Tag Archives: Georgia Landmarks

Powell Baptist Church & Cemetery, Talbot County

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The Powell Baptist Church is an historic Freedmen’s congregation founded in 1879. It is located between Talbotton and Waverly Hall, north of the historic Olive Branch community. According to the church cornerstone, Rev. J. Bowell was the first pastor. Tax records indicate an 1879 construction date, but the present building was constructed much later, during the pastorate of W. W. Walker. It is possible that the original structure was incorporated into the modern version, but confirming that would require more research. The nicely maintained churchyard opens into a large cemetery containing a variety of memorials, with a few notable vernacular examples, shared below.

George Bunkley (25 December 1887-23 November 1951)

Though it has been updated with a modern marker, the original memorial for George Bunkley has been saved. It has some interesting elements, notably the scored “O” in the word “born”.

Rosa W. Bunkley (21 July 1906-6 March 1981)

Mrs. Bunkley’s memorial is also a common form. The poured rounded concrete form with stenciled data is widespread, especially in this part of the state. Most markers of this type simply feature names and dates, though some examples, like Mrs. Bunkley’s, feature crosses or other symbols.

Betty Joe Beach (6 November 1954-17 July 1966)

The marker for Betty Joe Beach is another good example of the rounded concrete variety, in the plainer style. Miss Beach’s name is misspelled on the memorial.

Cora Walker (Birth and death dates unknown)

The simple memorial for Cora Walker is a beautiful in its simplicity. Further research will likely determine her birth and death dates.

Mrs. Luella Owens (Birth and death dates unknown)

This memorial was created by the prolific artist Eldren Bailey, whose work can be found in African-American cemeteries throughout the state. This one was handled by the Haugabrooks Funeral Home in Atlanta.

Eddie F. Leonard (27 March 1950-20 December 1981)


The Leonard memorials, though somewhat recent, are among the most unique vernacular markers in the Powell cemetery.

Leon Leonard (4 March 1939-1 August 1967)

Leon Leonard’s memorial may be the most interesting in the entire cemetery. Featuring an open cross, as well as the crosses at the base and handwritten data present on the Eddie Leonard memorial, it is fine example of vernacular funerary art.

The brickwork around the front door has a more Gothic revival appearance than the rest of the church building. I believe it is a tribute to the church’s earlier design.

Matthew’s Chapel Methodist Church, Circa 1864, Talbot County

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Matthew’s Chapel was built circa 1864, a few miles southwest of Woodland. The church is of the gable front vernacular Greek Revival style common throughout Talbot County. In A Rockaway in Talbot: Travels in an Old Georgia County, Vol. II, William H. Davidson suggests a probable connection to the family of Charles Henry Matthews (1828-1900), who owned a large plantation in the vicinity. Charles likely gave the land to the congregation, but was a member of Collinsworth Methodist Church.

Martin and Lucretia Stamper House, 1833, Talbot County

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The Martin and Lucretia Stamper House, also known as Merrywood, is one of the finest surviving houses in Talbot County and a representative example of the Early Classical Revival in Georgia. It is an I-House at its core. The Classical look is evident in the full height portico, Ionic pilasters, and most notably, the elliptical fanlights over the four front doors. According to the National Register of Historic Places, “Before moving to Talbot County in 1833, Martin Woodson Stamper (1796-1874) was a prominent citizen of Upson County. Martin Stamper was born in 1796 in Virginia and reportedly served in the War of 1812. In the 1820s, he was living in Upson County, was married to Lucretia Jane Walker (1789-1856) from a prominent Upson County family, and was politically active. In 1825, he was the first sheriff of Upson County and served as a representative in the state legislature in 1832. In 1833, the Stampers moved to Talbot County and were [among] the early settlers of the county. In the 1840 U.S. Census, Martin Stamper owned 40 slaves and over 708 acres of land where this house was built. In July 1850, Martin Stamper sold the house and 690 acres of land to John Harris, a Baptist preacher, and the family moved to Early County.” It is a near certainty that the house was constructed by men enslaved by Stamper, and as with so many of these early Georgia houses, that is usually left out of the narrative.

The house is largely obscured today, but was restored in the early 2000s. According to the National Register, the interior retains its historic integrity and most of its original finishes. It’s a magnificent house, even with such a limited view.

National Register of Historic Places

Meriwether County Training School, 1928, Manchester

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This historic African-American schoolhouse was built in Manchester in 1928 with funds from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation. It was a five-classroom design and was the only Rosenwald school in the county until the construction of the Eleanor Roosevelt School in nearby Warm Springs in 1936. It’s an exceptionally nice example of a Rosenwald, featuring a brick veneer, ornamental quoins at the corners, a fanlight above the entrance (now obscured), a circular window on the front gable, and a cupola (since removed). On one of his many visits to the area, future President Franklin D. Roosevelt noted his admiration for the Manchester school. He said, “When I was at Warm Springs in 1927-28, I was out riding with two members of our local school board. As we passed a very attractive school a few miles from Warm Springs I remarked that it was a very beautiful building.” The chairman of the board said “That’s a Rosenwald Negro School.” The other member said, “It puts our Warm Springs white school to shame.”

The Manchester Rosenwald soon became a county training school and enrollment increased rapidly. To accommodate this growth, a wooden annex was constructed next door. An exact date for the annex is unknown, but it was built in the 1930s. After serving the community until desegregation of Meriwether County schools, the Meriwether County Training School was abandoned for some time. From the 1980s until the early 2000s, it served the local Head Start program and now sits empty once again. I spoke with a lady whose husband attended the school and she was hopeful that it will be preserved for future generations.

