Category Archives: Portal GA

Catface Turpentine Festival, Portal

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A group of people engaging in conversation outside the Bobby Ronald Newton Turpentine Museum, including individuals in bright orange and blue clothing. A woman walks by with a child near a table. Lush greenery surrounds the area.
Outside the Bobby Ronald Newton Turpentine Museum

Bad weather didn’t keep people away from this year’s 34th Annual Catface Turpentine Festival in Portal, which bills itself “The Turpentine City”. To those who don’t already know, the name catface was given to the slashes cut into pines to gather sap. They’re said to resemble cat’s whiskers. The Carter Turpentine Still and the recently named Bobby Ronald Newton Turpentine Museum (background, above) are the focal points of the festival. The museum’s namesake, Bobby Ronald Newton, was a longtime volunteer at the festival and was instrumental in preserving the area’s turpentine history. In 1982, Denver Holllingsworth and the Portal Heritage Society suggested restoring the old Carter Still and with enthusiastic community involvement, the old boiler was finally re-lit. The Carter Still is one of only three remaining in Georgia. The two other stills are located in Tifton and Walthourville.

A busy outdoor event with people walking around, some holding food. In the foreground, a woman in a pink shirt and a child in a pink hoodie are visible, along with a small white dog. A rustic food stand can be seen in the background surrounded by more attendees.
Visitors to the Turpentine Festival

The festival is one of the major annual events in Portal and there is usually good attendance.

A vendor standing near a sign reading 'Rosin Potatoes' at an outdoor event, with barrels and greenery in the background.
Rosin Potatoes

Rosin potatoes are one of the popular curiosities of the festival.

Turpentine historian Roger Branch stands inside a wooden room, holding a walking stick. He wears a blue jacket and a cap with a logo. Behind him are various historical posters related to turpentine tapping and wooden artifacts.
Roger Branch, Ambassador of Turpentine

As he’s been doing since the festival’s inception, Mr. Roger Branch is on hand each year and eager to tell you anything you might want to know about the history of what was once South Georgia’s biggest industry. Roger is the retired chairman of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Georgia Southern University and has always been interested in preserving historical and cultural aspects of life in South Georgia. I like to think of him as the “Ambassador of Turpentine”.

An interior view of a rustic wooden building featuring various tools and artifacts related to turpentine farming, including calendars from the American Turpentine Farmers Association on the wall and a sign reading 'Donations for Restoration' on a table.
Display in the Bobby Ronald Newton Turpentine Museum, including Miss Gum Spirits calendars

The calendars behind him were produced for many years by the American Turpentine Farmers Association (ATFA) in Valdosta and feature annual winners of the Miss Gum Spirits of Turpentine contests. The ATFA disbanded in the early 1990s, as commercial production of turpentine disappeared from the scene.

A vintage black sign advertising 'Gum Spirits Turpentine' from 'Carter & Son' in Carson, Savannah, GA, featuring rustic lettering and a semicircular shape.
Carter & Son Shipping Sign

There are several of these old markers, essentially stenciled wooden shipping labels, on the walls of the Turpentine Museum, from the Carter & Son turpentine operations. F. N. Carter, Sr., put Portal on the map as one of Georgia’s centers of the naval stores industry in the 1930s and along with his son, E. C., oversaw this vital part of the area’s economy until the early 1960s.

A close-up of a weathered Herty cup surrounded by various vintage containers, including a glass jar and metal objects, all set on a rustic wooden surface.
Herty cup (left)

Also on display are various innovations for the collection of sap.

A close-up view of rough yellow and amber gum rosin scattered on a surface.
Slash pine (Pinus elliottii) gum rosin

Perhaps the most popular item, though, is the hardened gum rosin itself, which has a gem-like appearance. Different pine species produce different colors of rosin.

A person dressed casually stands beside a wooden barrel, with spirits of turpentine flowing from a pipe into the barrel.
Spirits of turpentine flowing into a barrel, part of the distillation process

David King, from the Georgia Museum of Agriculture at Tifton’s Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), is an expert on the distillation of turpentine and runs the old Carter still at the festival.

David King, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and denim overalls places a jar of turpentine on a wooden shelf inside a rustic cabin, with another bottle visible on the shelf.
David King

Come and learn about this vital part of South Georgia’s history, and have fun in the process.

 

Dr. James A. Stewart House, 1909, Portal

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A historic house with a weathered roof, surrounded by greenery, featuring a white picket fence and a sign for the Georgia Heritage Program.

In their description of Dr. Stewart’s Portal Drugstore on the annual Places in Peril listing, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation noted that Dr. Stewart was Portal’s first doctor. He built this house around the same time he built the Portal Drugstore. The house is presently being stabilized through a Historic Preservation Grant of the Georgia Heritage Program.

National Register of Historic Places

Portal, Georgia

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A view of a small town street in Portal, Georgia, featuring an old wooden building, a mural, and various storefronts.
Railroad Street, aka Mullet Row

 Portal was established two miles north of its present location on the Old Portal Road. There is no consensus as to the source of the name, which was approved by the post office department in 1894. The village, in northwestern Bulloch County, was near the end of a private railroad built by the E. E. Foy Company to service its sawmill at nearby Rocky Ford. Foy also built a mercantile to supply the needs of residents. Within ten years, nearly all timber in the area had been cut and Foy closed the mercantile and sold lots to those who wanted to remain in the area. When the Savannah, Augusta & Northern Railway laid a public line through the area in 1907, those who remained in Old Portal moved to the current location and it was officially incorporated in 1914. It is known today for its historic association with the turpentine industry.

