This isolated saddlebag cottage, likely a tenant house, was identified in an architectural survey in the early 1990s and dated to circa 1900. The date is an educated guess but a good one. It is a slightly unusual variant of the saddlebag form, made so by the addition of a central window in the facade.
This history of Morris is a bit difficult to track down, but before it was known as Morris, it was Morris Station, a railroad whistle stop. A post office at Morris Station existed from 1860-1950, at which time the name was changed to Morris. There is no consensus as to the hamlet’s namesake, but Ken Krakow, in Georgia Place-Names: Their History and Origin, suggests it was possibly James Morris, the son of an early railroad agent.
Morris is located off US Highway 82 on Morris Road. It’s southeast of Georgetown, the only incorporated settlement in Quitman County, which as of 2020 was Georgia’s second least populous with just 2235 residents.
This is one of two surviving stores in Morris. It is the larger of the two and this side view (above) shows a later expansion of the structure. It originated as a shotgun form. One of the two buildings likely served as the post office before it was moved to US Highway 82.
This shotgun form store or office building is located next door to the larger general store building. One of two extant commercial structures in Morris, it is near collapse.
Morris is reached by a paved road, but Upper Morris Road runs through the heart of what passes for the “town” today. I always try to document and explore these dirt roads to get a real feel for the places I visit.
Morris Baptist Church was established in 1900 and this structure appears to be contemporary to that date. It is the last active landmark in the hamlet of Morris, southeast of Georgetown and Lake Walter F. George (Lake Eufaula), not far from the Alabama state line off US Highway 82.
I photographed this large Queen Anne home in 2014. Since then, the trees have been removed but the fence remains. It’s an imposing presence on Main Street in tiny Georgetown. It was built by William Benjamin Hart, Sr. Mr. Hart was born in 1859, but according to Findagrave, his date of death is unknown [at least at that resource]. His wife was Anna Amanda Moore Hart (1864-1926). The house was still owned by the family as late as the 1970s, and may still be.
Jim Bledsoe writes: This Greek Revival house [the Mercer-Bledsoe House] was built by Levi Mercer for his son Dr. J. W. Mercer (1833-1893). Dr. Mercer first practiced medicine in the Cross Roads community but gave up his practice and came to Georgetown to become a business partner of Edgar C. Ellington. Mr. Ellington owned a large house next door, which was acquired by Dr. Mercer upon Ellington’s death. The house was then known as the Mercer House, though over the years it was owned by J. T. Gipson, L. G. Brannon, and R. G. Methvin. It no longer survives. The original Mercer house [pictured above] was rented out until 1911, at which time it was sold by Charles G. Mercer to William Walton Bledsoe (1874-1953). It is generally known today as the Bledsoe House.
This is the oldest house in Georgetown and is well-maintained. James Bledsoe writes: The Guerry home, now the McKenzie home, was built about the year 1848, first being constructed in Alabama for Samuel Harrison and then being torn down and moved to Georgetown where it was rebuilt by James Harrison for his daughter and her husband, T. L. Guerry. I’m not sure when the home was acquired by the McKenzie family, but Mr. Robert McKenzie raised a family and lived there until just a few years ago until age 104…