Category Archives: –WARE COUNTY GA–

Mud Bogging, Ware County

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Muddin’ Truck, US Highway 84, 2010

This vehicle was always a landmark for me, and served as an advertisement for a local Mud Bogging* event. It was parked on the right hand side of US 84 past Ruskin, heading from Waycross to Homerville, for many years. I think it’s gone now.

*-Mud Bogging, AKA Mudding, Bogging, etc., has grown from a backyard hobby into a big business. It’s perhaps most popular in Florida, but is a big deal in these parts, too, truly a part of the local folklife. At first it was just done with trucks, often specially rigged for the job, but now is very popular with ATVs and custom rigs. I’m not sure about Waycross, but I know Florida actually has races with some of the custom rigs, known as Swamp Buggies.

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Georgia Cigar & Soda Company Ruins, Waycross

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Waycross native Ben Hagen recently reached out to let me know about this structure in the process of being razed, in downtown Waycross. He noted: …The siding which had covered it for decades had been removed, and a number of great old ads were visible, including Coca-Cola, Chero Cola, a Nash/Oakland auto dealership, and more that I can’t make out...

It was located beside the US Highway 84 overpass at Francis Street and was originally two stories.

The primary signage on the front of the building, as seen in the first image, and below, indicate it may have been home to the Georgia Cigar & Soda Company.

As Ben noted, there were quite a few ads for other business on the side of the building, including Coca-Cola. My guess is that the proximity to the busy highway may have made the location a perfect spot for advertising, before the proliferation of stand-alone billboards.

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I’m hoping some of my Waycross friends will know.

Telmore, Georgia

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This abandoned “county line”* package store and a nearby church are all that remain of this crossroads community located between Dixie-Union and Millwood. Telmore never had a post office, so the name may have just been a local designation. Thanks to James Kennedy for the identification.

*-So-called “county line” liquor stores weren’t always on the county line, but were very near it; this was a business model that took advantage of its location in a “wet” county, reaping the benefits of the citizenship of a bordering “dry” county.

Log Corn Crib, Ware County

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This is located in the vicinity of the Okefenokee Swamp and is likely quite old. It’s unusual to see a corn crib with a secondary roof, so I was a bit uncertain of the identification. It’s still my best guess, though.

Spreading Pogonia, Ware County

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Spreading Pogonia (Pogonia divaricata), also known by the prettier name Rosebud Orchid, is a rare terrestrial orchid found in Charlton and Ware counties in Southeast Georgia (other small populations likely exist). The Okefenokee region is one of the most biologically diverse in the state and spring is a great season to observe its abundant flora.

Swamp Homestead, Ware County

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Just around the bend from Suwannee Lake stands this simple house, typical of the utilitarian homesteads of the Okefenokee. It’s likely one of the very last standing. Restored older examples can be found at Okefenokee Swamp Park and Obediah’s Okefenok.

 

Hamp Mizell & Suwannee Lake, Ware County

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As a boy fascinated by occasional visits to the Okefenokee Swamp, I was in awe of the name Hamp Mizell (1884-1948). Dr. Delma Presley told stories of his legendary two-mile swamp holler in Okefinokee Album [this recording is of another famous swamp family, the Chessers].  Coincidentally, I knew his daughter Montine Mizell Mathhews, whose husband Harold worked with my father on the railroad, but did not know at the time that she was a Mizell. I regret missing the opportunity to talk about her father with her.

It was wonderful to visit Suwannee Lake, on the edge of the great swamp, since it has always been associated with Mr. Mizell. It’s not a big fishing hole, but nonetheless revered by fishermen in the know. Judging from satellite images, I believe it’s an oxbow of Suwannee Creek which runs from the west into the swamp. A. S. McQueen noted in his History of Okefenokee Swamp, 1932: [Mizell] is the owner of the beautiful Suwannee Lake, on the north side of the Okefenokee Swamp, one of the most famous fishing places in Georgia. A record was kept of the fish caught in this lake, and one season, 41,618 fish were caught by the hook and line method. During one day 35 fishermen caught 1,471 fish by actual count.

 

 

Wat Hathainares Buddhist Meditation Center, Ware County

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On one of the most rural roads in Georgia it is quite a surprise to come upon this fascinating place. Wat Hathainares is a Buddhist meditation center located on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. It’s not a cult or a compound, but simply a place of peaceful meditation.

The statuary is quite impressive, and contrary to popular belief, they are not worshiped.

Like all religions and belief systems, Buddhism is not monolithic. Numerous ethnic groups and various sects follow the teachings of the Buddha.

The practitioners at Wat Hathainares are from Thailand.

Seminole Chickee Grave Shelter, Ware County

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Chickee is the Seminole word for house, and these iconic shelters are still scattered throughout Florida. To my knowledge, this chickee in the Carter Cemetery is the only such grave shelter in Georgia.

In addition to the construction, the shells marking the graves of George Washington Carter (25 October 1862-4 July 1934) and Millie Louvine Thrift Carter (18 January 1860-30 December 1947) honor a Native American ancestry. Mr. Carter, who was born on Cow House Island, was one of the pioneer settlers of the Okefenokee Swamp. The Thrifts were also early residents of the swamp.