This old shotgun-style warehouse is located across the street from Denham’s One-Stop. Alva Ray Denham (1922-1983) was the son of Marcus N. Denham (1887-1965), who came to Sycamore from Upson County and married Beulah Ray (1892-1942), a local girl. The Denhams were very active in many aspects of the local economy and social life. This photo dates to 2014.
For much of the 20th century, Denham’s One-Stop was the busiest store in Turner County. Before anyone ever thought of Wal-Mart, there was Denham’s One-Stop. It had a regular storefront and warehouses, like the one seen above, and as a true general store sold almost anything one might need to run a household. Generations of South Georgia schoolchildren from this region made ritual trips to Sycamore to stock up for the year ahead. Nothing like it survives in the area today.
This was one of the first places I photographed when I began the Vanishing Georgia project in 2007-2008. Nearly every small South Georgia town would have had a business like this at one time but many have been absorbed into more general agribusiness operations in the modern era.
Sidewalk tiles were once commonly used to advertise businesses, especially during the 1920s and 1930s, and were often seen in Art Deco environments. I photographed this one in downtown Macon in 2009. I have no idea if the sign remains nor have I been able to locate anything about the business.
Neil Joiner shared, from an article by Ed Grisamore, that the business first opened as the Crystal Cafe, in 1892, was later Loh’s, and after that, Jeneane’s Cafe. The building was reportedly the first in Macon to have electric light.
Macon Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Most of the old roadside motels that proliferated in the post-World War II years are long gone, but they once numbered in the thousands all over the country. Occasionally, their old signs can still be found and have taken on landmark status all their own. Washington has two of these signs: the Angus Motel, and this one, the Red Land Motel. Amazingly, the Red Land, while modernized, is still in business.
This annotated history is from their website: …Walton and Joanne Hardin built the Red Land Motel. The amenities in motels were spartan back then, but no expense was spared at the Red Land. [It] boasted of refrigerated air conditioning, private bathrooms in each room-equipped with showers, and each room was carpeted. Opening for business in 1952, the Red Land Motel quickly became a local landmark, and took her place in American history as a roadside motor lodge. Over the next 25 years…two of the original buildings were torn down, so as to make room for a pair of new two-story buildings…
The Red Land Motel borrows her name for famous (or infamous?) Georgia Red Clay. Among the locals there is a love-hate relationship with red clay. However, when one of our own moves away, they always know home is close by when the hills on the roadside have that familiar red hue.
We made a lot of trips to Tifton when I was growing up in the 1970s, visiting the pediatrician and shopping, and Wishbone Fried Chicken was a great fast food place back in those days. It was located right downtown, across from what was then the Big Star shopping center on Love Avenue. Some of you may remember that Big Star was a grocery chain. I don’t remember shopping there, but we did on occasion. I just remember they had a televised horse race once a week and you could win cash and groceries if your horse “won” the race.
The last I heard, Wishbone in Tifton was closed but the sign was still there. I wish I could find out more about it. I know there’s one in Newnan, with the same kind of sign, so it may have been a franchise.
Update: Susan Anderson writes: I can confirm that the sign is now down, it was just taken down in the last few months. The building will soon be a new restaurant.
This vehicle was always a landmark for me, and served as an advertisement for a local Mud Bogging* event. It was parked on the right hand side of US 84 past Ruskin, heading from Waycross to Homerville, for many years. I think it’s gone now.
*-Mud Bogging, AKA Mudding, Bogging, etc., has grown from a backyard hobby into a big business. It’s perhaps most popular in Florida, but is a big deal in these parts, too, truly a part of the local folklife. At first it was just done with trucks, often specially rigged for the job, but now is very popular with ATVs and custom rigs. I’m not sure about Waycross, but I know Florida actually has races with some of the custom rigs, known as Swamp Buggies.
The unusual structure advertising Sessions Peanut Company has become a landmark of Colquitt.
Colquitt Town Square Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
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.
‘
I’m hoping some of my Waycross friends will know.
Harris Brothers Garage is one of the few remaining commercial structures in Barney. Their sign notes that they did electric and acetylene welding.