This church is still active as far as I can tell. Though it is likely a relatively modern congregation, its whimsical chapel is as fascinating as any older church I’ve found lately. Typical of many rural Holiness churches, it’s fairly simple in design, but in its artistic facade, Freedom Tabernacle is a work of art in itself.
From the cross that spells out the church name to the hand-painted sign above the entrance, the message is clear.
The straightforward sign reads: Take Jesus for Your Saviour, and, curiously or not, Saviour is spelled in the British fashion. The stars are a common theme in Christianity, but more often associated with black congregations in my experience.
Daniel James II House, Circa 1845 – Daniel James II, Copies of vintage photographs Courtesy Jodi Hancock
I can’t locate any historical background on this house, but surveys have dated it to circa 1830, making it likely one of the oldest houses in present-day Marion County. It’s a very well-proportioned example of the Plantation Plain style and appears to have been recently restored. Jodi Hancock shares that it was the home of Daniel James II (1804-1888).
The Draneville community had a post office from 1882-1907, but the area was a population center much earlier than those dates would indicate. In her History of Marion County, published in 1931, Nettie Powell wrote: Draneville is a growing village and has two good stores, a post office and a blacksmith shop. The farmers in this community are progressive and take a great pride in their commodious homes. This district has two nice churches, Mt. Carmel and Union. Professor Morgan Stevens teaches the school which is in a flourishing condition. Dr Samuel Hart is the physician in that section. This district was first known as the Cut Off and was changed to Jacksonville and during this period when the post office was established it was named Draneville. At the beginning of this decade this district had the largest population in the county, but when the railroad was finished to Buena Vista that section increased in inhabitants very rapidly.
Jodi Hancock writes: This is my grandparents house, on my father’s side. The family raised chickens and farmed many acres for years and the house was sold in 2020, and is currently listed for sale.My great aunt, Loxi Wells Jones, did extensive research on the Union United Methodist Church, in Draneville. The church was built in 1830 at the fork of Georgia Highway 41 South and Georgia Highway 30, 1/4 mile from the current church location. The church was rebuilt in its current location in 1888, on land donated by Daniel James, on September 9, 1857. Daniel James, II caused the church to be built so that he could see the front door of the church from the front door of his home and receive blessings. Daniel James then lived in the big, white two-story home that faces the Union Church. It is now known as the Joe Hancock home, in which his daughter, Jane Hancock Dunmon and her husband Ted, lived.
As the date plate indicates, this gymnasium was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. Numerous structures of this type were constructed by the New Deal agency to not only provide jobs but to improve the cultural and recreational opportunities for communities all over the nation. In small towns like Buena Vista, such facilities often served a broader purpose, hosting musical acts, dances, dramatic endeavors, and charity events. Basketball was the central focus, however, and it was more popular than football in most communities until at least the 1960s.
The building is in a state of serious disrepair and has likely been unused for many years.
This building is part of a larger complex that served for many years as Marion Middle School. I believe it was originally part of the Buena Vista High School complex [I’m not sure if it was Buena Vista or Marion High School] and was likely built by the Works Progress Administration in the late 1930s or 1940s. If not a classroom building, it may have served as an office or other auxiliary purpose. I think it is still being used for adult education or a similar function.
Recent clearing of this property has revealed more of this structure than has been visible for years. I’ve been admiring and curious about it for years. I once wondered if it weren’t an old Plantation Plain house that had been converted into something else. A Georgia Historic Resources Survey dates it to circa 1874 and confirms its history as a mill. It is believed to have been moved to this site in 1930. Some of the bricks appear to be handmade, so I wonder if they weren’t recycled and added to the mill once it was moved. I haven’t been able to determine anything about the early history after consulting numerous sources. It’s probably just a case of the lore of the present obfuscating the history of the past. The mill, in its present form, was operational until the early 1960s.
Somewhere near this property, which is known as the Murray Estate, there was a campground and store, where for a few weeks each winter, Romanichal people made their home and traded with local citizens. The Romanichal were a Romani subgroup, generically known as gypsies. The term “gypsy” has always been somewhat derogatory and is now considered by many Romani an insult. Its use here is derived from its historical context in this community.
The property has been a landmark of Buena Vista for nearly a century, so it’s nice to see it looking better than it has in many years. I don’t know if there are any plans for its future, but I’m sure it could be put to good use as a community resource.
