At least two entrances to the Columbus Historic District, including 4th Street at Broadway, have brick gateposts topped by sculptural griffin finials. I haven’t been able to locate anything about them, but they serve as very interesting boundary markers. Griffins are mythological creatures that are part lion, part eagle, and traditionally were seen as symbols of strength and wisdom, and guardians of treasure.
In a place that has long proclaimed itself the Fountain City, the Lenora Myers Starling Fountain stands out as perhaps its most beloved. The Classically-inspired figure of a maiden rising from the waves peers to the skies from a bowl elevated by dolphins. It anchors a small, beautifully maintained triangular park at the intersection of Buena Vista Road and Wynnton Road. Dedicated in December 1929, it was commissioned by Mrs. Starling’s niece, Eleanor Moore King Hatcher. I believe Mrs. Hatcher was the mother of Claud A. Hatcher, the inventor of Chero-RC Cola.
Information on the Carrara marble fountain’s namesake is a bit scarce. According to all local references (with the exception of a National Register of Historic Places nomination) I’ve encountered, her name was Lenora Starling, not Leonora Sarling as carved into the bowl of the fountain.* According to a contemporary account in the Columbus Ledger, Mrs. Starling “moved to Columbus with her husband and became a “leader in civic, social and religious circles here. She was a pioneer in the Christian Science faith in Columbus and was active in numerous charitable endeavors.” She was also known as a leader in the local women’s suffrage movement in the early 1900s and was a founding member of the Columbus Confederated Women’s Club. Her loss in an automobile accident was described as a “tragic death while engaged in an errand of mercy.”
Ornamental fountains of Classical influence were popular in the Victorian era, and the aesthetic remained popular for decades. Locals have dubbed the unnamed figure adorning the Starling fountain “Mrs. Columbus”. The ageless icon has kept watch over the Wynnton neighborhood for nearly a century and her visage is so connected to the city that she now commands a four-story presence on a mural at Heritage Tower.
A contemporary account described her as “the majestic figure of a woman poised in the attitude of soaring through space. One hand shields her eyes, as she gazes into the future.” This was particularly poignant in 1929, the year the nation entered the Great Depression, but remains timeless in its optimism.
*- If I can confirm that Mrs. Starling was indeed Mrs. Sarling, I will gladly update.
Wynn’s Hill-Overlook-Oak Circle Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
One of the highlights of downtown Toccoa is Paul Anderson Park, a welcoming greenspace nestled at the intersection of Georgia Highway 17 and Tugalo Street, heading south out of town. It’s a moving tribute to Toccoa’s most famous resident, Paul Anderson (1932-1994). Anyone who’s ever flipped through a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records knows that he made the “Greatest Lift. The Greatest Weight Ever Raised by a Human Being…6,270lbs in a back lift.” This led to Anderson being known as the strongest man in the world. He was a national and world heavyweight champion and won a gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, but was proudest of his youth home in Vidalia. The home, founded by Paul and his wife, Glenda, “works with juveniles who would otherwise be incarcerated. The young men are first and foremost taught about the saving grace and enduring love of Jesus Christ. The Paul Anderson Youth Home, located on a 50- acre campus, offers to its students the opportunity of completing their education at the Home’s accredited high school which more than adequately prepares the young men for college, vocational school, or a career in the military. Paul believed that if a troubled boy learned to love himself rather than striking out at others that he would instead reach out to help others. And Paul Anderson also strove to instill in each boy a strong work ethic.”
The park was originally the idea of Mrs. Cynthia Sanders’s fourth grade gifted class, in 1999. Students presented the idea of a park to the city commission, which adopted the suggestion the same year. It was dedicated in 2008. Jim A. Pollock was the landscape architect and the excellent statue is the work of renowned sculptor Jerry McKenna.
The Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) was first recorded at Mobile, Alabama, between 1933-1945. This uninvited South American species arrived incognito on shipping crates and in less than a decade had become well established throughout the Southeast. They’re now as far away as California and Puerto Rico and are said to infest over 367 million acres. The FDA estimates that they have an annual economic impact of about $5.75 billion, their negative effects running the gamut from medical and veterinary expenses to crop and livestock loss.
If you live in South Georgia, you probably just know these notorious pests as fire ants and you’re probably well acquainted with their painful stings and the blisters that follow. Taking all this into consideration, the city of Ashburn decided, back in 1996, to celebrate them during their annual Wiregrass Festival, and the idea caught on. The old idiom “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” comes to mind. The Fire Ant Festival has had an outsized positive impact on the local economy in its nearly 30 year run. The festival is always held on the fourth weekend in March and grows more popular each year.
