been carefully planned to complement the historical style of the house. When completed the house will have around 9000 square feet.

The house that stands today has witnessed many things from WW 1 to the introduction of cars, electricity, indoor plumbing, and rockets in space. The house has been used as a private residence, funeral home, boarding house, and some even say a possible brothel. Today the house and property extends warmth and stands a tribute to its rich history in this community.

Jones Hotel, 1906, Lakeland

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You can’t miss this landmark when you’re in Lakeland. It stands out in a town full of beautiful homes but it’s so lovingly maintained that it doesn’t feel imposing. Traci Jones writes The Victorian portion was built in 1906 and the back part in the mid 30s. My husband’s [Bob Jones] grandparents–featured in a mural on the Oak St. Side–ran it as a boarding house for 40 years., lovingly referred to as The Jones Hotel. In 1989 his parents remodeled and opened a bed and breakfast. We moved in three years ago and had some remodeling done by some local craftsmen. It serves as our residence, with plans in the future to reopen as a B& B.