This is one of numerous structures that make up the Golden Peanut facility in Dawson. Georgia is the leading peanut producer in the nation, and Terrell County is one of the leading counties for production. Dawson is also home to the National Peanut Research Laboratory, a project of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Ritch is a community in southwestern Wayne County, centered around the historic Ritch Baptist Church. This is one of several tobacco barns I photographed there in 2010. I think some are gone, but this one may still be standing, minus the canopy roof.
Shell’s Bonded Warehouse is one of at least two such facilities in Pitts, which isn’t surprising considering the importance of farming in the area. I’m fascinated by these old buildings; they’re not architecturally interesting, I suppose, but they represent the lifeblood of many small towns whose economies were and are based on agriculture. The old ones are getting harder to find, but many are still in use. I wouldn’t be surprised if this one is still busy in season.
This mural is a landmark in Rochelle. It’s been here for at least 15 years. It’s one of those, “you know you’re in Rochelle when…” kinds of places. I made the photo in 2010 and thought I had lost it, only recently realizing I had shared it on another platform at that time. Problem solved. Hillbilly Produce raises fresh vegetables and sells them here and in Pitts during the summer months. As the mural suggests, you can expect watermelons, corn, onions, and peas, for starters. They also sell seasonal items in the fall.
This storefront has been associated with Irwinville Peanut & Grain for many years, but it was built in 1938 as the retail store for the Irwinville Cooperative Association, an offshoot of the Irwinville Farms Project. It has been modified over time.
In her book Irwinville Farms Project: The Making of a Community (Yawn’s Publishing, Canton, Georgia, 2012), Joy Wilson McDaniel notes that the store cost $8,747 to build, and along with the Cooperative Office, “just about completed the construction work on the town of Irwinville...” [in regards to the Irwinville Farms Project].
This tobacco barn is located on the farm adjoining my family’s farm and my father remembers working in the packhouse across Evergreen Road when he was a boy. Tobacco was a labor intensive crop that required lots of hands and skilled workers who knew how to navigate the steps and who could stand the hot sticky atmosphere of the barns.
This replaces a post originally published on 19 December 2008.
Curry & Curry Cotton Warehouse is the current occupant of this historic storefront. The facade indicates it may have once housed stores or offices, as well.
Shellman Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Shellman’s historic downtown got a fresh new look in 2018. The six grain silos that dominate Ward Street were transformed into colorful canvases by artist Chris Johnson between 2016-2018. The illustrations were done first, followed by the Georgia and American flags.
Johnson, a native of Roberta, is the director of the visual arts program at Andrew College. He has gained notoriety for his murals in Georgia and Alabama.
Agribusiness is the heartbeat of Shellman, and the city wanted the silos to represent this fact, along with some local history.
One of the murals honors native son Boudleaux Bryant, who along with his wife Felice was one of the most successful songwriters of his generation.
Historically, cotton and corn were the principal crops of Terrell County, with peanuts coming later. Oxen and mules were widely used in farming until they were replaced by machinery after World War II. This gin and warehouse complex, just south of Parrott, is one of at least three that served the needs of the community over the years. These old tin buildings might not be much to look at, so to speak, but are nonetheless important to local history. Farming has always been the anchor of the local economy and workforce and places like this represent the business end of farming.
Parrott Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
After many years of decline, the historic lands and waterways of Butler Island, just south of Darien, were purchased and modernized by Col. Tillinghast L’Hommedieu (T. L.) Huston, in 1926. A dairy was part of the Butler Island Plantation enterprise before it was converted to an iceberg lettuce farm, and some of the dairy structures were maintained throughout Huston’s ownership. This barn and other related buildings have been gone for decades, but may have still been in use when R. J. Reynolds purchased the property after Huston’s death in 1938.
This real photo postcard, dated Tues. Apr. 16, 1935 wasn’t mailed, but features a somewhat exaggerated, tongue-in-cheek message on the reverse: “Near border of Georgia & Florida. Air fresh & fragrant with blossoms. Cattle have free range in this state & receive excellent attention, as card shows. Autos barely escape colliding with hogs, cows, chickens, dogs, turtles, etc. on the highways.” It isn’t signed.