This replaces and updates a post originally published on 21 December 2008.
This cartouche is the most prominent of several on this yellow brick storefront, which I haven’t yet identified. It’s a beautiful example.
Hawkinsville Commercial and Industrial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Though his roots were in Pensacola, Glenn E. Bryant was one of the best-known businessmen in Hinesville during his lifetime. This lifelike sculpture of Mr. Bryant and his wife, Trudie, is located beside his former residence, which is now home to the national office and museum of the Independent Telecommunications Pioneer Association (ITPA). As the name implies, this organization recognizes those in the independent telecommunications field and highlights their impact on their communities.
The ITPA Museum is located at the entrance to Bryant Commons, a 150-acre public greenspace that the Bryants envisioned as a place for all to enjoy.
Mr. Bryant, who moved to Hinesville in 1941, was the founder and owner of Coastal Utilities Telephone Company, and mayor of Hinesville from 1963 to 1971. He was chairman of Liberty County Hospital Authority from 1957 to 1970, Liberty County Commissioner from 1970 to 1978, and a Georgia State Senator from 1979 to 1988.
The memorial for Stephen Henry Bush, Sr., towering over his small family cemetery in the Bethany community of rural Baker County, is the nicest Woodmen of the World grave marker I’ve ever seen. The tree stump memorials were benefits of an insurance plan and one of this quality, with the custom sculpture in his likeness, would have been quite costly. Mr. Bush was first married to Malinda Mattie Kimbrel (6 May 1866-1 January 1894), with whom he had four children. After her death, he married Hortense Hudson (26 July 1878-1 June 1968), with whom he had six more children.
These austere Victorian memorials stand in stark contrast to the whimsical memorial for Kenn Blankenship, located a few lots away in Primitive Union Cemetery. They’re among the finest of their type in South Georgia. They sit atop pedestals and are life size; with the pedestals, they’re at least 8 feet in height. Mrs. Spooner holds her Bible, and Mr. Spooner wears a Masonic symbol near his waist.
The Spooners were pioneers of the area and, obviously, very prominent citizens. The memorial for their son, Joseph James Spooner, at Olive Grove Cemetery in nearby Seminole County, is also among the finest in the region. [I’ll update with a view of Mr. and Mrs. Spooner in perspective as soon as possible].
I made a special trip to Primitive Union Cemetery in Miller County to see this unusual memorial. It’s an enduring tribute to a man who made a second career paying tribute to Elvis Presley.
Marion Kenneth “Kenn” Blankenship was born in 1940 to a West Virginia coal mining family, and after working for the Ohio State Highway Patrol, he changed careers and began working for Southern Bell. His new occupation brought him South, first to Florida, then to Bainbridge, and finally, Colquitt.
Music was initially a side gig, and in his early days in Southwest Georgia he played lead guitar for a country band known as East River Junction. He married Barbara Jones in 1978 and soon thereafter, he got out of the phone business. He and Barbara opened a restaurant and supper club in Bainbridge. Moving on from the restaurant business after a few successful years, the couple formed their own band and traveled all over the Southeast, working regularly. In the 1990s, Kenn began doing his Elvis tributes and they were wildly popular. He even bought three suits from the company that outfitted Elvis.
Kenn passed away on 8 June 2009, but his love of performing and sharing his talents still brings joy at this unique memorial. The beautifully maintained gravesite invites reflection and will likely inspire people far into the future. In addition to the life-size “Elvis” and the bench featuring laser cut images of Kenn performing, there’s a concrete palm tree, and a guitar shaped stone, presumably the future resting place of Kenn’s fellow guitarist, Denzil Newbern.
The white marble angel in Olive Grove Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery marking the grave of Joseph James Spooner (19 July 1848-31 March 1929) and his first wife, Mary Jane Lane Spooner (2 March 1850-2 December 1914), is one of the finest examples of Victorian funerary art in rural Georgia. Mr. Spooner’s parents’ memorials in Union Primitive Baptist (aka Primitive Union Cemetery) in Miller County are also landmarks of statuary. [I’ll be sharing photos of them soon].
My presumption is that the angel was placed in 1914, after Mary Spooner’s death, to signify Mr. Spooner’s profound sadness over her loss. The monument is life-sized and makes quite the statement.
