Located in the countryside near Bronwood, Enterprise Methodist Church was an historic congregation established in 1873. According to a granite marker on the front of the building, the church was rebuilt in 1948. It’s an unusual form and sadly, has been abandoned and is succumbing to the elements. There are holes in the back roof and the sanctuary sustained serious damage at some point An adjacent cemetery is maintained, so someone still cares about this place.
Mr. G’s has been abandoned for a long time. The first time I was in Bronwood, in 2009, it looked about the same as it does today. Much has been written about the importance of convenience stores as restaurant choices for people in small towns. I’m sure Mr. G’s served that purpose as long as it could.
This is another church for which I can locate no history, but I think it’s important to document these places, nonetheless.
Second Shiloh is of contemporary construction but the congregation has earlier origins. Per Findagrave, one of the earliest identified burials in Shiloh Cemetery in Bronwood [presumably connected to this church] is that of Steve Harris (1856-1914 or 1919), whose birthdate would indicate he was likely born enslaved. His parents were William and Ella Harris and he was a farmer.
There’s no information to be found about this church online. At least two obituaries of members of this church indicated burials at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church cemetery, so there could be a connection. It’s not something I can confirm. The building is a vernacular Gothic form most associated with Black congregations, but again, I have no information on the history. I would date it circa 1890-1920.
Jason writes: it was supposedly built in 1905, or at least that’s when the congregation first assembled. I’d imagine it would have been built within a year or two of that.
It’s encouraging to see vernacular homes like this saddlebag cottage preserved and restored. Someone did a nice job here, adding a new roof, porch, and weatherboarding.
This might best be described as Folk Victorian, but the Queen Anne details are hard to ignore.
Martin Elementary School is an historic Equalization School in Bronwood, serving grades 1-7. It was named for local Black educator Walter Martin. The L-shaped 13-room International Style structure opened in 1956 and served the community until 1970, when schools were fully integrated in Terrell County. Notably, it was designed by the prominent Georgia Classicist, Edward Vason Jones, and represented a departure from the formal architecture for which he was best known. This was quite a bold move, as most White architects in the state would not work on projects for African-Americans at the time.
In 1955, according to the nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places, “one year after the Brown v. Board decision ruled racially segregated public services and accommodations as unconstitutional, the Dawson News—a newspaper published in Terrell County—reported that local whites were prepared to shut down the entire school system rather than submit to integration and that the local school board had moved forward with its plans to build several new schools for African-American students. The newspaper printed a statement released by Robert Pinkston—county school superintendent—that declared if the local schools were integrated that the county would respond by refusing to collect any further tax revenues. If implemented such an action would have effectively shut down the county’s entire public school system…The Georgia General Assembly considered a similar proposal. Fortunately, only two of its members—one of whom was future governor Zell Miller—supported the plan, thereby sparing the state’s school system from closure.”
Part of the building was used as a nightclub in the late 1980s, but has otherwise been abandoned. There have been suggestions of an effort to restore it for use as a community center but I don’t think that is currently the case.
National Register of Historic Places
The old calaboose is the only historic municipal structure still standing in Bronwood, and as stated in the National Register of Historic Places nomination: “…the calaboose is historically significant as the only remaining evidence of historic municipal law enforcement in Bronwood, and it represents a type of local law enforcement institution now largely superseded by county government in rural areas of the state. The calaboose was used from its construction sometime about 1900 until 1954 as a holding jail, a place where the local Marshall could house prisoners overnight until transportation to the county jail could be arranged.”
There are a scarce few of these such structures surviving in Georgia and all have similar architectural characteristics. The Bronwood version is 16’x9′ and has two cells. It is constructed of heavy sawn timber and sided with weatherboard. It’s in relatively good condition, but its location beside the water tower makes it a bit hard to notice and even harder to photograph. I’m glad it has been saved.
National Register of Historic Places
Mount Mary Baptist Church in Chickasawhatchee, a forgotten settlement near Sasser, shares a similar history with other Black churches in the area. It was an active congregation founded by freedmen and their descendants in the late 19th century. [I’m still confirming details about the history of the church and will update when I learn more].
In 1962 Mount Mary was used for voter registration meetings by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and like Shady Grove in Leesburg and Mount Olive in Sasser, it was burned to the ground in retaliation. In fact, it was destroyed on the same day as Mount Olive, 9 September 1962. It was rebuilt in 1963. The stained glass windows are the most notable feature of the church, which was designed by Atlanta architect Joe Amisano. Trappist monks of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers are credited with the windows. I’m not sure if the other churches feature the “story windows”, with verses and illustrations. I am trying to learn more about them.