These ruins caught my eye. It appears they’re all that remain of Erick, a lost community situated along the Seaboard Rail line in western Wheeler County.
Joseph Summer writes: This was my great grandfather’s store. His name was Joshua R. Sumner. He died in 1937 at which time my great uncle, Will Sumner, ran the store. He died in 1964. My great grand father also had a cotton gin that was located next to this store.
This is located near the Erick community.
I haven’t been able to locate any history about this site, as yet, but it’s a nice example of a “camp ground” where outdoor preaching and singing would have taken place. This one is a bit plainer than most, but a great survivor. Stephanie Miller writes, via Facebook: This is the old camp meeting arbor built according to the hand painted date behind the pulpit in 1904 (if my memory is correct)..I also found the date on the wall reads, “August 22, 1907.” Not sure if that was the first sermon, when it was built, or of another significance...My Grandmother used to talk about how her family would pack up their wagon with food for the week and go to the church for the meeting all week long. They would cook all their meals and stay on the grounds. Her Daddy would wear his overalls and white long-sleeve shirt. There is a small church near this today, and after all these years it is starting to finally show signs of decay. I noticed one of the corner posts looked to be leaning. I sure hope it is preserved. The old pews and tables for spreading out food are still under the arbor.
Shawn Roberson writes: I can remember going to camp meetings there as a very young child with my Granny and cousins. I remember the fresh woodchip smell. The woodchips were put down for the flooring at the camp meets. We would play in the tabernacle during the summer months. Too many memories to type. The building to the right of the church is where the preacher would stay. We have most all of our family buried in the cemetery across the road.
Thanks to Paul Wetherington for suggesting this location.
This view was made from the corner of Commerce and Railroad Streets.
The hardware store in the foreground is a nice contrast to the old agricultural warehouses and water towers. Dot H. Brown writes that her father, J. F. Hattaway and his business partner Cecil Carroll built and operated the cotton gin and warehouses until about 1970.
Ray Riddle writes: This used to be a Gulf gas station back in the 60’s and early 70’s...
Alamo has a nice memorial to its fallen heroes, located in a small park beside the police station on U. S. Highway 280. It features a bronze eagle atop a tapered obelisk surrounded by a granite wall listing the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. It was dedicated on 27 May 1996 by the Jenkins-Patterson Post 193 American Legion and Ladies Auxiliary.
World War I Casualties: Alexander Blackshear; Joseph Judson Bracewell; Joe Burns; Albert B. Carter; James Albert Clements; Henry H. Fields; Orlando Lee; Jessie A. Mercer; Thomas L. Purvis; George C. Windham
World War II Casualties: Gurney W. Alston; James D. Bracewell, Jr.; Eldridge D. Branch; Arlin W. Bridges, Sr.; S. I. Bullard; Neal Harlow Clark; Comer L. Jenkins; [James S. Lowe]; Herman A. McRae; Thomas L. Miller; Paul Nelms; Plumer M. Nelson; William D. Nobles; Hiram S. Patterson; Harlem D. Pope; Percy E. Pope; Vernice Ricks; Willie B. Roberts; Johnnie F. Rowland; B. Raymond Swain; Jack Twilley; John D. White
Korean War Casualties: Grady L. McCoy; James McDaniel; Julian D. Peebles, Jr.; James C. Rix
Vietnam Casualties: Russell B. Adams; Roger L. Bonner; Dawson Clements; Vertis Mackey; Melvin Poole; James R. Thomas
This logo on the side of the Little Ocmulgee Electric Membership Cooperative caught my eye. I knew I’d seen it somewhere before. It’s Willie Wiredhand, spokesman for sensible energy use. He was actually born of a controversy surrounding his predecessor, Reddy Kilowatt.
As you’ll see in other posts from Wheeler County, the board-and-batten style is common in this area. It was actually common all over rural South Georgia for much of the 20th century but I find them less often than I used to in my travels.
A historic marker placed in 1991 by the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church at the road leading to the church (now a United Methodist Church) reads: Spring Hill, settled in 1807, was a preaching place on the Ohoopee Circuit by 1814. In 1850 John Carmichael gave land for a campground. A tabernacle replaced the brush arbors about the church. Campmeetings continued seven decades. Clements Institute evolved from pre-Civil War schools and in 1871 became the first Methodist District High School. C. C. Hines and W. A. Huckabee led in founding South Georgia College at McRae in 1891. From 1879, J. D. Anthony, “Bishop of the Wiregrass”, made this his home. Here, Bascom Anthony entered the ministry. In 1991, the church worships in its 1879 frame building and the social hall is in the school.
A modern steeple has been added and it appears the social hall is now located next door. The schoolhouse, seen in the next post, is just across a dirt road from the church.