Tag Archives: Georgia Movie & Television Set Locations

Seney Hall, 1881, Oxford

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In Cornerstone and Grove, Erik Blackburn Oliver notes: “Seney Hall is the most recognized and celebrated building on the Oxford campus, arguably among the most marvelous edifices ever built by Emory College or the University.” The Victorian landmark was designed by the firm of William H. Parkins and Andrew Bruce, the most prominent practitioners in Atlanta at the time.

A beloved symbol of the college to this day, Seney Hall was built to be the most prominent building on campus, replacing Old Main, which originally served that purpose and had been razed in 1872. Its namesake was a Brooklyn banker, George I. Seney. Seney had been so inspired by a sermon by Emory College president Atticus Haygood, urging sectional and racial reconciliation, that he gifted the school with over $130,000 in 1880. It has stood the test of time and now houses administrative offices.

An aside: Like its neighbor, Johnson Hall, Seney Hall also makes an appearance in the opening sequence of the television show, The Dukes of Hazzard.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Jonhnson Hall, 1874, Oxford

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Now known as Johnson Hall, for Oxford alumnus Judge Horace J. Johnson, Jr., this Romanesque structure was traditionally known as Language Hall and hosted classes engaged in English, Greek, and Latin studies. It was constructed of brick and originally had a texture stucco siding, now replaced with a plain stucco.

According to The Dukes of Hazzard Wiki, the building was also seen on the opening of every episode of the Dukes of Hazzard, beginning with the second episode. It served as the backdrop for the General Lee’s famous jump over Sheriff Roscoe P. Cotrane’s police cruiser as the Duke boys made their getaway. The 16-foot high, 81-foot jump saw the General Lee come to rest near Seney Hall, adjacent to Language Hall.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Harris-Turner House, Circa 1836 + 1903, Covington

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From inspiring Margaret Mitchell’s Hollywood vision of Ashley Wilkes’s home, Twelve Oaks, in Gone With the Wind, to appearances in In the Heat of the Night, The Vampire Diaries, Vacation, Life of the Party, The Family That Preys, and other movies and television shows, this magnificent home has perhaps come to symbolize Covington more than any other.

The home was built as a Greek Revival townhouse for Judge John Harris (1803-1878) circa 1836, on a smaller scale. After his country plantation, east of Covington, was occupied by Union troops in 1864, Harris sold his townhouse to William J. Metcalf. Circa 1881, it was sold to Robert Franklin Wright, Sr. (1821-1919). Wright and his wife, Salina Frances Robinson Wright (1831-1905), named it “The Cedars”. Major changes were made to the house after its purchase, in 1903, by Covington Mills owner Nathaniel Snead Turner (1863-1931). Turner later renamed it Whitehall, after adding the colonnade, second floor porch, and a third floor with dormers.

The Harris-Turner House, as it’s also known, is now known as The Twelve Oaks and serves as a popular bed and breakfast inn. It’s a wonder not to be missed when in Covington.

Covington Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Piggie Park, Thomaston

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A local favorite and popular stop for travelers through Thomaston since 1950, Piggie Park is an old-school drive-in specializing in barbecue, scrambled hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs, and Brunswick stew. And some people love their greasy fries. They also have handmade milkshakes. It’s a no-frills old-school place where carhops still come out and take your order, and judging by comments throughout social media, they are very efficient and always have a smile on their faces.

The original location was on the south side of town and when most of the development moved to the north side, Piggie Park moved with it. The neon sign is one of Thomaston’s most identifiable logos.

When The Founder, the movie about Ray Kroc and McDonald’s, was made a few years ago, Piggie Park was transformed into two different 1950s restaurants and used as a set location for filming.

J. J . Cater House, Circa 1882, Forsyth

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A survey notes: The house was designed by the owner, J.J. Cater*, with assistance from a local carpenter. Cater left the house to his son Lawton when he moved to Florida in 1928. Lawton Cater lived in the house until his death in 1977. The house remains in the family. In 1975 NBC used the house in a TV movie called Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys.

John James Cater (1854-1933) operated a general store in Forsyth for 40 years before moving to Coral Gables, Florida, where he operated a successful furniture store, and had a second location in Miami.

Parrott-Camp-Soucy House, 1842 & 1885, Newnan

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The grand appearance of this home belies its simple beginnings circa 1842. Within a few years of its construction, a second floor was added and the house given a Greek Revival treatment. In 1885, Judge John S. Bigby bought the home as a wedding gift for his daughter, Callie Bigby Parrott. Around this time, the house was converted to its present Stick Style Victorian appearance. Some might think it looks like The Addams Family house from television, and stylistically, it’s quite similar. But the similarities end there. This house is well-maintained and while it too has been called into service by Hollywood as a haunted house, it’s one of the most iconic addresses in Newnan.

In 1936 the house was bought by the Camp family who sold it to Chuck and Doris Soucy in 1984. The Soucys completely renovated the house and grounds and operated it as a nationally known bed and breakfast for many years.

When I made this photograph in 2017, the house had been repainted for its use as a set location in the movie The House with a Clock in its Walls. It was also a set location in The Odd Life of Timothy Green. It is generally painted a lighter color.

Greenville Street-LaGrange Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Last Supper Mural, 1980s, Crawfordville

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This easily overlooked landmark is actually a manufactured image, made for Hollywood, but nonetheless has become a symbol of the town for me.

As a work of art, it’s a grand interpretation of the folk art religious signs once found on fence posts and roadside messages once found throughout the American South.

The artist Joey Potter contacted me and said: I painted this mural on the train depot wall in the early 1980s when I was a scenic for cinema and stage…for the movies Stars and Bars and Home Fires Burning…

As the detail views attest, the mural is fading into oblivion.

The depot itself appears to be highly endangered, though the owner has placed a new roof on it, so there may be hope for its future. In The Courthouse and the Depot (Mercer University Press, Macon, 2002) Wilber W. Caldwell identifies it as a depot of the Georgia Railroad. The combination of the broad eaves, the gentle curve of the roof and the distinctive broken based pediment is unique to depots built on the Georgia Railroad in the 1880s and early 1890s.

The depot is posted so please do not attempt to trespass here.

Crawfordville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Commercial Block, Gay

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Signs on the window of this two-story turn-of-the-century commercial block suggest this was once the home of Sloane’s Haberdashery but Alice Walker notes: I live in Gay and this building has been empty for a long time. It’s now used as a movie location; Sloane’s Haberdashery was a set from the film Lawless. Most recently, it served as Bryant’s Grocery in the movie Till.

Newton County Courthouse, 1884, Covington

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The handsome Second Empire Newton County Courthouse in Covington is Georgia’s most recognizable, from its appearance in numerous television series and films. Designed by the venerable firm of Bruce and Morgan, it was an ambitious structure for its time, reflecting the prosperity of the county it represented. Most people will recognize it from the hit television series, In the Heat of the Night, which filmed in Covington for much of its run. It was also used as the Hazzard County Courthouse on the first five episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard.

National Register of Historic Places

Lee-Porter House, 1913, Covington

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This house is a beautifully maintained exemplar of the Neoclassical Revival. It was built for Lester Lee, who resided here until 1924, when it was sold to the O. W. Porter family. Like many historic homes in Covington, the mansion has been used extensively as a set location for Hollywood productions over the years, including The Vampire Diaries, Bessie, and Sweet Magnolias, among others.

Floyd Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places