The 300th block of 2nd Street is quite colorful. The blue building on the right has Vitrolite panels on the lower floor. This was most commonly found on jewelry stores and theatres in the mid-20th century, though I don’t know what this building housed.
In this same block is the restaurant, Tzango at Laniers, which has great windows honoring the poet (and flautist) Sidney Lanier, who practiced law in this structure with his father Robert S. Lanier and his uncle Clifford Anderson, from 1868-1872.
Macon Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This historic African-American congregation dates to the 1880s. The church is of a vernacular style typical of rural congregations from the late-19th through the mid-20th century.
2021
It was the childhood church home of one of Georgia’s most popular authors, Alice Walker.
2021
After years of disrepair, it has been restored.
The small cemetery across the road is where members of Ms. Walker’s family are buried.
Willie Lee Walker – 13 September 1909-26 January 1973Minnie Tallulah Grant Walker – 2 December 1912-10 September 1993
The birthplace of Joel Chandler Harris and Alice Walker, Eatonton is the perfect location for a state writers’ museum. The Georgia Writers Museum is presently open Friday-Sunday in a small storefront on Main Street, the museum plans to relocate to the historic Eatonton Hotel in the future.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
From the historical marker: Andrew & Mary Ann Clopton Reid’s 1852 National Register Greek Revival Mansion’s origins reach back to the 1816 “Eagle Tavern Inn.” Rising Star Masonic Lodge F & AM Lodge #39 minutes record its first Feast of St. John the Evangelist Festival Day here on December 28, 1818. Thomas T. Napier owned and occupied it by 1820 & by 1822 its tax digest value was $3,500 ~ while most other buildings in town valued at $500 – $600. Eatonton’s famous tavern operator, William Wilkins, Sr., bought it in 1830 and lost it at sheriff’s sale November 3, 1835, to wealthy planter brothers Andrew & Alexander Sydney Reid, who operated it as Reid’s Hotel. By 1846 Andrew Reid (1806-1865) owned it alone and by 1848 began the conversion to his private residence. James M. Broadfield (1815-1899) was the carpenter-architect who turned the earlier Inn into the Greek house. Twelve massive wooden fluted Doric columns, the massive entrance, interior Egyptian-style door, window & mantel molding & the hallway floor’s marbleized squares added sophistication. In 1874, Reid’s administrators sold to Francis Asberry Leverette, CSA (1845-1895), appointed U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Georgia by President Cleveland. Leverette moved to Macon and died there after selling on February 5, 1894 to James M. Rainey, who began renting rooms for $2.00 a day and even housed by 1901 Dr. Hopkins’ dental office. Mr. & Mrs. Emerson Foote Bronson rented it from Rainey in 1911 and bought from him in 1914. Bronson relocated from Tennille, GA, in 1908 as the new Central of GA Railroad Depot Agent. In 1931, his widow Nena Norwood Bronson (1868-1961), converted to a boarding house and then into 7 apartments, including her own. She preserved the property, careful not to remove architectural features. Her daughter Eunice Bronson (Frank P.) Stubbs (1896-1985) inherited, moved in and continued the family preservation tradition. Her six children, in tribute to their grandmother, mother and their preservation interest, sold it on Oct. 10, 1985, to the Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society, Inc. for its headquarters. The Society opened the house on Dec. 14, 1985, for a lavish donors’ reception.
It’s also believed that Joel Chandler Harris and his mother lived in a small cottage on the property for a time.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The legendary American author Flannery O’Connor was not even 40 when she died of Lupus in her beloved Milledgeville. She is buried beside her parents in Memory Hill Cemetery.
This was the home of Sidney Lanier’s brother-in-law, Henry C. Day and it was here in the 1870s that the famous poet stayed in an attempt to overcome tuberculosis. During this time he was inspired to pen The Marshes of Glynn, his most famous work.
Brunswick Old Town Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Cochise greets visitors, with the Pearson House in the background
Red Earth Farm is home to Janisse Ray & Raven Waters. Janisse is a well-known environmental activist and author. My family came to know her when her first book was published and we’ve always been honored to call her a friend. (Ecology of a Cracker Childhood; Wild Card Quilt; Pinhook; Drifting into Darien; and The Seed Undergroundare among her works.) Raven, originally from western New York, oversees the operations of the farm and is an accomplished potter and artist.
Front porch of the Pearson House
At the heart of Red Earth Farm is the beautifully restored circa-1850 Pearson Farmhouse.
Kale colors the winter garden (at right)
The farm is primarily for Janisse and Raven’s personal use, though they do limited retail with vegetables and livestock.
Winter greens with an old shed in the background
When I made these photographs, winter greens were growing. Red Earth Farm is an organic farm, so everything that doesn’t get eaten goes back into the earth. It’s a practical model of sustainable agriculture.
This was the norm on small farms a few generations ago.
Jersey calves
The calves were very interested in my camera. Winona and Wendell are here, plus one whose name I didn’t get. Most of the larger animals at Red Earth Farm are named for authors and activists.
Barbados Blackbelly Sheep
Barbados Blackbelly “Sojourner” and Katahdin “Mahatma”. Barbados Blackbellies and Katahdins are hair sheep varieties tolerant of heat; after many years of decline in numbers, both seem to be recovering.
Guineas
Guineas are an old-time favorite on South Georgia farms and are often considered the “watchdogs of the barnyard” for their habit of calling loudly at any disturbance. And they’re very attentive.
Royal Palm Turkey
Another shot of Cochise, a Royal Palm Turkey, seems a fitting bookend for this quick tour.
