Here’s another photo that is a mystery to me. It dates to 2010 and was located on somewhere on or near Greenough Road. I may be wrong in my recollection, though. Someone identified it years ago, on Flickr or another photo sharing site, but I’ve lost access to that information. I do know, from that identification, that it was a general store. It looked like it was in its last days when I encountered it, so it is likely gone.
Update: Bill Blackburn writes that this was the Willy Hill Bozeman Store and that it closed in the early 1960s.
This abandoned commercial block is located at the main crossroads of what was once “downtown” Sale City. Though it’s been derelict for many years, it’s still standing as far as I can tell. The storefront on the left side of the block was a pharmacy, and it’s hard to imagine Sale City ever being large enough to support such a business. But as with many historic towns, not everyone had their own transportation in the early 20th century, especially in rural areas, and all the business that is done at box stores today was done locally back then. I’m unsure as to what was located in the other two storefronts.
I’m still looking through older, unpublished photographs and discovered this one, made in 2017 in Mitchell County. It’s a typical central hallway form with board-and-batten siding. A front porch appears to have collapsed or been removed, which is also typical with abandoned properties. Jonathan West writes that this was actually a grocery and parts store all-in-one, owned by his parents.
Pine Avenue, leading to Jackson Groves. Vintage postcard mailed 7 November 1929. Collection of Brian Brown
According to website of the City of Baconton, the town was named for Major Robert James Bacon, who settled in the area in 1858. A planter and entrepreneur, Bacon gave the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad the right-of-way through his plantation, ensuring an economic presence for the community, which was named in his honor in 1869. Baconton is best-known today as the birthplace of the paper-shell pecan industry in Georgia. This variety was generally more desirable than others and brought a better profit to its growers, hence the emergence of nearby Albany as the center of the paper-shell market by the 1920s, as land speculators planted thousands of acres of pecans in the area.
Six-year Old paper-shell Pecan Tree. Vintage postcard mailed 28 November 1931. Collection of Brian Brown
According to Maria Clark, the paper-shell variety was invented [grafted] by an enslaved man named Antoine who worked at Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana circa 1846. The first commercially-viable variety of note was known as the Centennial Pecan, as it had been submitted as a representative product of Louisiana at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. In Georgia, for much of the 20th century, the Schley was the go-to paper-shell variety, and in my family’s orchards they have always been a favorite. New varieties are being developed all the time.
Barnwell Pecan Orchards. Vintage postcard mailed 4 December 1923. Collection of Brian Brown
These historic postcards illustrate how proud Baconton was of its burgeoning paper-shell pecan industry in the early 1900s.
Its proximity to the railroad tracks would suggest this freight warehouse benefited from a railroad connection. In the smallest towns, businesses that took advantage of this connection were often among the most profitable in their communities and employed quite a few people. A barely visible Coca-Cola mural survives on the left side of the freight door. This photo dates to 2017.
Baconton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Like so many other towns that thrived in the railroad era, Baconton has seen its historic commercial area deteriorate over the years. A few still seem to be in use, including those shown here, and it’s always hopeful when people try to keep them viable.
Railroad Avenue at Walton Street
The commercial historic district is centered around Railroad Avenue and Walton Street and features buildings typical of small towns in the early 20th century.
Walton Street
I made these photographs in 2017 and I believe several of these buildings have been restored or at least repainted since that time. I hope to get back to Baconton soon and rephotograph them.
Baconton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This was the first major commercial structure built on East Walton Street and is in need of immediate preservation, if it’s even salvageable at this point. Grantham Harrell writes: My great grandfather built this and grandfather worked here for years living a few hundred yards away. Robert Dickens recalls: My dad worked here when it was Baconton Hardware.
Baconton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church notes: Organized at Raiford, now Lester, in 1870, this church was earlier known as Shiloh. Its first wooden building, lighted by beef tallow candles placed on wooden strips around the walls, also served as a school. In 1875, the site was moved and a large log church and school building was built. “Preacher Russell” was the first pastor. In 1882, the site was moved four miles west of the 1875 site and a wooden building was erected and furnished with long benches with solid backs and lighted by oil chandeliers. In 1902, the present gothic structure was erected. A fellowship hall was added in 1967.
This church is very similar in design to the Lumber City United Methodist Church.
Walton Street-Church Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Real estate listings date this house to 1920, but its Queen Anne influences make me wonder if it’s not a bit earlier. Perhaps it was one of the first houses in the Walton Street-Church Street Historic District. The Neoclassical porch design is of another architectural era than the main part of the house.
Walton Street-Church Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This cross gable cottage is a good example of the emerging transitional architectural styles that came into popularity in the early 20th century, often as a response to the high style, and expense, of the Victorian aesthetic. The South Railroad Historic District is centered along the railroad tracks, just a couple of blocks from the commercial center of this once bustling community. The first decade of the 20th century was a prosperous era in Baconton and most of its houses date from this time.
South Railroad Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
