This house has always beckoned me to stop and make photographs, and I made these in 2011. It’s a classic single-pen tenant house, complete with “tar paper” to keep cold out of the cracks in winter. The last time I checked, it was still standing, albeit in worse condition. I’ve often encountered a wake of buzzards perched on the roof, and once even scared a bunch from inside the house. In my notes, I call it the Buzzard House.
Kara Kidder wrote, in 2023, that this house had been in her family for over 100 years and that they were still researching its origins. A sign outside indicates it was built in 1905. It’s a perfect example of a Folk Victorian farmhouse and is well-maintained. It is located among fields that go on for miles in all directions.
This old farmhouse was located in the southwestern part of Irwin County, off Five Bridge Road, and I drove past it for many years wondering if it would survive, and who lived here and made it a home. This photograph from my archives dates to 2012, and was made in the winter, because the house was almost completely hidden by vegetation during the spring and summer months. I don’t know its fate but suspect it is gone.
This saddlebag house has an attached wing. If true to the form, it originally had two front doors. I photographed it in 2012 in the Satilla Church area and am not sure if it’s still standing.
This house was the center of a small farm that was kept up for many years, even when no one lived here. The photograph dates to 2010; the house was recently demolished. There are still barns on the property, painted bright red like the house.
A classic late-19th century vernacular house, this example near Lands Crossing is yet another illustration of the expansion of the utilitarian central hallway form. A shed room was added at the rear of the structure and another wing was attached, perhaps a kitchen. I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t logs beneath the siding. The windows bordering the door are a bit unusual. One would expect to find full-length sidelights instead. I suspect this is a later modification, done for a practical reason. It’s one of the nicest and oldest examples of this house type in Irwin County.
This is located near the Riverbend community, and I’ve stopped many times over the years to photograph it. The “striped’ roof always catches my eye. With so many photographs, I don’t know why I’ve never published it, but I’m finding quite a few Irwin County images as I re-edit posts, and perhaps it got overlooked. I believe Diana Griffin identified it for me on social media years ago, but since I’m not on those spaces much anymore, I don’t have access to that information. It is a double-pen house, indicated by the two front doors, and in that respect a relatively rare form. Double-pen houses are most often associated with tenancy, but not always. A shed room at the rear of the house is also visible, which was a common amendment to these types of structures.
Martin Gottlieb (1892-1968) was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant who came to Fitzgerald in 1918. He was a merchant and tailor and an active member of the Hebrew Commercial Alliance throughout his time in Fitzgerald. He is best remembered for leaving the city a large bequest that was to be used to purchase Christmas gifts for needy children. The fund survives to this day. He also served as president of the Fitzgerald Baseball Club, the Pioneers, which were a professional farm team. The property documented here was originally Gottlieb’s farm, located just outside Fitzgerald, but now within the city limits.
Gottlieb eventually went into business with Ed Castleberry (1909-2003), and their Gottlieb and Castleberry Men’s Shop, located next to the Garbutt-Donovan Building on East Pine Street, outfitted generations of men in Fitzgerald. I remember visiting the small store as a youth as it was the place to order Boy and Cub Scout uniforms.
Eventually, Ed Castleberry purchased or inherited the farm from Mr. Gottlieb. Though more a “gentleman’s farm” than a commercial enterprise, pecan trees were cultivated and harvested on the property from year to year.
Ed and Minnie Castleberry’s (1915-2006) son, John Ed Castleberry (1945-2023) continued to live here until his death.
The property will likely be sold for commercial use, so I was glad to have the opportunity to photograph it.
This house was located in western Ben Hill County in the Aster or Sunflower Road area, near Arp. The photograph was made in 2004 and the house was razed soon thereafter. Unfortunately, this is the best quality file I’ve been able to locate. I’m re-editing my Ben Hill County images now and am republishing this (a different version was originally published in 2008) with the hope that someone will know more about the house. It was one of the special places that inspired the work I do now.
I’ve passed this spot west of Dawson countless times over the past twenty years and have never noticed this structure. It certainly got my attention on my recent trip and I was determined to get a photograph. This classic single-pen dwelling also features a shed room across the back side, as is typical of the form. It likely dates to 1890-1920.