Category Archives: –TIFT COUNTY GA–

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

Wishbone Fried Chicken, Tifton

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We made a lot of trips to Tifton when I was growing up in the 1970s, visiting the pediatrician and shopping, and Wishbone Fried Chicken was a great fast food place back in those days. It was located right downtown, across from what was then the Big Star shopping center on Love Avenue. Some of you may remember that Big Star was a grocery chain. I don’t remember shopping there, but we did on occasion. I just remember they had a televised horse race once a week and you could win cash and groceries if your horse “won” the race.

The last I heard, Wishbone in Tifton was closed but the sign was still there. I wish I could find out more about it. I know there’s one in Newnan, with the same kind of sign, so it may have been a franchise.

Update: Susan Anderson writes: I can confirm that the sign is now down, it was just taken down in the last few months. The building will soon be a new restaurant.

Shotgun House & Billboard, Tifton

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Summer 2008

I’m excited to be able to share this photograph, as it was one of my earliest, and I thought it was long lost. It’s a real favorite of mine.

The house was located in one of Tifton’s older African-American neighborhoods, right on the edge of the northbound lane of I-75. It’s probably gone by now.

Merry Christmas from Vanishing Georgia

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Christmas Sign, Tift County, 2013

As always, I’m most thankful for another year of discovery and for all of your support. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Holiday Season.

St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, 1898, Tifton

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An effort to locate isolated Episcopalians in South Georgia during the 1890s saw the establishment of several congregations, including St. Anne’s in Tifton. Edmund Harding Tift, brother of Tifton’s founder, Captain Henry Harding Tift, was at the forefront of this effort. The Tift family were vastly successful in the shipbuilding and lumber industries and gave resources and labor to the construction of St. Anne’s, which began in March 1898. The Carpenter Gothic sanctuary is clad in curly pine.

By the early 1980s, the congregation was beginning to outgrow its historic home and with an eye on new construction, moved it to its present location from the corner of Central Avenue and 4th Street in 1982.

Replaced by a more modern church in 1985,  “Little St. Anne’s”, as it’s affectionately known, is still used for various services.

Thanks to my former Young Harris College classmate Emily Guerry, who serves as Parish Administrator, for a delightful personal tour and history lesson.

William Cobb House, 1905, Tifton

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Tifton Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Historic Storefronts, Tifton

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Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Bank of Tifton, 1917

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Designed by William Edwards of the Atlanta firm of Edwards & Sayward, the Bank of Tifton is one of the most distinct commercial structures in the historic district. Several banks have occupied the site over the years and it is presently an Ameris Bank. The wing on the right side is an unfortunate later expansion, speaking solely in terms of architectural integrity.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Freight Depot, 1910, Tifton

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Tifton has more depots per capita than any other town I can think of in South Georgia, with four extant, plus another at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture.

The old Atlantic Coast Line Railroad freight depot has housed the Tifton Terminal Railway Museum since 2008; it has limited hours.

This Southern Railway passenger coach is identified with a Flint River sign.

Tifton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places