Dudley, originally known as Elsie, was settled around 1891 when the Macon, Dublin, & Savannah Railroad ran a line through the area. It was named for railroad president and future United States Senator Dudley Mays Hughes and formally incorporated in 1902. This mural was commissioned to celebrate the community’s centennial.
Waycross native Ben Hagen recently reached out to let me know about this structure in the process of being razed, in downtown Waycross. He noted: …The siding which had covered it for decades had been removed, and a number of great old ads were visible, including Coca-Cola, Chero Cola, a Nash/Oakland auto dealership, and more that I can’t make out...
It was located beside the US Highway 84 overpass at Francis Street and was originally two stories.
The primary signage on the front of the building, as seen in the first image, and below, indicate it may have been home to the Georgia Cigar & Soda Company.
As Ben noted, there were quite a few ads for other business on the side of the building, including Coca-Cola. My guess is that the proximity to the busy highway may have made the location a perfect spot for advertising, before the proliferation of stand-alone billboards.
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I’m hoping some of my Waycross friends will know.
This colorful mural by artist Ethan Abbott graces the side of the old Harris Brothers garage and leaves no doubt that you’re in the heart of South Georgia’s peach country. It’s one of the most colorful murals out there and I guarantee it will make you want to stop and buy some peaches or get some peach ice cream.
This mural, completed in 2018, imagines a young girl’s hope for a better tomorrow and is the highlight of Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument Park, at the gateway to downtown Dublin.
Located across from the First African Baptist Church, it honors Dr. King’s first speech and the roots of the Civil Rights movement that sprung from it. It is the work of Atlanta artist Corey Barksdale.
It’s a small park, but packs a lot of history and art into the space. An audio program can be activated, telling the story of King’s important visit to Dublin.
A beautiful sculpture by Mr. Barksdale, Freedom Ascension, is also located in the park.
A nice photo mural by Randall Gearhart features the interior of the church.
In addition to the work in the park, a sculpture by Dublin resident Juan Lleras honoring the architecture of First African Baptist Church and hopeful for a new generation to carry Dr. King’s legacy forward, is located across the street in the churchyard.
Footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Trail
I love seeing old murals around Savannah. They often bring character to otherwise easily overlooked places. Frank & Co. was a thriving dry goods wholesaler in late-19th-century Savannah.
Savannah National Historic Landmark District
I’m not sure how old this mural is, or if it’s just a replacement of an earlier version, but it’s typical of similar “ghost” murals found all over Georgia. They appear from time to time, sometimes after being hidden for decades.
This marble-front commercial block was built by Drs. F. C. and W. A. Richards. The Coca-Cola mural on the side of the building was restored in recent years.
Jesse “Lone Cat” Fuller isn’t well known today, outside music circles, but he should be. The itinerant bluesman left his native Jonesboro after a childhood typical of Black Georgians of his day and after a series of manual labor jobs in various states, wound up in California circa 1920. He worked as a shoe-shine man outside the United Artists studio in Hollywood and was a favorite of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., who helped set him up with a hot dog stand. He also got him work as an extra, in such notable films as Thief of Baghdad. With the money he saved from that enterprise, he moved to Oakland and began working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. When his railroad job ended after World War II, he went back to shining shoes, singing as he worked, and gained notice from musicians in the burgeoning Folk movement who were then flocking to the Bay Area. Due to his exposure in local bars and cafes, he recorded his first album in 1958. He had trouble finding, or paying, other musicians to back him up; as a result he invented the fotdella, a six-string bass, rigged with a cymbal. He also invented a rack to hold his harmonica and kazoo. He was a one-man band. Bob Dylan supposedly adopted his harmonica rig after listening to Fuller and recorded his song “You’re No Good” on his first album.
Fuller gained notoriety for “San Francisco Bay Blues”, which was covered by numerous artists including the Grateful Dead, Janis, Joplin, Jim Croce, and Eric Clapton.
The mural, by Shannon Lake, is a nice tribute to this influential artist.
Clayton County calls itself “The Home of Gone With the Wind” and signs of its connection to the popular movie and book abound in Jonesboro. Perhaps one of the boldest statements is this mural (circa 2018) by Shannon Lake featuring film heroine Scarlett O’Hara [a la Vivien Leigh, because that’s how nearly everyone sees her]. It’s brilliantly paired with one of her most famous utterances, “Fiddle Dee Dee!”
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 