Tag Archives: Georgia General Stores

General Store, Oglethorpe

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I made this photo a few years ago. I think it was near the old New York Store just outside Oglethorpe. I’m identifying it as a general store, thought it looks like it may have been something else more recently. Some of my Brown relatives in Macon County (maiden name in this case) once owned a store in the country, according my father and aunt, and I’ve been looking through a lot of photographs trying to find out if it’s still standing. I have no idea of the name, or even a precise location. Places like this were once landmarks in the areas they served, so no matter how simple they are I try to document them when I see them.

Mora, Georgia

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Mora has always been an out-of-the way place, but was once a busy farming community. It had a post office from 1910-1917 but I can’t locate an origin for the name, which is pronounced “more-A” (think Moray Eel). Judging by road names and comments about Vickers Store, the Nugent and Vickers family were early settlers in the area, and the old Vickers store is visible in the foreground. The white building in the distance was also a store with a built-in residence. I used to have more information about it, but have misplaced it in my archives. This photo dates to circa 2009-2010. Satellite views online show many more vehicles parked around the Vickers Store today. I haven’t been through the area in many years.

General Store, Eastanollee

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Some sources date white settlement in Eastanollee to the late 1700s but there is little to be found regarding these pioneers. Most likely, the village, located southeast of Toccoa, grew in the mid-19th century. A post office has been serving the community since 1875. The unusual name comes from Eastanollee Creek, itself thought to be derivative of a Cherokee word for “shoals”.

An historic survey done in 1989 documents a two-story store in Eastanollee, presumably gone today. The store depicted here wasn’t identified in that survey, but was certainly standing at the time. It likely dates from 1910s-1930s, and has been restored. Sadly, the old Eastanollee Auditorium, which became a symbol of the community, was recently razed.

General Store, 1920s, Maretts

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This store, or commissary, was likely built around the same time as the Craftsman house located behind it. Because the community is known as Maretts (for the Marett family), it’s a good bet there is an association. It’s one of at least three stores or commissaries in the general area, indicating a thriving agricultural community at the time they were built. Places like this were the convenience stores of their day, and since few people owned cars, they served an immediate local need.

General Store, Hart County

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This general store is located just around the corner from New Harmony Methodist Church, on Mt. Olivet Road. It may have once had gas pumps out front. The general area is now referred to as the Reed Creek community. It’s a very pastoral area, characterized by well-maintained farms and yards. I hope someone will recognize this place and help with its identification.

Montevideo, Georgia

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Montevideo is another crossroads community of Elbert County, located just up the road from Rock Branch. While this old store is located in Elbert, most of the settlement is located in Hart County, which is just across the road. In fact, Montevideo Road itself makes up much of the southern border Hart County. Presumably named for the South American city, Montevideo may have originated as an earlier plantation or farm. A post office served the community from 1857-1903.

Rock Branch, Georgia

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Rock Branch is a crossroads community in the eastern part of Elbert County, named for the nearby creek known as Rock Branch. There are a lot of little creeks in this area. To my knowledge, they never even had a post office but they had at least two stores, and there’s a newer store serving the community today. Until a few years ago, there was a two-story Masonic lodge that also housed a store in days gone by. The historic Rock Branch Baptist Church is located here, as well is this old general store and filling station. The store sported a Phillips 76 gasoline sign in an older photograph I saw, in an architectural survey. The pumps have probably been gone for many years.

General Store, Jasper County

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I’m not positive that this old shotgun store was in Jasper County. I photographed driving between Monticello and Eatonton, and can’t relocate it on maps. I’ll gladly update if someone knows its exact whereabouts. It’s a great example and still displays an old Coca-Cola sign, dating to no later than the 1940s. The rusted tin always gets my attention and my mind wanders, imagining the hard-working people who gathered here to buy Co-Colas and swap tales. The store was probably closed by the 1950s or early 1960s.

Henderson Store & Post Office, Circa 1885, Oxford

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This historic commercial block, locally known as the “Rock Store”, was constructed of local stone and was originally a combination general store and post office. More recently, it has been known as the McGiboney Building. Today it houses a private residence upstairs and retail/office space on the lower floor. As best I can tell, it’s the only surviving commercial structure from 19th-century Oxford.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Hayston, Georgia

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Southeast of Covington near Mansfield is the nearly vanished settlement of Hayston. Marshall McCart, who gives the history of Newton County a digital presence with The Piedmont Chronicles, notes that the community was first settled by Robert Luther Hays, one of 25 children of George Newton Hayes [who later dropped the ‘e’ from his surname], a pioneer settler of Newton County. Robert Luther [who had 18 children himself] and several of his siblings settled in the area that would become Hayston. As McCart notes, the community was largely made up of immediate family.

Nonetheless, it supported stores, industry, and had schools and churches. A Central of Georgia depot once stood in the heart of the community. Robert Luther’s son, Alexander Hays, owned the store pictured in this post, and it later passed to his son, H. S. “Stoney” Hays. It was established in 1883. A post office served the community from 1893-1957. Alexander, and later Stoney, also served as Hayston’s only postmasters.

The Hays Store was restored in the 2000s by one the Hays descendants, Freddie Greer.