Built by Seaboard Air Line, this bridge has been abandoned for years. It’s located between Omaha, Georgia, and Cottonton, Alabama, and is visible from the Georgia Highway 39 Spur. Jackie Purdy writes that there is another vertical-lift bridge operated by CSX on the Savannah River.
Located near the Chattahoochee River, Omaha is a community with lots of history. If you’re in the area, it’s worth a visit.
An interesting bit of trivia: It was mentioned as the location of a fictional lynching in James Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses. “Hanging over the bloody paper with Alf looking for spicy bits instead of attending to the general public. Picture of a butting match, trying to crack their bloody skulls, one chap going for the other with his head down like a bull at a gate. And another one: Black Beast Burned in Omaha, Ga. A lot of Deadwood Dicks in slouch hats and they firing at a Sambo strung up in a tree with his tongue out and a bonfire under him. Gob, they ought to drown him in the sea after and electrocute and crucify him to make sure of their job”.
Though the congregation was established in the late 1800s, the present structure was built in 1914 as a replacement to the original, which was destroyed by a tornado in 1913.
Thanks to Sylvette Walsh for suggesting this photograph. I don’t know how old the well is, but it’s right in the middle of the street in downtown Omaha. She notes that about 20 years ago, the well was a wooden construction with the traditional roof covering. Janice Morrison-Williams wrote that the structure behind the well, which I thought was a store, was actually the old post office.
The number of old stores around Omaha would suggest it was once a much busier place.
Built sometime in the 1840s and retaining its original half-round log floor joints, the Hiram Masonic Lodge housed a store on the lower floor during the Great Depression. The siding was added later. It was apparently moved to Omaha in 1939. It’s in danger of further deterioration if some sort of preservation isn’t undertaken soon and that would be a shame since it represents a significant example of public antebellum architecture.
James Palmer writes: This store…was owned and operated by Mr. H.M. Powell. He closed it in the 1970’s after being robbed and beaten. Mr. Powell was an old bachelor who died in 1999 at the age of 95. Knew him personally.
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 