Category Archives: Smithville GA

New Hope A. M. E. Church, Circa 1950, Smithville

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New Hope A. M. E. Church is located just down the street from New Hope Methodist Church. The two were built around the same time and have strikingly similar architecture.

The following abridged history is from an entry entitled “New Hope Methodist Church: County’s Oldest Church” in Smithville Georgia: A Glimpse of the Past (1976): “One of the first Methodist Churches in Lee County was organized in 1853, for the slaves. It was some two miles west of the later site of Smithville. First a brush arbor was erected to hold their services in, then they built a small log cabin church and in 1868, this building was destroyed by fire. Leaders of that project were H. M. Mitchell, Sr. and P. J. Griffin. It was…used for school purposes, being the first school for Negroes in this area.


The old building became dilapidated and the membership increased until it was necessary to start the third one in 1923. It was started by Rev. E. A. Clark and was finished by Rev. S. Fields. In September, 1949, that building was also destroyed by fire. The present building was started in 1950.

Smithville Methodist Church, 1946, Lee County

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The following abridged history is from Smithville, Georgia: A Glimpse Into the Past (1976). “Sometime after the Civil War, a number of Methodist families living in Smithville
community banded together and erected a meeting house near the Sumter and Lee
County line, about one mile Northwest of Smithville. This building was by the side of
the Old Smithville-Dawson Road, near the present site of the colored Primitive Church.
The earliest official record of the Smithville congregation occurs in 1878 when the
South Georgia Annual Conference created the Dawson and Smithville Circuit. Rev. W.
M. Hayes was appointed pastor.

At the beginning of 1881, a new pastoral charge was created with Smithville as
head. The congregation was moved into town and erected a new house of worship on
Whitaker Street. This building set well back into the lot; its architecture was typical of
the day, featuring a spacious porch with wide columns across the front.

In 1912, the prosperous Smithville congregation erected a new building, featuring
a corner tower. Rev. N. H. Olmstead was pastor and was serving his second appointment to the Smithville Circuit. This structure on Whitaker Street was the home of the congregation until the end of World War II. At that time, the building had fallen into ill repair, due to wartime restrictions on materials and labor.

The congregation under the leadership of Rev. J. D. McCord boldly erected a
concrete-block building in a modified Gothic style on Church Street in early 1946. It
was dedicated in October of the same year by Bishop Arthur J. Moore.“

Historic Storefront, Smithville

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This typical turn-of-the-century storefront is located on Muckaloochee Street, near the train tracks. I consulted a history of the community but was unable to identify the structure.

Smithville Rosenwald School, 1928, Lee County

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According to the November 2005 issue of Reflections, a newsletter of the Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network, a school for Black children in Smithville was established in an abandoned house by A. R. Robinson in 1903. The students performed so well that the county school board built a three-room schoolhouse for their use. It was destroyed by fire at some point, and classes were held in the Masonic lodge and local churches.

A new four-teacher school, which taught students through the eighth grade, was built in 1928, with the aid of the Julius Rosenwald Fund. It also included a library and auditorium.

After the Brown v. Board decision in 1955, the Smithville Rosenwald School closed. It was used for a time as an apartment building, according to Smithville, Georgia: A Glimpse Into the Past (1976). It has been abandoned for many years and at this time is in derelict condition. There has been some interest in restoration but I’m unaware of the progress at this time.

Smithville, Georgia

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Smithville was incorporated in 1863, and a post office established in 1871. According to Ken Krakow’s Georgia Place Names, it was named for a family of Smiths who moved to the area from Atlanta. It was originally known as Renwick.

A few landmark structures survive in this small community, including the block seen above, which has been nicely restored. The block pictured below appears to be largely abandoned.

 

Central of Georgia Railway Depot, Smithville

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This depot was badly damaged by a tornado in the spring of 1974 and repaired soon thereafter.