Cataula, Georgia

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Cataula is one of the oldest settlements of present-day Harris County. It has had a post office since 1836. It experienced a good bit of growth when Georgia’s first narrow gauge railroad, the North & South Railroad, came through the area in 1870, but that endeavor was short-lived. There are varying versions of the origin of the name. One source (Kenneth Krakow) says it’s a variation of the Muscogee word kitali, meaning withered mulberry. An earlier variation of the origin is found on a Georgia Historical Society marker placed in 1958 that ascribed it to the Creek word for “Big Rock”. I’ll just leave it at that, as I’m not an authority on either.

This building, which was built in 1908, was originally known as the J. W. Thompson & Son General Mercantile Store. Many other businesses have been located here over time, and it’s still in use today, albeit not as a general store. New road work and rapid urban growth in the area are having a serious impact on this quiet little community. This structure and the Methodist Church are among the most noticeable landmarks in the area and hopefully will be around for years to come, but it appears other nearby structures will be lost to the current road-widening.

Cataula United Methodist Church, 1917

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According to the Georgia Historical Society, Clowers Methodist Church, organized as “Providence” in 1829, was built of logs by Thomas Clowers and others, with James Dorrough, Jr., pastor. Renamed, it was moved to Cataula. This eventually became the Cataula United Methodist Church, but that affiliation has since changed. The present structure was built in 1917.

Fellowship Primitive Baptist Church, 1907, Shiloh

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Fellowship Primitive Baptist is located just west of Shiloh and while its interior layout is typical of Primitive Baptists, the exterior is a bit more formal than most with its Neoclassical portico. The congregation was constituted on 14 November 1839, and land for the construction of a church was set aside by Thomas A. Middlebrooks, according to our friends at Historic Rural Churches. The present structure was built in 1907. It was never a large congregation, but other than a dormant period from 1929-1936, remained active until it stopped having services in the 1990s. A small attached cemetery and the grounds continue to be well-maintained.

Woodmen of the World Lodge + Post Office, 1910, Shiloh

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The two-story building at right originally served as the Woodmen of the World Lodge, identified by a marble cartouche above the middle window on the second floor, but it is best known as the old post office. Typically, fraternal lodges in commercial settings served a dual purpose, housing a lodge upstairs and various retail tenants downstairs. Woodmen of the World as an organization has always been focused on insurance and financial assistance for its members and in its early years maintained thousands of local chapters.

The altered building adjacent to the Woodmen of the World Lodge was a grocery store at one time, indicated by the fading words “Gro. Dry Goods Hardware” at the top.

W. S. Slaughter Grocery, Circa 1900, Shiloh

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Members of the Slaughter family were living in the Harris and Muscogee County areas before the Civil War. A Georgia historic resource survey identifies this structure as the W. S. Slaughter Grocery Store and dates it to circa 1900. The Slaughter name is also present on signage around the building. It’s obviously a landmark of Shiloh and nice example of a typical commercial structure of its era. It’s in good condition. The same survey that identified this structure also identified a wooden shotgun store nearby, but it has apparently been demolished or moved.

Tolomato Island, Georgia

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Tolomato Island is one of the historical wonders of Coastal Georgia, located just north of Darien, though it is little-known outside the area. Archaeologists have determined, through examination of pottery and shell middens, that indigenous peoples, Swift Creek and Guale-Tolomato, were living in the area as early as 2000 BCE and thrived until at least the 1600s.

A Spanish Catholic mission known as Our Lady of Guadeloupe of Tolomato, may have been established here in the late 1500s, though details of this endeavor are in dispute. One early source of this claim is John Tate Lanning’s 1935 book, The Spanish Missions of Georgia, which over time has been proven to be academically questionable, at best, and has led to serious debate over any of the details of European intrusion into the area. It is known that there was a similarly named mission near St. Augustine in the early 1600s, as well, further confusing the matter.

What is known for sure is that the site today is home to the ruins of one of Georgia’s earliest industrial endeavors. Though surrounded by a quiet community of modern homes, the ruins are well-preserved and considered an important resource by the people of Tolomato Island. Locally, the area was originally known as “The Thicket”.

The historic marker on nearby Georgia Highway 99 reads: “The Thicket”: Sugar Mill-Rum Distillery Ruins–On the banks of Carnochan Creek, a short distance East of here, are the ruins of a famous Sugar Mill and Rum Distillery operated early in the 19th century. These buildings, constructed of tabby by William Carnochan on his huge sugar plantation at “The Thicket,” followed closely plans laid out by Thomas Spalding of Sapelo. The sugar works and rum distillery were operated successfully on a commercial scale until 1824, when a hurricane tore off the roof and upper story of the mill and cane barn, and destroyed other buildings. What this marker fails to mention is that the success of this operation was dependent on the labor of enslaved people. Prominent among the ruins are slave dwellings and other structures related to Carnochan’s operation.

The ruins are relatively intact and are a significant archaeological resource.

Repairs were apparently made in the 1920s, as graffiti on the patchwork suggests. The work above is signed “J. O. V. 1926”.

The people of Tolomato Island should be commended for preserving and keeping a watchful eye over this relic of early Georgia.

It should go without saying, but if you visit, take only pictures and tread lightly.

Vegetation has grown inside the ruins, but the durability of tabby as a building material is evident in these images.

Like the slave dwellings and the distillery, the ruins of the sugar mill have survived for over 200 years and are evidence of some of Georgia’s first industrial efforts.

These structures were built when John Adams was the president of the United States.

It will take many years for archaeologist and historians to come to a conclusion, if they ever reach one, regarding the Spanish mission story, but the story of William Carnochan is told in these ruins.

It is a microcosm of the earliest part of Georgia’s story, and is quite amazing.