The plain style Mount Zion Primitive Baptist Church is one of the few tangible landmarks of the Doyle community, sometimes described as Putnam-Doyle, for inclusion of the nearby ghost town of Putnam. The post office in Doyle was open from 1891-1957, but was known as Wigginsville when it first opened in 1889. It was apparently named for Miss Jennie Doyle White Rogers.
According to Clarence White, from which all the following history is credited, the congregation was established in a brush arbor after the Civil War, and the present church building dates to at least 1888. The property was expanded by a gift from Ida Munroe, a professor and member of the Stevens family, large landowners and, formerly, slaveholders. Mr. White notes that Mount Zion served as anchor to the large African-American population of the communities of Putnam and Doyle.
A schoolhouse [in use until the construction of an Equalization School in Buena Vista in 1957] and the White Pearl Lodge #30 were located near the church. The lodge was destroyed by a tornado in the 1940s. Regarding the lodge, Mr. White wrote: Annually, on the second Sunday in June the lodge held a public program and ceremony at Samuel Chapel, which was known as a “turn-out.” This dignified event had a measure of simple, rural formality in an atmosphere of gentility and community fellowship. Lodge members dressed similarly, including the wearing of ceremonial badges. Unforgettable feasts were spread on the churchyard at the conclusion of the program; these were massive potlucks of meats, vegetables, salads, breads, cakes and pies brought by the women of the lodge in cardboard boxes and served with fresh-squeezed lemonade from one of the largest of galvanized tin tubs reserved for this singular use.
White’s description of this ritual is even more fascinating: The third Sunday in August was Big Meeting Day at Mt Zion, and nightly revival meetings (by kerosene lamp light before electricity) preceded the huge Sunday gathering. The occasion was a kind of festive homecoming attended by hundreds, many of whom returned from the Northern cities to which they had migrated beginning in the 1920s. There were concession stands that sold food and snacks. Cars and trucks overflowed the churchyard and were parked everywhere along Mt Zion Road, sometimes reaching to Highway 26. Moonshiners discreetly made their products available, being watchful for law enforcement officers who might suddenly appear. As the long day wore on, old family feuds might suddenly reignite. In addition to two services inside the church, there was a lively social scene outside the church. People came to see and be seen, to promenade—in their Sunday best. Indeed many attendees never set foot in the church; for them, visiting and being in the sprawling scene were how the much anticipated day was spent.
Hill’s Mill and its millpond have been landmarks of the Concord community in northern Schley County for well over a century.
According to Keith Hill, the great-great grandson of original owner Lewis Hill (1828-1904), the site of the mill has been in the family since before 1873. Slaughter Hill sold the land to his brothers, Lewis and Elbert (1838-1905) around that time. They were the children of Archibald (1803-1882) and Samantha Barfield Hill (1807-1863) of Taylor County.
Keith Hill has done extensive research on the mill and notes that the pond and dam were in place at the time of the 1873 sale, but apparently, not the mill. It was built some time in the last quarter of the 19th century, but isn’t documented by deed until 1902, at which time Lewis bought out Elbert’s part of the business. Lewis’s widow, Mary, sold the property to Henry Hurst in 1905, and a year later, Hurst sold it to the Hills’ half-brother, Josiah Hill (1868-1931). The property changed hands numerous times over the next few decades but returned to family in 1944, and to my knowledge, is still in their possession. It was in use at least until 1955.
This location remains one of the most beautiful places in the county, and is well-loved by generations, for its association with milling corn, cotton, and lumber at various times, but also as a favorite recreational spot. It is located on private property.
Located beside the Colored Hospital, Campbell Chapel is believed to be the oldest black congregation in Americus. In 1869, it began as a part of the white Methodist church, but its members, mostly freedmen, withdrew and formed an independent Methodist congregation, originating with brush arbor meetings led by Rev. Braswell. In 1877, under the leadership of Bishop Campbell, they purchased this lot in the McCoy Hill neighborhood and built a wood frame church to house their growing membership. The congregation named themselves for Bishop Campbell. As Campbell Chapel grew, becoming the “Mother Church” of Americus, the old church was razed and this structure built in its place, in 1920.
The new church cost $20,000 to build and while the congregation counted most of the doctors and other middle class black professionals of Americus among its members and generous donors; Dr. E. J. Brinson, a black physician, successfully solicited donations from members of the white community. The church history is proud to point out that much of the money was raised from small donations by working class members such as sharecroppers and domestics, who often made less than fifty cents per day.