A view of a street in Portal, Georgia, featuring a rustic red brick building, a beige storefront, and a water tower in the background against a clear blue sky.
US Highway 80

Stewart Drug Company, 1908, Portal

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A weathered wooden building with a slanted roof, featuring a door and shuttered windows. A stop sign is located in front, alongside an old post with a gas lantern. The background showcases clear blue skies and sparse trees.

This is one of four identical structures which once faced Railroad Street. It’s the only one that remains and served as the office and pharmacy of Dr. J. A. Stewart. Two additional structures of identical construction were built by Dr. Stewart’s cousin, C. W. Caldwell. Stewart (1880-1952), a native of Crawfordville,  came to Bulloch County upon graduating from the Medical College of Georgia in 1906 and quickly became involved in nearly every aspect of its civic life. While boarding with the Kitchings family, in 1907, he met and married their daughter, Sarah. He served on the first city council in Portal and remained one of the town’s biggest boosters for the remainder of his life. A much more detailed biography of Dr. Stewart can be found on the National Register Nomination Form.

In their nomination of the pharmacy to their 2015 Places in Peril list, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation noted: (This) small wooden building served as a pharmacy, doctor’s office and soda fountain over the years, and Dr. Stewart was known to do surgery in the back of the drugstore while his wife tended the soda fountain in the front. Though the drugstore closed in 1950, its interior remains largely intact. With medical books and instruments, stocked shelves and the soda fountain still inside, this is perhaps the most thorough and authentic example of an early community pharmacy in the entire state.

On 8 August 2011, Joe Brack wrote: My father’s family was from Portal, the Bracks. Dr.Stewart was my uncle’s father and in the mid to late 40’s and early 50’s he still traveled around the county by horse and buggy and many times paid with either produce or live stock when he was paid at all. Uncle Punk ran a beer and fish market next door and of course being the 40’s it had separate entrances for blacks and whites. We would visit Uncle Punk and get a Nee High soda… fond memories.

National Register of Historic Places

Stone Veneer Storefront, 1910, Portal

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Front view of an abandoned store building with a pink stone facade and large windows, displaying some boxes inside.

I haven’t been able to identify this structure, but it likely housed a grocery or general store. It appears to be well-preserved.

Carter Turpentine Still, 1930, Portal

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Carter Turpentine Still, a wooden structure with a sign detailing its establishment in 1930, surrounded by rusty barrels and trees.

This turpentine still was established by F. N. Carter, Sr., in 1930. Today, it’s maintained by the Portal Heritage Society and is the centerpiece of the annual Turpentine Festival.

Cotton Gins, Portal

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An old metal cotton gin with a rusted roof and a green truck parked in front on a sunny day.

The three gins at Portal represent one of the largest intact ginning sites I’ve found in my travels. Two are Lummus gins and one is a Centennial. This Lummus gin, with the International truck in front, belonged to F. N. Carter & Son [Freeman Noah Carter, Sr. (1887-1974)], which became E. C. Carter Farms [Ernest Cicero Carter, Sr. (1910-2000)]. This complex, handling everything from turpentine to general agriculture, was central to life in Portal for many years.

An old, weathered metal cotton gin with a rusted roof, featuring large windows and a covered loading dock. A yellow trailer is parked beside the building along a country road under a clear blue sky.

The Lummus system originated in New York during the Civil War, but relocated to Juniper, then Columbus, Georgia, during Reconstruction. Donna Bird Williams notes that one of the gins and the nearby storage buildings are owned by LeRoy T. Bird [Leroy Thelma Bird (1897-1982)] and Son. Donna is the granddaughter of LeRoy and the daughter of Richard E. Bird [Richard Erastus Bird (1930-2009)]. The Bird family ginning business dates to circa 1845.

Red cotton gin with a rusty roof beside a road, with road signs for Mullet Roe and First Ave in the foreground.

This structure is smaller than the two Lummus gins contained in the same complex. It was built for F. N. Carter & Son by Centennial Cotton Gin Company of Columbus, Georgia. A local name for the street, Mullet Roe, can be seen on the sign above. Mullet Roe, of course, is really a form of Southern caviar but I like the tongue-in-cheek usage on the sign.

A weathered metal sign attached to a red corrugated wall, featuring the text 'Better Ginning - Better Sample' and referencing F.N. Carter & Son.

The actual name for this once-busy thoroughfare is Railroad Street.

A covered walkway beside a freight warehouse with cotton gins and a yellow wagon in the background.

This view looks toward the gins from the old freight warehouse.

Close-up of a weathered antique truck door featuring the name 'E.C. CARTER' and 'Portal, Ga.' in faded white paint.

One of several antique work trucks is parked under the shed beside the gin.

A vintage blue truck with a faded logo, parked near a wooden structure and surrounded by sparse trees and grass.

This is a close-up of the International R-190 seen in the first photograph. This line of classic work trucks was manufactured during the 1950s-1960s. I believe this is an early model.

An old, rustic barn with a rusty red roof and weathered metal siding, surrounded by grass and trees under a clear blue sky.

Various storage buildings remain on the property, as well. A small office building (not pictured) also survives.

An old, weathered shed with a rusted metal roof sitting in a grassy field, surrounded by sparse trees and a clear blue sky.

I can’t over-emphasize how important it is to see all these structures intact. They are a veritable living museum and symbolize a time when agriculture was dominant, and often the only industry, in rural Georgia.

A close-up view of a weathered metal cotton gin featuring a prominent red and white sign that reads 'GINNING LUMMUS SYSTEM.' The background shows a clear blue sky.