Category Archives: –PICKENS COUNTY GA–

Tate United Methodist Church, 1887

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In their 1951 history of the Tate Methodist Church,Mildred and J. B. Hill note that the Methodists of Tate first met in Jasper for monthly services and then began holding services in the old Tate schoolhouse. Since the Tate family were Methodists, they led the drive to build a permanent home in the community and this structure held its first services in 1887. Upon the completion of this church, Stephen Tate directed the construction of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for the Black citizens, and gave them financial support over they years.

Georgia Marble Company and Tate Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

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Louisville & Nashville Railroad Depot, 1916, Tate

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The Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad built this depot to serve Tate, which was the busy company town that grew up around Samuel Tate’s Georgia Marble Company. After passenger service was ended in the 1940s, the depot was eventually owned by CSX. The structure was abandoned for many years, and located across Georgia Highway 53, where it was located dangerously close to the roadway. It was moved across the road and restored in 2016 and will eventually serve as an event space for the community.

Georgia Marble Company and Tate Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Talking Rock, Georgia

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This caboose is part of a series of vintage railcars that serve as the home of Talking Rock Brewery. When I lived in the mountains in the late 1980s half the counties (at least) were completely dry, so this is progress, in my opinion. Talking Rock Brewery notes: Talking Rock Brewery is one of two Breweries in the United States to be located in a railcar. The railcar was built in 1923 and has been sitting in Talking Rock wasting away until we brought it back to life…

Besides the brewery, there are several nice antique shops in town. It’s one of the nicest little villages in the North Georgia mountains and much less rushed than most.

J. R. Allen House, 1888, Talking Rock

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This nice Folk Victorian home was built circa 1888. It is a popular antique store today.

Hotel & General Store, Circa 1883, Talking Rock

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I’ve had trouble locating much information about the structures in Talking Rock, but read that this was built in 1883. In its early days it is said to have served as a railroad hotel and boarding house, In 1924 it was purchased by the Hobson family and became a general store, open until around 1980.

Historic Storefronts, Talking Rock

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A small strip of historic storefronts comprise “downtown” Talking Rock, where Georgia Highway 136 is essentially “Main Street”. Many of the structures are now home to popular stores selling antiques and local crafts and foods. The unpainted building in the middle was built circa 1883 and was the home and millinery shop of Virgie Hagood, and was known as the Hat House.

Talking Rock Schoolhouse, 1877

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A sign for the Talking Rock Schoolhouse Teaching Museum notes that the school was established in the community in 1857. The schoolhouse seen here was built in Ludville in 1877 and moved to Talking Rock in 1882. It was restored by retired teachers in 1998.

Old Jasper Post Office, 1916

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Though it is best remembered today as the Moore Furniture Company, this was originally a commercial duplex housing a pharmacy on the left side and the old Jasper Post Office on the right.

Lawson Motor Company Building, 1920s, Jasper

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This structure was originally home to the Lawson Motor Company/Lawson Chevrolet, but is now a restaurant known as The Old Mule Barn. My understanding is that it was built in the early 1920s. Though the Lawson family did own a mule barn near here, this was not used for that purpose. It is a great repurposing of an historic structure, nonetheless. This information comes from an article in the Pickens County Progress by Blake Moss, who was in high school at the time he wrote it. Every town should be so lucky to have students so engaged in local history.

Aaron W. Davis Building, Circa 1879, Jasper

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This Victorian block is one of the two oldest commercial structures in Jasper.