This structure, which now serves as the city hall for Junction City, was built circa 1907 as the Farmers & Merchants Bank. It is a brick structure which at some point was sided with stucco. Junction City was incorporated in 1906.
Meansville is purportedly named for John William Means (20 June 1812-28 February 1896), who migrated to the area from the Carolinas. I’m not sure when he arrived in Pike County, but he married Nancy B. McGinty here on 26 September 1833. Interestingly, his obituary does not make note of his being the namesake of the community; it does state that he was one of Pike County’s oldest and most respected citizens.
The town was not incorporated until 1913.
The Penny Savings Loan and Investment Company was formed by a group of Augusta’s leading Black businessmen in 1910. This structure, based on designs by architect G. Lloyd Preacher, was built in 1925. An anchor of the Black business district known as the “Golden Blocks”, it closed its doors in 1928 as a result of economic woes and the looming Great Depression. Though stable, the structure has been long abandoned and attempts at rehabilitation have not materialized.
Laney-Walker North Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Though it hardly fits the bill today, the Georgian Revival Davis-Exchange Bank Building was touted as Albany’s first “skyscraper” when completed in 1920, and is still the most prominent commercial building downtown. It was built to replace the old Exchange National Bank which had burned, and housed other businesses, as well. The architect, J. Edwin R. Carpenter, was quite successful, and was called the father of the modern apartment building in New York City, where he focused his practice. He was an early practitioner and proponent of vertical design.
National Register of Historic Places
These detail shots of the old First National Bank of Sparta illustrate the pride small towns took in their commercial architecture at the turn of the last century. First National Bank was established in late 1903 and dissolved by 1923.
Sparta Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Built in 1904, this structure was home to Jersey’s only bank until the Great Depression brought on its failure in 1931. It was organized by Josiah Blasingame, Sr., a prominent landowner and merchant who served as the first postmaster and first mayor of Jersey. It was used for storage until the early 1980s and was later used as a dental office.
National Register of Historic Places
Presently being renovated, the old Bank of West Point building is typical of small town banks in the first decade of the 20th century.
West Point Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Jim Cottingham shared this historic photograph of three gentlemen outside the Merchants & Farmers Bank circa 1905. His grandfather, W. T. Cottingham, is pictured at left.
This has served as Bainbridge City Hall for many years, and was recently restored. It’s one of the most impressive marble structures in South Georgia.
Bainbridge Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 