Category Archives: –TIFT COUNTY GA–

Turner Primitive Baptist Church, 1915, Tift County

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Interior view of a vernacular church sanctuary featuring wooden pews arranged neatly, a small altar with flowers at the front, and ceiling fans for ventilation.

Near the upper reaches of the Alapaha River, where Tift, Berrien, and Irwin Counties converge, (Ferry Lake Road, Five Bridge Road, and Turner Church Road) Turner Primitive Baptist Church was constituted on 14 June 1890. The present structure was built in 1915 and is lovingly maintained by the congregation. In addition to the vernacular church building, the adjacent cemetery contains quite a few vernacular memorials, some of which I’ve shared here, in no particular order.

Turner Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery

The vernacular memorials at Turner Primitive Baptist church are similar to others throughout the state in that they are highly vulnerable to environmental factors. Because they’re made of cement or concrete, sun, wind, and rain render them less readable over time and therefore, those they memorialize are in danger of being forgotten.

A weathered gravestone set in a grassy cemetery.
Cerenian? (Serena) E. Benefield – (2 May 1839-1876)

This is perhaps my favorite memorial in the cemetery. The shape is unusual and appears to be upside-down, though this is by design. I’ve seen this pattern before; it was likely set in a mold meant for another use. The name, and part of the birth date, have already become so obscure as to invite confusion.

A weathered grave marker for Martha Susan Rabon, born July 27, 1815, and died December 9, 1929, located in a cemetery with grass and other gravestones in the background.
Martha Susan Keel Rabon (27 July 1875-9 December 1929)

This stenciled memorial is a common form, and like others, contains misspellings and grammatical issues. This is really what makes these markers interesting and important. Mrs. Rabon, a native of Lowndes County, was the wife of Daniel Jasper Rabon (1866-1939), who came to Georgia from Alabama. She was the daughter of W. A. and Martha Cobb Keel.

A gravestone honoring James Walker, with inscriptions detailing his birth on February 4, 1876, and death on December 15, 1897, set against a grassy background.
James Walker (4 February 1876-15 December 1897)

Mr. Walker’s memorial is also a typical form, with nice stenciling and a leaf or branch decoration.

A weathered wooden grave marker standing upright in a grassy field.
Unknown

Wooden markers were very common in rural cemeteries at one time, as it was often all that families could afford to mark the burial places of their loved ones. Unfortunately, very few can be identified.

A wide view of a cemetery featuring several gravestones and monuments surrounded by grass and trees under a clear blue sky.
Vernacular concrete tombs

There is a small section of these concrete tombs in Turner Primitive Baptist cemetery. Some have been damaged over the years.

Close-up view of cracked, weathered gravestones with inscriptions partially visible on stone slabs, surrounded by sparse grass.
James Turner (18 May 1801-4 July 1878)

This tomb-like memorial has been damaged. James Turner, son of Frank and Anna Turner. He married Anna McClelland in Tattnall County in 1823, and may have come to this area from there. may have come to the area from Tattnall County. At least two of his three sons served in the Civil War. One son, James S. Turner (1829-1904), was a prominent businessman in Jacksonville, who owned the Duval, one of the most prominent hotels in the city at the turn of the 20th century.

Weathered gravestone in a grassy cemetery, inscribed with a dedication to a deceased individual, detailing their name and lifespan.
Carsia Love Taylor (January 1886-13 November 1886)

Carsia was the daughter of W. W. and Polly Ann Taylor, and died as a toddler.

Front view of Turner Primitive Baptist Church in Tift County, Georgia, surrounded by green grass and shrubs under a clear blue sky.

Dr. H. A. Vann’s Office, 1870s, Georgia Museum of Agriculture

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Medical Skeleton

For the next three days I’ll be sharing Halloween-related images for a change of pace. I don’t think any will be too scary, except perhaps the one coming up on Halloween itself. This is just a harmless medical skeleton inside the historic doctor’s office at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture. Anatomical or medical skeletons were commonly found in doctor’s offices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The museum website notes of the office: The Doctor’s Office was donated to the Museum by the Boston Marketing Association, and is believed to have been constructed in Boston, Georgia in the 1870s. The initial structure consisted of one room and was used as the office for Daniel Alexander Horn, a farmer and businessman of Boston. Doctor H. A. Vann began using the building as his office in 1898 and continued to do so through 1925, when he retired. A second room was added some time around this date. The exact year of this addition is currently unknown, but research indicates that it was between 1898 and 1902.

