This home at Wefanie was the center of a bustling turpentine camp owned by the James Edgar “Jim” Parker, Jr., (1900-1973) family. Mr. Parker’s son, Jimmy Parker, told Mike McCall and me in 2018 that he spent more money restoring this house than all the other buildings on the former turpentine camp were worth combined. He noted that he and his two sisters were born and raised here until the family built something more substantial. These photos were made between 2010-2018
As to Wefanie, I have talked to several locals, including Mr. Parker, and no one seems to know the origins of the name. It’s located within the larger boundaries of the Jones Creek community. And it’s pronounced “WE-fanny”.
An article by Clinton Oliver in the 2 May 2002 issue of The Glennville Sentinel saluting the 100th birthday of Mrs. Lemma Wells Parker (1902-2002) details life at the turpentine camp.
“The [Parker] girls had fond memories of visiting and playing with the girls of the tenant families living in shanties Mr. Parker [Jim, Jr.] had erected to house the families of his turpentine workers. They ate many meals of “soul food” prepared by the gentle and hardworking black mothers of the “turpentine quarters”. “
Mary Ida and Jo Anna [Parker] told of the spotlessly clean floors in the tenant houses. “The women scrubbed the floors with water and lye until the boards were white. Then the mothers would spread croaker [sic] sacks (burlap bags) on the floor for us to sit on and play.”
Jimmy recalled that the shanties were completely covered with Kudzu vines to keep the houses cool inside. “They had to keep the runners clipped to keep them from blocking the doors.”
As the use of drink cartons as insulation in this photo suggests, these structures were often used as rental properties much later their use in the turpentine industry.
Though most of these structures won’t be around too much longer, they represent an important intact example of a vanished way of life.
It’s notable that Jimmy Parker left these buildings standing, as many such places have long been demolished or fallen to ruin.
This well-preserved building served as a commissary for turpentine workers.
Note: This is a consolidation of several older posts related to this property. As of 2025, the Parker House and commissary are in good condition, but the woods have grown back up around the worker housing and they are highly endangered, at best.
