There was a nearly identical church building, known as Piscola Church and built circa 1944, that was located near this church. I didn’t see it when I drove through the area, so it may have been demolished.
There’s also an historic wooden schoolhouse nearby, but it was not accessible.
This is another of countless rural churches for which I can find no historical information, even though I believe it to be an old congregation. Its address is listed as Dixie, but it’s actually much closer to the ghost town of Pidcock. James N. Pidcock, for whom the settlement was named, was a wealthy New Jersey entrepreneur with wide-ranging South Georgia timber interests, and a home in Moultrie. It’s possible he was a benefactor of the church, as he would have employed many African-Americans in his timber business.
I can locate no history of Graham Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, but I’d guess the structure dates to circa 1900-1920. It’s an amazingly pristine example of the most common style for Black congregations of the era, anchored by two asymmetrical, or uneven, towers. The exterior of Graham Chapel is largely original, and even retains the original shake siding on its towers and front gable.
Quitman Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house has been expanded over the years and may have originated as a smaller central hallway cottage that now has the overall massing of a Georgian Cottage.
Quitman Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I recently learned that one of South Georgia’s most iconic, most photographed, houses was saved from pending demolition, and its continued survival is a big win for preservation at the local level. James Horton writes: I don’t know if you have seen, but the mysterious Wasden farm house on the Greenville Highway, that has sparked so much attention, is getting rehabilitated. It has a new roof and a paint job, but no evidence of a porch reconstruction yet. That house narrowly escaped total demolition because the owner had scheduled a wrecking company from Atlanta to come down and disassemble it and sell it for parts! But a local guy has purchased it and is fixing it up for his daughter – we are all happy it has been saved!
Vanishing Georgia echoes James’s excitement for the future of this house, and we hope to keep up with the progress as it enters a new phase of its long life. Knowing that it was saved at the last minute does the heart good and is proof that people care about these kinds of places.
I’ve never been able to get a complete history of the house, even after speaking with architectural historians who have put a lot of effort into the research, though records suggest it was built circa 1884. It has been identified by several names, but Snow and Wasden seem to come up the most. As always, I’d appreciate more information from anyone who knows more.
This South Georgia Grocery Company was a wholesaler established by Samuel Stevens Rountree (1855-1952) in 1903.
The company eventually had seven locations and Rountree divided into several independent businesses, including Capital City Grocery Company of Tallahassee, Rountree Grocery Company of Americus, and a branch in Waycross. He also owned controlling interest in one of South Georgia’s first grocery chains, Suwannee Stores. Mr. Rountree was one of Quitman’s most successful businessmen and president of the Bank of Quitman from 1917-1945. He was the subject of a 1 August 1948 Atlanta Journal Magazine article which identified him as the nation’s oldest active banker. The article noted that “He always wears a flower and goes to the bank every day”. He had few hobbies, but was a big horse racing fan and in his younger years made the trip to Saratoga and Belmont each year.
Many small Georgia towns have areas like this one on South Washington Street that were once vibrant commercial areas, now abandoned to the elements. Most of these buildings are just shells, with the roofs long gone.
One can only imagine what businesses were located here at this point. They’re located on South Washington Street near the railroad tracks. Some may have been businesses related to the railroad, and there was probably a grocery or general store, as well.
Beulah Baptist, like Bethel A. M. E. Church, is a Freedmen congregation, established in 1869. The cornerstone for this structure, placed in 1916, identifies it simply as Beulah Baptist Church. I’m not sure when the congregation became affiliated with the Missionary Baptists.
This was one of the most common house types in working class neighborhoods at the turn of the last century.
Real estate records date this house to 1900 but I believe that has been confused with the house next door. It’s located in Quitman’s historic South Washington Street African-American neighborhood and is an important example of the architecture of an emerging middle class at the height of the Jim Crow era.