Significantly, it is the work of Georgia’s first registered African-American architect, Macon native Louis H. Persley (1888-1932). After studies at Lincoln University and the Carnegie Institute of Technology [now Carnegie-Mellon University] and teaching architecture for a year at Tuskegee University, Persley and fellow black architect Robert Robinson Taylor (1868-1942) formed the firm of Taylor and Persley. Taylor was America’s first formally trained black architect. Theirs was one of the earliest, if not the first, professional architectural firm of black ownership in the United States. Persley went on to design numerous structures on the campus of Tuskegee University, but also had other commissions in Georgia, including the First A. M. E. Church and Samaritan Building in Athens, and the Chambliss Hotel and Central City Funeral Home in Macon. I believe the Athens and Americus churches are his only two surviving works in Georgia.
The landmark has fallen into disrepair in recent years, but thanks to a grant from the National Park Service, will be restored, along with the Americus Colored Hospital. I had a nice encounter with Bishop Melvin McCluster, of neighboring Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, who told me he had been looking forward to it being restored to its rightful purpose for many years. He noted that the congregation was still active and presently meets in Elijah Smith, Sr., Worship Center across the street. Rev. Gloria F. Wynds is the current pastor.
The first facility in South Georgia where black doctors, nurses, and pharmacists could train, practice, and serve people of color, the Americus Colored Hospital was established by Dr. William Stuart Prather (1868-1941), a white physician who was well aware of the health care needs of this under-served community. He bought the property and built this state-of-the-art facility, with the cooperation and contributions of the Americus Negro Business League and the Americus Junior Welfare League.
According to the Americus-Sumter County Movement Remembered Committee (ASMRC), 33 doctors, 2 dentists, 2 pharmacists, 6 registered nurses, and 18 nursing professionals were associated with the hospital. The resulting black middle class that grew out of this experiment was one of the most vibrant in the state; in fact, Americus-Sumter County had more black professionals and landowners than anywhere else in Georgia from the 1920s-1942.
Though it faced numerous difficulties, it was an important resource for the African-American community until it closed in 1953. At that time, Sumter Regional Hospital opened its doors, and because it used federal funds via the Hill-Burton Act, couldn’t discriminate by race. The act didn’t mandate desegregation, however, and Sumter Regional was racially compartmentalized. Since no black doctors were hired, much of the black middle class left Americus, resulting in a negative economic impact. The Americus Chapter of the City Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, purchased the Colored Hospital building and used it as a nursery and youth center. During the Civil Rights Movement, it also served as a Freedom School and Training Center.
Eliza Peeples*, Spirit of Turpentine, Circa 1936, from an Atlanta newspaper
Eliza Peeples must not have been too bothered by the sharp pine needles that made up the bulk of her bathing suit, but she was wearing the outfit to help promote turpentine. As part of its promotional push, the American Turpentine Farmers Association (ATFA) began holding an annual Miss Spirits of Turpentine beauty pageant in 1940, where this costume, as well as a pine needle tiara, were part of the show. This photograph is scanned from a newspaper article published in one of the Atlanta papers soon after the association was formed, so I think Eliza was more of a mascot than an official “queen”. I can’t locate the paper in my archives at the moment, so I don’t have an exact date. I don’t know when the pageant was phased out, but the last “turpentine queen” was crowned in 1995, long after the disbanding of the group.
Harley Langdale of Valdosta formed ATFA as a cooperative of naval stores producers in 1936. They came from the “Turpentine Belt” states of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. And Georgia was usually the leading producer. Judge Langdale led the organization for 29 years, but the industry, which boomed during World War II, reached its peak by the late 1940s. Innovations such as fire breaks and controlled burns were adopted early by ATFA members, and their benefits are still integral to forestry today. For a time, turpentine was one of the biggest employers in the rural South. Numerous factors, primarily modernization and competition from the chemicals industry, as well as the loss of labor due to the Great Migration, spelled the end of ATFA, and broad scale production, by 1975. Memories of the industry are fading from the collective consciousness but a few of the old turpentine shacks, commissaries, and stills can be found scattered throughout Georgia.
*- I was able to learn that Eliza Peeples McLemore (1920-2011) lived in Griffin, Georgia, for most of her adult life, and that she had a twin sister, Louie Peeples White (1920-2009). They were the daughters of Russell Alexander Peeples and Ethel Orr Peeples.
