This is the last of the Irwinville Farms locations I’ll be sharing for a while. I’m hoping to document more the next time I’m in the area. This one is located near Jeff Davis Park and is another good example of the quality construction of the Irwinville Farms project. I really wish all the surviving structures of the project could be added to the National Register of Historic Places, or at least recognized locally. The families that have maintained them for nearly 90 years obviously appreciate them and I am grateful for that.
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.
This is one of my favorite Irwinville Farms barns. I don’t think all of the barns and houses were originally painted white, but in images from the project in the Library of Congress, many were. This may be one of just a couple that are still painted. These tobacco barns were built so well that there are still a few around today, nearly 90 years later. That’s amazing considering they were built to be used and they were given a lot of wear and tear in the labor intensive culture of tobacco harvesting.
This storefront has been associated with Irwinville Peanut & Grain for many years, but it was built in 1938 as the retail store for the Irwinville Cooperative Association, an offshoot of the Irwinville Farms Project. It has been modified over time.
In her book Irwinville Farms Project: The Making of a Community (Yawn’s Publishing, Canton, Georgia, 2012), Joy Wilson McDaniel notes that the store cost $8,747 to build, and along with the Cooperative Office, “just about completed the construction work on the town of Irwinville...” [in regards to the Irwinville Farms Project].
This stock and hay barn stands on a property which still includes an Irwinville Farms house. These amazing utilitarian structures were built for about $200 during the Great Depression as part of an economic rescue program designed to bring farmers out of the devastating downturn which began in 1919 with the proliferation of the boll weevil and continued until the start of World War II. A few of these barns remain today, in varying states of repair, but all should be considered of historical importance.
I’ve discussed Irwinville Farms extensively in the past and will be updating some sites I’ve already visited, as well as adding other examples from my archive.
This structure takes the concept of the curtain wall, a popular Mid-Century commercial building style, and prefabricates it into a smaller form. Numerous companies, including Fentron and PPG, made colorful panels for use in this type of architecture, but I imagine the company that created this curiosity was just doing ready-made kits. For most of my life, this was a beauty salon and it was located just a few blocks from my grandmother’s house. It always reminded me of the Partridge Family.
It has been here since at least the early 1970s, if not earlier, and looks much as it did 50 years ago, except for the intrusive addition of the roof. The original roof was flat, which gave the building a much more modern appearance. I suspect the roof was added to protect the building. It no longer serves a commercial purpose and is now used for storage, if I understand correctly.
I don’t know what kind of preservation can be done with places like this, but it’s certainly an eye-catching relic, reminiscent of a very progressive era of American architecture.
This Craftsman townhouse was home for nearly 50 years to Foster Goolsby (1922-2016) and Frances Taylor Goolsby (1920-2011) and their family, and I had many pleasurable visits on this porch, in the shade of the two big magnolia trees that dominate the front yard.
Foster Goolsby was a B-17 pilot in World War II who had a penchant for telling amazing stories, and he didn’t mind telling anyone how much he hated Fitzgerald’s wild chickens, for their habit of destroying his wife’s flower beds. A Talbot County native, he came to Fitzgerald while serving as headmaster of Irwin Academy, after being principal of at least seven schools prior to his move. He was also superintendent of the Valdosta City Schools for 10 years. In addition to this work, he served for over 40 years as chairman of the board of the Georgia Accrediting Commission.
Frances was born in Elberton and was a genteel Southern lady of another era. A consummate hostess and homemaker, she was well known for her award winning flower arrangements and her time with the Magnolia Garden Club.
I don’t have information on who built the house at the moment, but will update at some point. I’ve identified it as the Goolsby House for their long association with the property.
I made these photographs in 2016 at the invitation of Al Johnson and the house was staged for sale at the time. The beautiful interior design work was done by Lisa Davis Eldridge. The house now has new owners.
It was amazing to see the house restored. I know the Goolsbys would be proud to see what it has become.
It’s a great example of what can be done with historic properties. The Craftsman style endures as one of the most practical and adaptable forms of American architecure.
