Carlton was named for Dr. Henry Carlton of Athens. In its heyday, the rail shipping point here was called Berkley (after an engineer of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad) due to freight mix-ups with Carrollton. The post office has always been known as Carlton, though. This row of three commercial storefront from the community’s heyday has been abandoned for many years and will be lost if not stabilized soon.
Georgia Highway 72 passes through downtown Carlton.
Independent businesses like this one help keep small towns like Carlton alive.
Laura Tyner writes: This was my father’s old store from the 70’s to the early 80’s. It was called Tyner’s General Merchandise. The little shed to the right is where my Dad would let the local hunters store their deer. It was a huge walk in cooler. Lots of great memories here.
The true beauty of this Queen Anne cottage has been partly obscured by the porch addition, which likely dates from the 1910s-1930s. It would be a wonderful restoration project; it’s appealing, even in its present state.
This circa 1894 gabled-ell cottage is the home of Mike Jones and Stephanie Astalos-Jones. Stephanie writes: All the art here IS for sale. There is a small sign on the corner of Lexington and Highway 72 that says “art for sale” and points this way…Our hope is that our house is known as an art house where people can come and find original art.
It was hard not to stop after seeing this big hand on a tree in the yard.
Regarding the beautiful decoration of the house, Stephanie explains: Every bit of that is hand painted. I’m a pysanky artist (batik work on egg shell) and I wanted to put pysanky style artwork on the house. I’m also a professional actor…
There were three sculptures in the yard, and the remains of an old tuba attached to a post. Stephanie notes: My husband is a sculptor and a jazz saxophone player. Those are his pieces you show in the yard. It’s nice to see them again since all are sold now.
If you’ve ever traveled Georgia Highway 107 between Jacksonville and Snipesville, you’ve undoubtedly noticed these large outcrops near the Coffee/Jeff Davis County line. They’re an extension of the better-known Broxton Rocks, a natural area protected by the Nature Conservancy of Georgia. The area, known as Flat Tub, is accessible as a Georgia Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and recent covenants have led to further protections of this fascinating resource.
Long thought to be Altamaha Grit, different hypotheses suggest that it could be of Altamaha Formation, but not as “gritty” as other such areas previously identified. Another thesis suggests this may be a more specific “Ocmulgee Formation”, the result of a meteorite impact which may have created the Big Bend of the Ocmulgee.
Whatever the specific geology, it’s certainly an amazing environment, almost alien in comparison to adjacent lands.
This gin was owned by George Dean and C. E. Williams.
The space at the left of this block was once a bank; it’s now the post office.
Bowersville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places