This was a White-owned store that was staffed by Black employees that had a Black juke joint in the back section for many years.
Uncle Tom’s Place, 1949, Baldwin County
2 Replies
Tag Archives: Georgia Juke Joints & Bars
Pool Hall, Newton
Red Carpet Lounge, Brunswick
The Red Carpet Lounge has been a gentleman’s club and lounge in downtown Brunswick for over fifty years.
The Rah Bar, Jekyll Island
I was surprised to learn that the Rah Bar is closing. Though not a landmark in the traditional sense, it’s become a bit of a local and tourist favorite for its welcoming, laid-back vibe. It’s not really a dive, but compared to many of the fancier establishments on the coast, it almost qualifies for that status. I’m saying that’s a good thing. Apparently, the restaurant with which the Rah Bar is associated, Latitude 31, is to be rebuilt. Let’s hope the atmosphere in the “new version” remains as cool as it was at the Rah Bar.
Dub’s Place Disco, Hawkinstown
This is a pool hall and disco (juke joint), in the middle of the pinelands of Baker County.
Package Store, Morgan
I first though this was a juke joint, considering its small size and location just outside the city limits of Morgan. Shawn Weathersby wrote that it might be associated with the Milner Grist Mill but Toni Milner writes: It is an old beer joint. My grandfather Sonny “Plunk” Milner sold beer out of it back in the day. The Grist Mill is housed in the building to the left of this building.
Update: As of 2023, this structure is gone.
Beeline Springs, Kite
Approaching Kite from the east on Highway 57, you cross the Little Ohoopee River. The remains of a very large swimming pool stand between the river and the buildings discussed later in this post. Martha Claxton Hill writes: The swimming pool was called “Beeline Springs”. Earnest Claxton owned all of the land around the pool. It was a special place in its day. In a time when private pools were a domain of the wealthy, public pools such as this were among the most popular recreation spots.
Ernest Claxton’s daughter, Lynn Paul Neal penned the following remembrance in Emanuel County’s 2013 Bicentennial Celebration Book. Thanks to Mary Ann Smith for bringing it to my attention and procuring permission from Mrs. Neal to share it here:
Remember Bee Line Springs?
Earnest Claxton built the Bee Line Springs Swimming Pool and Recreation Park just outside of Kite on the Ohoopee River. It had a skating and dancing pavilion that was also used for reunions and family get-togethers.r
Three artesian wells supplied icy cold water for the swimming pool. One side of the pool had dressing rooms and there were cabins that were rented on the property.
Several nationally known bands of the late 1920s and 1930s played there. Ernest would find a band enroute from Miami to New York City or vice-versa and book them to stop on their way to play for a one-night dance. These occasions drew tremendous crowds.
You can still see the old swimming pool outline thru the trees on the south side of Hwy 57 near the ‘Hoopee River.
Many public pools featured skating rinks, bowling alleys and/or restaurant, but this structure is too small to have been either of those. And Martha Claxton Hill notes that it was not here when the pool was open. Grady C. Riner writes: That block building was built years after the pool was grown over and broken. It was built as a juke joint ( in today’s words a bar). It had the juke box for music and dancing. After it was closed as a juke joint it was used as a house. My aunt lived in it for years with her two young boys.
A shed-sized structure is located just to the left of the larger building.
Piney Pig Juke Joint, Long County
I’ve passed this abandoned building on US Highway 301 countless times and always wondered about its identity. Margie DeLoach Love, who is Long County and Ludowici’s unofficial historian, writes: this was Rudolph and Hildreth Todd’s Piney Pig Juke Joint. He also sold hamburgers and barbeque sandwiches. I recall eating a hamburger in there when I was a teenager.
Boone’s Saloon, Jacksonville
Boone’s is a legendary local watering hole near the Ocmulgee River at Jacksonville. In its heyday, in an earlier incarnation, it was probably the most popular honky tonk/bar in South Georgia history. It had a raucous reputation that can’t be ignored, but love it or hate it, it’s still a landmark. I think a newer incarnation may be operating today.
Graball Country Store, Sapelo Island
M& M’s Graball is the only store on Sapelo Island and the Trough is its only bar. Both are owned and operated by Cornelia Walker Bailey and her family, scions of the island’s cultural heritage. It’s open for visitors taking guided tours of the island each day.
I’m lucky to have had a few visits with Mrs. Bailey while staying with my friend Sonny DeSoto on the island in the mid 2010s. She encouraged me to document what I could on the island and shared identifications of many locations, admonishing me to be respectful with what I was doing.