Wayfair Primitive Baptist Church is the only representative congregation of the Alabaha Association Crawfordites in McIntosh County. It was established in 1873 but little else is known about it. It is no longer active but the cemetery is still used for burials.
Like all of the Crawfordite meeting houses, Wayfair is free of ornament and any modern creature comforts.
Members of this faith believed that such enhancements distracted from worship.
The carpentry skills of the members are on full display in each of these meeting houses, and Wayfair is no exception.
These photographs were made in 2012; they were originally posted on Vanishing South Georgia.
Having last photographed this local landmark in 2009 [see the history of the house and a vintage photograph here], I was determined to get some photos before it is lost forever. I understand that the most recent owners began restoration efforts in the 1990s and were unable to complete the project. I believe the house could, and should, be saved, even in its present state. [I have included the date of 1894 after consulting two sources; it may have been built slightly earlier and I’ll update if I learn more].
A gazebo, which is likely of later construction, remains on the property.
The most interesting dependency, however, is this unique structure just to the left of the house. It is believed to have been Mr. Bedgood’s home office.
This hall-and-parlor farmhouse features a so-called “preacher’s room” off the left front porch. It has been a landmark to me in my travels between Cordele and Americus for many years.
This is one of the first vernacular farmhouses I ever photographed [this photo dates to 1999]. I believe it may have originally been a dogtrot, but I can’t confirm that. Rodney Gray writes: This home belonged to my grandmother Annie Purvis Gray’s brother, Richard Purvis. He had two sons who lived there and it now belongs to Glenn Purvis.
This six-gabled farmhouse (one is on the other side) was the home of Melvin and Martha Browning Purvis. It is an amazing example of Folk Victorian construction and is maintained as an art studio today. Thanks to Marsheila Bush Rhodes for the identification.
This historic general store and Masonic Lodge in Maxeys was lost to a tragic fire on 16 January 2021. [Thanks to Jennifer W. Newton for sharing the unfortunate news on the Vanishing Georgia Facebook group. My condolences go to the family who lost their loved one in this tragedy]. It was owned by the Vernor family for many years. It was most recently home to Maxeys Country Store and had been converted to dual use as a residence. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Sally Giles wrote: I have many good memories of going into Mr. Vernor’s store in the 70s and 80s and trying on what my mom called “train suits” that looked like they were from the 60s. These were very sensible skirts with matching jackets that you would wear on the train, or later on the bus. Mr. Vernor had ladies gloves that you would have worn to church that were lain perfectly crossed over each in the long glass cabinet just waiting for glove wearing to come back into style. He told me that his wife would order the ladies things, and that he had not bought anything new for the cases since she had passed. Mr Vernor always wore a black suit no matter how hot it was, and the store had no air conditioning. His shirt was a starchy white, buttoned up all the way with no tie. I can remember feeling hotter than I should have just looking at Mr. Vernor in his black suit. Over time there was not much that was really for sale that anyone wanted except myself buying the old clothes, but there were co-colas (all beverages were called co-colas) and crackers that looked kinda old for sale on the rack. I have other memories that I could tell, but won’t.
This is an iconic house type in rural Georgia, sometimes referred to as Cracker Style.
It has that association as it was often the typical housing of white sharecroppers and small farmers, but it’s actually just a single-pen (one-room) house.
This example, like many I’ve encountered, has a preacher’s room on the front, which in the case of most of these utilitarian structures didn’t house a preacher but rather accommodated the needs of a growing family. It also has a shed room at the back. So, the traditional single-pen often grew as the family grew…from one room to three, in this case.
The term American Small House has been assigned in recent years to a type of structure that proliferated from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. A movement began during the Depression, dictated by changing economic realities, to promote the construction of small homes, often prefabricated, to make home ownership more broadly available to the masses. Previous terms for this type included Depression Cottage, Victory Cottage, and FHA House. This abandoned example well illustrates the general layout of the American Small House.
Carter’s Chapel was established in 1885 and named for Mrs. Edith Calhoun Carter, one of its earliest members. The original building was located across the road. I believe the present structure dates to circa 1901.
