These two houses stand defiantly at the end of Jane Street, which was cut off years ago when changes were made to US Highway 84, rendering them largely inaccessible and at the least, impractical as residential dwellings. I haven’t been able to locate any history about them, but they are essentially twins. One has an open front porch while the porch on the other has been enclosed. I don’t know if they were built as early apartment housing or if they were owned by one family who just liked the practical design. They’ve looked like this for many years and short of being moved, I doubt they will ever have much appeal commercially. It’s really a shame, though, because I imagine they were well-loved at one time.
Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house is one of the nicer examples of the Neoclassical Revival in Waycross. Since this is a relatively early date for the style, I’m wondering if the portico and porches aren’t later additions. Perhaps someone in Waycross will know more. I believe it was empty for a few years but it definitely looks like it’s being cared for today. I was told that the cast iron fence was original to the property and that the owner once owned a house on the adjoining lot, a Victorian that was lost to fire.
Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Waycross has one of the oldest active YMCAs in Georgia, founded and chartered in 1896. They met in a hotel until constructing this delightful building in 1908. A second YMCA building was completed in collaboration with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1911 at another location for the purpose of housing railroad men. My father recalls staying in that building during his railroad years and notes that it was quite run down by that time. By 1971, all YMCA operations were relocated to a new facility on Plant Avenue. This building, on Pendleton Street, was sold to the city in 1916 and has served as the Waycross City Hall ever since.
A plaque near the front doors notes: The Georgia National Guard for the City of Waycross was housed in the basement of this building prior to World War II. On Sept 16, 1940 the members of Co. F 121st Inf. Regiment passed through these portals for their first day of active duty in World War II thereby becoming the first unit from Waycross to ever serve our nation. Men from this company served with honor and distinction in every major engagement in Europe against Germany. In honor and memory of their devotion to freedom this marker is respectfully dedicated.
Downtown Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
When built as the Waycross Post Office in 1911, this structure was originally one story with a basement. It is credited to James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury, but Taylor himself was not always directly involved in individual designs due to the number of projects the department was involved with at any given time.
A second floor and wings were added to the post office in 1936, under the supervision of G. W. Stone. This expansion was made to accommodate the inclusion of the federal courthouse of the Southern District of Georgia. It was also an officially designated fallout shelter during the Cold War. The facility closed in 1975 when the post office and courthouse, respectively, moved into larger more modern facilities elsewhere in town. It sat empty for a time but has been home to an antiques gallery and other businesses in recent years.
The S. H. Kress Company was a chain of five and dime department stores established in Memphis in 1896. Samuel H. Kress was an avid art collector and aesthete, and many of his stores are considered architectural landmarks as a result of his ongoing interest in the decorative arts and a desire to place buildings of lasting importance in the communities his business served. Most locations featured lunch counters and excluded African-Americans from service, leading to general boycotts and an eventual loss of business by the 1960s. The company survived until 1981, but by that time, many locations had long been shuttered and the real estate sold or rented for use by other businesses. I’m not sure when the Waycross location closed but I imagine no later than the late 1960s or early 1970s. Downtown department stores struggled by that time as shopping centers and malls became preferred locations for shopping.
The Waycross Kress Building now serves as a real estate office.
Downtown Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Though I cannot confirm at this time, I believe this Art Deco business block was built by Joseph McGraw, an early entrepreneur and business leader in the African-American community of Waycross. It’s located near the corner of Oak Street and Tebeau Street in a neighborhood that was historically the commercial center of the local Black community. Joseph McGraw was the uncle and guardian of Dr. Joseph Alphonso Pierce, Sr., who went on to serve as the president of the Texas State College for Negroes, now known as Texas Southern University.
Before desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s, Black citizens of the Jim Crow South were resigned to sitting in the balconies of public theatres, if they were allowed to attend them at all. In response to this, Black entrepreneurs in larger towns built their own theatres and public event spaces to provide an alternative for their communities. Waycross had at least two such theatres.
The first, known as the Rainbow Theatre, opened in 1939 and was described by an industry journal as a “colored house, seating 400”. I have been unable to determine where it was located. Perhaps it was a forerunner to the Carver. If anyone knows more, please share.
The second Black movie house, the Carver, was located on Oak Street, and opened in 1946. It remained in business until the early 1970s. It was primarily a movie house, but may have also hosted occasional live performances. A rare example of Streamline Moderne Art Deco architecture, it has been empty for years, but appears to be in good condition overall. It would certainly be an interesting candidate for restoration and adaptive re-use.
Now known as the C. C. McCray City Auditorium, the Waycross Municipal Auditorium opened in 1937. It was a project of the Lions Club and the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal Agency during the Great Depression. After years of decline, it was restored in 2014 and renamed in honor of C. C. McCray (1925-2019), the first Black mayor of Waycross.
Over the years, it hosted numerous luminaries, including Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Otis Redding, James Brown, and Billy Eckstine. But Elvis Presley might be the most famous.
To my knowledge this is the only surviving location in Georgia, besides Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, where Elvis performed in the 1950s. On 2 December 1955, he played his first date in Georgia at the old Atlanta Sports Arena. That building was demolished in the mid-1980s. Elvis performed two shows here, at the Waycross City Auditorium, at 7PM and 9PM on 22 February 1956, sharing the bill with the Louvin Brothers, Justin Tubb, Benny Martin, and Mother Maybelle Carter. To my knowledge, no photographs of the concert have been located. Just a few weeks after his Waycross appearance, Elvis had his first number one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel”.
An interesting bit of trivia: Waycross resident Gram Parsons (Ingram Cecil Connor III), who was nine years old in 1956, attended the Elvis concert in Waycross, with twins Daphne and Diane Delano, and got the rising star’s autograph after the show. Parsons would go on to be one of the most legendary and enigmatic figures in the music industry, playing briefly with the Byrds and influencing everyone from the Rolling Stones to the Eagles. He is widely regarded as one of the architects of the country/Southern rock genre.
Downtown Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The first St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Waycross was dedicated on 12 May 1889. On 3 October 1896 it was destroyed by a hurricane. Father P. J. Luckie, who had come to Waycross in 1897, led the effort to construct the church seen here. It was built by local contractor T. J. Darling and the work was completed in October 1898. Unbelievably, another hurricane ravaged Southeast Georgia soon after the church was finished and during the storms, it was lifted off its foundation and badly damaged. Father Luckie had it repaired in short order.
It was moved just a short distance from another position on this lot in the 1920s and served the congregation until 1981, when a larger modern structure was built on Darling Avenue. In recent years, the old St. Joseph’s was used by the Lutherans but it may be empty at the present time.
Downtown Waycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
When built in 1907, this downtown Waycross landmark at the corner of Mary and Tebeau Streets was originally the lodge of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elk (B.P.O.E). After the Elks relocated to another facility on Plant Avenue in 1962, it served several tenants but most notably has been home to several popular restaurants over the past 50 years or so. To me, the most memorable was the Carter House, where my family would occasionally eat when we visited my father when he was in town overnight with the railroad. It was just down the street from the railroad men’s home at the time, the then-derelict Ware Hotel, and featured homestyle Southern cooking. Besides the old Green Frog, the Carter House was perhaps the most beloved Waycross restaurant of its day. Whitfield’s and the Crab Trap have also been located here.
DowntownWaycross Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 