The Victorian aesthetic of the cemetery as a public park was falling out of fashion by the time Evergreen Cemetery was established, but Fitzgerald embraced the ideal, planting trees and shrubs to enhance the landscape. Part of the park concept often included pavilions for public remembrances. Such remembrances were commonplace in the years just after World War I, when this Craftsman-inspired structure was built. At the time, Evergreen was a much smaller cemetery than it is today, and funeral services were sometimes held here, as well.
N. J. Trammell, Sexton of Evergreen Cemetery, at the new pavilion, circa 1924. Albumen print on cabinet card. Note the absence of the louvered sides. Collection of Brian Brown.
I inherited this photograph of the newly built pavilion from the daughter of the man standing beside it. They were distant cousins of mine. Needham John Trammell (1863-1938) was the sexton of Evergreen Cemetery during the 1910s and 1920s and he was charged with its upkeep and the recording of burials. I believe the photograph was made in 1924 (it’s one of several), but will have to locate more paperwork to confirm a specific date. I’ll update when I do.
Sexton’s Monthly Report of Burials in Evergreen Cemetery for the The City of Fitzgerald, 1922. Collection of Brian Brown.
I also have several volumes of his sexton’s monthly reports, covering most of the 1920s. This page indicates there were only two burials in April 1922.
As the preceding vintage photograph illustrates, the pavilion didn’t have the louvered sides when built. They were added for shade, no doubt.
The pavilion continues to be well-maintained and has become a symbol of Evergreen Cemetery over the years.
This Colonial Revival post office was always one of my favorite buildings when I was growing up. It was built in 1918 to replace the old granitoid post office that stood a block east on the corner of Central Avenue and Main Street. It was based on plans of James A. Wetmore, Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department. There were variations of Wetmore’s plans, and hundreds of similar or identical structures were built throughout the country. There’s a “twin” to the Fitzgerald post office in Barnesville, and there are likely others in Georgia. When a new post office was built on Main Street [opened in 1966], this structure became known as the Federal Building and still houses federal and county offices.
An aside: Alvin G. Brown (1876-1955) was the face of the post office for many years, an ambassador if you will, serving as a mail carrier from 1909-1941 and known in earlier years for using a horse and canopied mail wagon. His father was an original Fitzgerald colonist from Iowa. Brown also served a brief term as Fitzgerald mayor, if I recall correctly. I know he ran for mayor because somewhere I have a card from the campaign, showing him on his mail wagon.
Swan Postmasters, 1888-1895: Benjamin Drew, 1888-1891; William O. McKeithen, 1891-1892; Missouri A. Ford,1892; Kate Drew, 1892-1893; and David Drew, 1893-1895.
Fitzgerald Postmasters 1895-1978: David Drew, 1895-1897; David E. Peiper, 1897-1900; James William Huggins, 1900-1901; William H. Marston, 1901-1911; Eleanor M. Marston, (Acting Postmaster), 1911; George E. Ricker, 1911-1915; William A. Adams, 1915-1940; James Jarratt Pryor, 1940-1964; Clifford A. Pickens, 1964-1973; Baney R. Adams, 1973-1978; Idaleen C. Callis, 1978; John J. Wiggins, 1978-
Fitzgerald Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This rather plain mid-century gymnasium stands behind the site of the old Fitzgerald High School, whose loss is still a great pain to the community. After World War II, when the high school outgrew its original building, newer structures were added to the campus, including the gymnasium*. It replaced the much older wooden gym at Blue & Gray Park, known far and wide as “The Shell”. Basketball was at peak popularity in Fitzgerald in the 1950s, so this was a regular gathering place not just for students but for the community as a whole. The amateur wrestling circuit made many stops here over the decades, as well.
I began high school in the 8th grade and well remember Coach Gibbs’s p.e. classes meeting here, playing dodge ball and other intramural sports. I also remember the wooden bleachers that could be pushed in accordion fashion to the walls. The building seemed ancient and derelict to me then, but it was so well-built that it’s still around. I’m unsure of its present use but am hopeful it is protected.
*- I haven’t tracked down a specific date for construction of the gymnasium, but my best guess is between 1949-1958. My father graduated in 1959 and recalls attending basketball games at the old shell and in the new gym. I’ll update when I learn more.
