I first photographed this store nearly six years ago. It looks to be the busiest place in Glenwood and hasn’t changed a bit. Rodney Porter writes: I remember when it was Atchisons – in the mid 70’s.
Red & White Grocery, Glenwood
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Tag Archives: Georgia Grocery Stores
Page Grocery, 1947, Pringle
This well-maintained country store is about all that remains of Pringle, a small village between Harrison and New Home.
Rowland’s Store, Moores Chapel
This was once the center of the Moores Chapel community, which gets its name from Moore’s Chapel Methodist Church which stands on a high spot across the highway. Tina Stephens Barrs writes: This was my Great Aunt Idean Webb Rowland and Great Uncle Clifton Rowland’s store. Not sure when it was built but probably in the mid 1900’s. And Mabry Reese McIntyre notes that Mrs. Idean dipped a lot of ice cream cones in that store. Was a good day when the school bus stopped there.
Powell’s Store, New Home
The community of New Home appears on good maps, but it’s hard to find on the internet. This store was obviously the anchor of this small rural community. I believe the community derives its name from the former site of New Home Baptist Church, which has since moved to Wrightsville. Thanks to Deborah Brantley for identifying this as Leon Powell’s store. Lamar Sanders writes: I love this old store. I went in there once and I got an Ice cold coca cola on a really hot summer day around 1968, when I actually had enough money to buy a coke, when running a stream gauging field trip for the US Geological Survey, about 4 years out of Georgia Tech. I was really hot and sweaty, and the air conditioner of the store was cranked up on high. I believe 2 or 3 old men were in there cooling off, too. I go by the store on my trips between Lexington, SC and my home town Edison on a regular basis, and still think about how good that Coke was.
L. C. Moon’s Grocery, Scotland
Sherry Kiltz writes that this was originally L.C. Moon’s Grocery and that his family also owned the red building next door (package store). Mr. L.C. was also the mayor of Scotland for years.
Corrugated tin buildings of this style were once widely used as stores in small towns throughout Georgia, as I’ve found in my travels, but the ones that survive are often resigned to storage use today. It was later known as Smith’s Grocery and Granny’s Restaurant.
Z. W. Dowdy’s Store, Telfair County
This local landmark is located near McRae on US 341. Angela Bowen Harris writes: I grew up in the community where this store was located. It was Z.W. Dowdy’s Store. He and his wife Geneva ran the store. Don’t know if there was a previous owner before them. I know that my parents had a charge account there and could go in and pick up groceries and pay for them later. The school bus I rode stopped there and let us kids go in and buy a snack. There was always a hoop of red rine cheese setting on the top of his meat counter. My parents bought me many ice cream cones from Z. W. Dowdy’s store. My favorite was chocolate ripple. I loved Mr. and Mrs. Dowdy and loved “going to the store” with my parents.
Jeff Bloodworth identified it as Stone’s Grocery in 2009.
Foodland, 1965, Blairsville
Built as the Superette by Bill Hunter and BJ Davis in 1965, this local landmark was bought by Wayne Abercrombie and Tony Dyer bought it in 1968 and operated it as the A & D Supermarket until 1974 when Wayne bought Tony out and changed the name to Foodland. It’s a great independent business and even in the age of big box stores, it remains a favorite in downtown Blairsville. It looks virtually the same as it did when I shopped here as a student at Young Harris College in the late 1980s.
Carlton Foodmart
Independent businesses like this one help keep small towns like Carlton alive.
Henry Land’s Grocery, Lands Crossing
I’ve made many photographs of Henry Land’s Grocery over the years. My earliest photographs of the store were made when the Coca-Cola sign was still hanging over the front door and not long after the Colonial Bread (or Sunbeam) screen doors had been removed.The community around the store, known as Lands Crossing (incorrectly identified on most maps as Lands Crossroads), has always been focused on farming and the country life and Henry Land was its beloved ambassador, a local figure who kept his community alive by keeping this store open as long as he was physically able to do so. It’s been closed for a generation now, but remains a local landmark and the anchor of many good memories. One of the nicest recollections of this community came in a message from Michael Yarbrough: My father and his brothers were raised here, about a mile north of the store on a farmplace owned by Mr. Raleigh Player. Mr. Henry Land was a fine man and I knew him well myself….I’ve been in the store when it was open, but by the time I came along, someone else was running it. My dad ( Julian Yarbrough) told me that primarily this is where all the store bought goods they used came from. They also told me that every once in a while, a traveling bunch came through with an old portable screen and they showed movies there around the store. My dad said they would sit around on buckets or crates with a Coke and watch the movies. I have also been told that way back, some members in the community may have occasionally had a church service under the old oak tree behind the store. (This was located beside the old precinct house until it was recently moved down the road). William Bishop told my dad and me that it at one time way back it was used a court house once in a case of where a fellow had stolen some corn from another. William said that Tommy Land told him that his daddy (Henry Land) was a jury member. It breaks my heart to think of all of those folks whom I knew from my dad’s raising, them being passed away now, gosh it leaves a hole in my heart. Wish we again had folks with the values and strengths of those. I am thankful to have come from a good bunch of folks and community.
A note from Gary McDaniel (son of Joy McDaniel, author of the wonderful book Irwinville Farms Project: The Making of a Community) in November 2008 sums up the place and the man: …in the 60’s, I would visit my grandparents nearby and my cousins and I would walk to Land’s Crossing and get an orange Nehi and a pack of peanuts from the grocery store. Henry Land was a gentle and nice man.
In April 2010, J. W. Howell wrote: – Back in the 60’s I used to live about 3 miles from Land’s Crossing. Mr. Land who owned the grocery store was a fine man. I stopped in many a time for a Coke. There was another store across the intersection from his store, owned by Mr. George Clements. This was a great community where everybody knew everybody and everyone was a friend. I miss those days when life was so simple.
In October 2010, Donya Land wrote this note, which gives a good idea of when the store was given its new look: Henry Land was my great grandpa. I drive by the store every time I go to visit my family, and if I’m not mistaken the store is getting a couple coats of paint as of a few days ago! This was around the time the old name plates from the Coca-Cola sign were removed and replaced with these stenciled versions, painted on wood.
It may look a bit different, but it’s still the heart of a community.
Historic Storefronts, Bowman
The historic storefronts of Bowman’s public square are still in use, with antique stores filling much of the space.
They keep them painted and the colors have changed a bit since my last visit I’ve updated the post with these newer views.
Bowman Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places