Tag Archives: Georgia Barber & Beauty Shops

Dismuke Storehouse, 1899, Americus

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Built as a grocery store in 1899 by Joseph H. Dismuke, this structure also served his family as a residence. Dismuke was the nephew of Elbert Head, a well-to-do black farmer and philanthropist, from whom he initially acquired the property. It was sold to Janice Coleman in 1919 and briefly owned by W. C. Flatt before being purchased in 1922 by John Minyard, who added a cafe. The cafe was so popular, especially on weekends and special occasions when it sold alcohol, that the neighborhood came to be known as”Minyard’s Bottom”. The Minyards got out of the business by the 1950s and Earnest Wilson, then his son Clyde, ran a barbershop here until Clyde’s illness in 1978.

These memories come from Karl Wilson’s (Clyde’s son) “History of the Storehouse”, written in 1985.

[The storehouse was originally located about 20 feet closer to the corner of the lot but was moved during infrastructural modifications in the neighborhood in 1987].

National Register of Historic Places

Mr. Hair Barber Lounge, Fitzgerald

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fitzgerald-ga-mr-hair-barber-lounge-photograph-copyright-brian-brown-vanishing-south-georgia-usa-2016

This is a landmark of the African-American community in Fitzgerald. I believe it was a neighborhood grocery store before it became Mr. Hair.

fitzgerald ga mr hair barber shop photograph copyright brian brown vanishing south georgia usa 2016

Barber Shop, Cedar Springs

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cedar springs ga shotgun tenant house photograph copyright brian brown vanishing south georgia usa 2016

This is quite small, even for a shotgun house, so I initially thought it might be an old office building, but there’s another one on the property (which I was unable to photograph due to vegetation) which led me to believe it might be a tenant house. Pete Tyson clarifies: That was the first aid/hospital of Cedar Springs that Mrs. S. A. Wright told me about. It was moved there in the 1960’s from the little dirt road behind Johnny Golden’s store. It was a barber shop (drinking spot) that was run by Bill Adams and he later moved his shop to Columbia, Alabama, to the old Orr’s Gun Shop on Highway 52. The other was a beauty shop run by May Megahee.

William C. Evans notes: The building was moved twice. Originally it was a dispensary and band room at the Cedar Springs Academy. The first time it was moved, it was used as a post office. It was later moved again to its current location and was used as a barbershop. Dr. Crozier’s house was the medical facility of Cedar Springs.

Though it’s obviously best remembered as a barber shop, I’m identifying it by its original purpose.

Fickling Lodge No. 129, 1920, Butler

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butler ga historic fickling masonic lodge photograph copyright brian brown vanishing south georgia usa 2016

Note the ghost sign for the City Barber Shop on the right of the building.

Butler Downtown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Barber Shop, Alma

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alma ga barber shop photograph copyrigh brian brown vanishing south georgia usa 2016

This is an excellent example of an old time barber shop. I got my first haircut in a place like this.

alma ga barber shop interior photograph copyright brian brown vanishing south georgia usa 2016

Precinct House, Holt

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Holt Precinct House Irwin County GA Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2016

Besides a precinct house, this was also used as a barber shop. Katherine Griffin recalls: My Dad, Ed Grantham, used this building to barber for the area farmers on Saturdays until 9: or 10: pm. These old precinct houses are getting harder to find. I’ve photographed this one many times over the years. Tracie Lott Thacker shared my favorite memory of this place: My first ever vote was cast right here. I walked down the dirt road and my grandfather Cleon Lott and Aunt Karen Lott were working here that day.

Toby’s Motel & Grill, Alapaha

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Alapaha GA Tobys Motel Grill Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2015

Built to lure travelers off busy US Highway 82 (likely in the 1940s), Toby Powell’s Motel & Grill is still relatively intact. The eclectic architecture of the office/restaurant at first appears to be a crumbling facade, but it was built that way! For a time after its original use was supplanted, it served as a grocery store and Virginia’s Beauty Lounge.

Alapaha GA Tobys Motel Grill Abandoned Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2015

Below is a contemporary postcard view.

Tobys Motel Grill Alapaha GA Postcard 1950s Vanishing South Georgia USA 2015

Doug Anderson’s Barber Shop, Elberton

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Doug Andersons Barber Shop Downtown Elberton GA Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing North Georgia USA 2015

Here are two “window” shots of Doug Anderson’s Barber Shop, which almost looks like a museum. It’s located in the basement of the old First National Bank Building and is a local landmark in itself.

Doug Andersons Barber Shop Elberton GA Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing North Georgia USA 2015

Elberton Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

Service Station, Leslie

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Leslie GA Sumter County Mid Century Gas Station Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vaniishing South Georgia USA 2015

John A. Battle writes: This old service station in Leslie was owned by my sister and her husband, Fred (Buddy) Bass and Joanne Battle Bass, and operated as a dry cleaners and barber shop.

General Store, Avera

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Avera GA Jefferson County Old Country Store Pepsi Sign Photograph Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2014

Sam Avera writes: …the small building shown on the right side of the store was once a barber shop. I spent a good bit of time at my grandparents home in Gibson (Glascock County) and my grandfather took me there for my haircuts…haircuts were .25 cents and mine was special because it was called a “feather cut”, whatever that was.   I am 73 years old now and I think I must have been around 6 or 7 years old when the barber shop was open, maybe a bit younger.