Skeletons are actually more accurate symbols for Halloween than Christmas trees are for Christmas, but I digress. Halloween, literally All Hallows’ Eve, is the day before All Saints’ Day, and historically a time for remembering the dead. In the early Christian church, it was tradition to hold vigils the night before major feast days.

The spookier aspects of our modern celebrations surrounding the holiday are thought to have pagan origins, mostly brought to white America by Celtic-adjacent immigrants. A long-held belief that the souls of the dead visit one night each year and therefore must be appeased and guarded against led to many of the stranger traditions. Wearing costumes, or disguises, and and lighting bonfires and lanterns, are but a couple of examples.

Victorian Commercial Block, Tifton

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This Victorian block may have originally been a wholesale grocery business; a fading mural on the side identifies it as such. It’s right across the street from the historic courthouse.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Historic Storefront, Tifton

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This has always been a favorite Tifton building of mine. R. L. Brown writes: This building was known as Tiff’s Garage. See photo in the Arcadia Publishing’s book on Tifton. The overhang has been removed.

I have an antique postcard of this structure and there are significant enough differences in the facade to require further investigation. A narrow green Ludowici Tile awning [for lack of a better word] wrapped around the top of the building and decorative medallions on the windows weren’t originally present. Also, the windows themselves appear wider on the postcard. This has to be one of the finest commercial garages, in an architectural sense, surviving in South Georgia, if its identity can be confirmed.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Buck House, 1905, Tifton

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This beautiful house is best known today as the Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. Their website notes: The Buck House, built in 1905, had an interesting history of its own. When the original owners were all killed in a series of tragic accidents, the property passed to the Mellon family. Eventually, the Buck House became a dilapidated apartment building. Bowen-Donaldson’s building improvement, however, made the quality of the house’s structure and surroundings better than ever.

It has been a bit of a tradition in many small Georgia towns for funeral businesses to move into and restore large historical homes. The Buck House in Tifton is a great example.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

First Baptist Church, 1906, Tifton

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Prominent architect T. F. Lockwood designed First Baptist Church in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Henry Miller was the pastor at the time.

There have been numerous expansions to the original church over the years.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1900, Tifton

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This was the first brick church built in Tifton, and served the congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for generations. When they moved to a larger facility in 1952, it served numerous congregations over the following years. The Tift County Development Authority purchased it in 1985, to protect it from vandals and deterioration. In 1997, the Tifton Council for the Arts saw an opportunity and renovated the church into a gallery space and cultural museum. It is now known as the Syd Blackmarr Arts Center.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Post Office + Public Library, 1914, Tifton

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Opened in 1914, this handsome Renaissance Revival structure first served as a post office but has been home for many years to the Tifton-Tift County Public Library. It was designed [or its design overseen by] Oscar Wenderoth, who served as the director of the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Treasury Department from 1912-1915. It might be best known for its iconic gargoyle flagpole holders.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Susan Moore House, Circa 1900, Tifton

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This eclectic house, also known as the Cole House, has Classical and Greek Revival intentions, it seems, but is an unusual take on those forms. Its date of construction ranges, depending on source, from 1900 to 1908. It is associated with Susan Lane Tillman Moore (1867-1951), a Madison County, Florida, native who was the first woman elected by popular vote to the Georgia State Senate. She served two non-concurrent terms (1933-1934 and 1939-1940). She was also a delegate at the Democratic National Conventions of 1924 and 1932, and a member and vice-chair of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (1941-1942). She resided at this house until her death on 5 May 5 1951.

Tifton Telephone Company Building, 1920, Tifton

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This was originally home to the Tifton Telephone Company. Later, it housed the Georgia Peanut Commission, before their move to a site beside Interstate 75 several years ago. The brickwork is some of the best in Tifton.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places