Category Archives: –TURNER COUNTY GA–

Grady & Cortez Sconyers House, Sycamore

1 Reply

This home was built by Sycamore Gin owner Grady Sconyers. Bill Adams recalls: [The house] came down through Cortez’s family. It was a large red brick home with a porch and steps facing East towards the church, and the South side (now the front) was rather plain. Grady had the changes made to model it after a house which he saw on the road between Palatka and St. Augustine. I don’t recall when it was remodeled…In the years after WWII, as that farm area got electricity, the farmers were able to prosper with tractors, etc. Many remodeled their homes, and often would put out on the porch furniture with marble tops (wash basins and such). If Grady saw one, he would stop and offer to buy it. He saved the marble and later had it converted and used in the house remodel.

Stubbs-Register House, Ashburn

1 Reply

Thanks to Chris NeSmith for the identification. Neal Wynn notes that it was designed by architect Peter Dennis. It likely dates to circa 1897-1900.

Post Office, 1939, Ashburn

1 Reply

Ashburn Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Controlled Burn, Turner County

1 Reply

Surrounded by forests, most South Georgians are quite familiar with the controlled burn. The practice has applications ranging from sustainable forestry to land clearing.

It’s generally seen as a good practice and helps reinvigorate the land for numerous plant and animal species.

Camp Mt. Bethel, 1940s, Turner County

4 Replies

This was once the site of Camp Mt. Bethel, a campground of the Georgia State Association of Free Will Baptists. The property is located on an unusual natural landmark, distinguished by Ashburn Formation sandstone outcrops, that was a favorite recreation spot for early settlers of the area near the West Fork of Deep Creek.

I understand that the campground operated from circa 1948 until at least the late 1980s and holds many good memories for those who spent time here.

Sparrow’s Nest, Ashburn

11 Replies

Becky Shingler Anderson writes: This was the home of my great-grandfather, James Simon Shingler...Sarah M. Cook added: This is the Sparrow’s Nest. It was the Shingler’s home. They owned Shingler Heights, five blocks of residential buildings and one institutional building in Ashburn, which was constructed from 1895 to 1937…Its most elaborate structure is “Sparrow’s Nest,” built by local turpentine and agriculture entrepreneur, J.S. Shingler. Many of the homes in the historic district were built by Shingler’s relatives.

Shingler Heights Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Central Hallway Farmhouse, Turner County

3 Replies

This relatively intact country house still includes its original kitchen, which was attached to the house at some point in its history. I’ve been photographing it for many years.

Inaha Baptist Church, Turner County

7 Replies

This congregation was established in 1890. Inaha, like so many other places in Georgia, was once a busy crossroads with its own store and farmers coming in regularly to “trade” and swap tales. Today, it exists in name only, with the church being the last tangible link to its past. For a nice memory of the place, please read John Wayne McRae’s essay, linked above. He shares some great anecdotes about visits to his uncle and aunt Jim and Margaret Phelps Hale, who operated B. E. Smith’s store in Inaha. And for you non-locals, it’s pronounced eye-na-haw.

A couple of years ago, Vanessa Baker Waid wrote: The old country store that was referred to as being owned by the Hales was actually started by my great grandfather B.E. Smith. My grandfather Charles H. Smith was the last owner of the store and he passed away from cancer in 1968. The store was closed permanently in ’70 or ’71. The Hales did work there at one time (as did other folks) but never owned it.  

 

Roadside Wildflowers, Turner County

6 Replies

These Verbena and Rudbeckia are located on Haw Pond Road.