This building appears to have been a general store, or perhaps a restaurant, but I’m inclined to think it was a store. There may have been gas pumps out front, as well. When I can’t locate the proper resources, I just have to guess. Nonetheless, it’s one of the few “public” buildings remaining in the historic Upatoi [you-pa-toy] community. Surveys have dated it to 1933.

It’s believed that Upatoi was first settled circa 1790 as a satellite of nearby Cusseta Town, perhaps in some sort of support capacity. The area was dominated by Indigenous peoples at the time. It’s named for nearby Upatoi Creek, which rises in Talbot County and flows southwestward to form the border between Muscogee and Chattahoochee counties before joining the Chattahoochee River at Fort Moore. As to the origin of the name Upatoi, I won’t venture a guess except that it’s indigenous. A post office opened in the rural settlement in 1829 and remained open until 2017. [This building might have even served the purpose at one time.] Upatoi was annexed by the city of Columbus during the consolidation with Muscogee County in 1971.