This tobacco barn is located near Rhine. It’s wrapped in false brick siding, as was common, and the shed roof has collapsed (also common). I’ve passed this place many times before and somehow never noticed the barn. I’ll always turn around for a tobacco barn, and as I’ve detailed before, they have gotten rarer with each passing year. They really are important landmarks as they represent a vanished sector of the economy in Georgia from at least the 1930s until the 1970s.
This house is likely gone. I observed it all of my life traveling on US 129 between Abbeville and Hawkinsville, and circa 2009 stopped by and got a quick photograph. It was only visible at the time because it was winter and all of the vegetation that normally surrounded it had gone dormant. I’ve looked for it since but don’t recall seeing it. It was likely a farmhouse, since it was in a very rural location.
I haven’t been able to track down this house, but since it’s in my Sumter County files, I believe it to be located in the Americus Historic District. It’s a great Carpenter Gothic Victorian, with an altered porch. –Thanks to Maureen McKinney for confirming the location.
Americus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This was made near Americus in 2008. The house is still standing but I haven’t rephotographed it. It’s truly one of the nicest Queen Anne houses in this part of Georgia, and due to its location, I’ve identified it as a farmhouse. Of course, with a house of this style, it’s hard to imagine it as a farmhouse. I hope to update the image soon.
Leslie was established by J. W. Bailey in 1884. Bailey was a timber operator with financial interests in the area. The post office opened in 1889 and the town was incorporated by the Georgia General Assembly in 1892. According to Ken Krakow, “Bailey first named the town Jeb, the initials of his father, J. E. Bailey, but the post office was erroneously given the name of JOB. Bailey disliked the name “Job” so he circulated a petition to rename the town Leslie for his younger daughter, Leslie Vestell Bailey.”
Leslie is also the home of the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum, which boasts one of the world’s largest collection of antique telephones. It is presently closed to the public, however.
Note: This post replaces “Commerce Street, Leslie”, which was published, with slightly different photographs, on 15 June 2010.
I made this photograph a few years ago. The house has since been repainted but is still a good example of the Queen Anne style. The only real exterior modification is the use of square porch posts, which most likely replaced spindle posts. Real estate listings date the house to circa 1920, though it appears to date to the 1870s or 1880s.
Americus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This utilitarian cottage has been expanded over time, as were so many of these popular house types.
Americus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This handsome cottage is thought to be antebellum, according to a marker on the property, though other sources, including tax digests and real estate listings, variously date it to 1880 and 1900. I agree with the mid-19th century date, focusing on the transom and sidelights, as well as the higher ceiling and 6-over-9 windows. It’s an excellent design, utilitarian and dressed up all at the same time, and has been expanded over time.
Americus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The Dairy Ranch, a Jesup institution known locally as the “Eat Now” for its famous red-lettered sign, closed in 2017 and has stood abandoned since then. I got a message this afternoon that it was being torn down.
I passed by earlier and it was still there, but the sender of the message shared photos. (I’ll add an updated image later; I’m traveling at the moment).
Dink NeSmith wrote of the landmark in 2018, “…when Homer Johnson opened the Dairy Ranch in 1952, it was an immediate hit. Over the years, the establishment has had four owners…Several generations of teenagers grew up under the Dairy Ranch’s neon glow. The Dairy Queen was a phenomenon, too. Cruising around the DQ on Friday and Saturday nights was a must. But the “Eat Now” had a jukebox inside. You could listen to Elvis and chomp on a foot-long hot dog and a bag of those irresistible French fries.“
The photos above were made in 2018. The ones that follow were made this morning (10 September 2024).
While it’s not quite down yet, it will soon be a memory.
The sign is gone, too. I’m sure it’s being saved for posterity.
I’ve learned that the historic Ezekiel New Congregational Methodist Church, a landmark with locals and a favorite with photographers, has collapsed in recent months. I’ve not been able to find out when, but it’s been at least a couple of months. In October of 2023, per Google Maps, the steeple was leaning backward and it was probably a matter of time before it all fell. (I don’t know if it fell or was bulldozed). The church was established in the 1870s and active until the 1970s. It fell into disrepair after the congregation disbanded and has been in derelict condition for many years. A lightning strike a few years ago did further damage.