Royston Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Harbin Lumber Company, Royston
1 Reply
Tag Archives: Georgia Timber Industry
A. T. Fuller House, 1955, Ocilla
Mr. Fuller’s grandson, Richard Owens, notes that the home was designed by prominent architect William Frank McCall, Jr., who was working for the Macon firm of W. Elliott Dunwoody at the time.
Woodland, 1877, Wheeler County
Passing through rural Wheeler County from Lumber City (Telfair) to Alamo, one cannot miss this Eclectic Victorian with Carpenter Gothic details. An exquisite two-story arcade (not visible in this photograph) connects the main section of the house to a rear addition. More than one friend has commented over the years that the sight of the house stopped them in their tracks. It is a standout in South Georgia, out of place in a landscape most characterized by simple vernacular dwellings.
The McArthur family owned portions of the land around the house beginning in 1827. From the shambles of the cotton economy Walter T. McArthur (1837-1894) developed his father’s farmland into a thriving timber plantation and completed Woodland in 1877, the year of his father’s death. A Captain Renwick and Johnus Thormaholon are listed as the architects/builders. Walter was a Confederate veteran and served in the Georgia legislature from 1868-1871. His son Douglas later maintained and managed the property. It was sold in 1917 to Emory Winship (1872-1932). Winship was a career naval officer from a prominent Macon family and primarily used the house as a hunting lodge during his ownership.
The property is currently on the market.
National Register of Historic Places
McArthur House, Circa 1830s, Wheeler County
Situated behind the iconic Woodland plantation house is this amazing survivor, an enclosed dogtrot thought to have been built by the first McArthur family member to settle here; their ownership of the land dates to 1827. It is possibly the oldest house in Wheeler County. After use as a storage shed for many years, it was restored in 1993.
Timber Protection Organization Office, Homerville
This is presently home to the Ware Visiting Nurses Service, but Tom Chandler notes that it was originally the Timber Protection Organization (TPO) office.
Tenant Houses, Cogdell
I believe this house and another one adjacent to it were built to house employees of the Sessoms timber and turpentine operations. Both are very endangered and are likely to be gone soon.
Controlled Burn, Turner County
Surrounded by forests, most South Georgians are quite familiar with the controlled burn. The practice has applications ranging from sustainable forestry to land clearing.
It’s generally seen as a good practice and helps reinvigorate the land for numerous plant and animal species.
Log Trucks, Hart County
As of 2017, Georgia had nearly 25 million acres of commercially available timberland, more than any other state. Forestry-related jobs are a major economic force and log trucks are familiar on roads from the mountains to the coast.
W. R. Browning’s Store, Glenwood
The W. R. Browning property is a great example of a rural general store, and it’s relatively intact compared to most I’ve encountered in my travels. It even retains an outdoor shelter.
The window signage is particularly nice, especially this one, indicating that W. R. Browning was not only a shopkeeper but a lumberman, as well. I’m not a good genealogist, but I think some of the descendants of my great-great grandfather, George Franklin Browning, still live in this area. I hope to learn more about that.
The Stanback window decals are fading away, but they likely date to the 1930s or 1940s. Their survival is extraordinary. Stanback was advertised as a cure “for Headache & Neuralgia”. For those who don’t know, it’s a caffeine-based headache therapy similar to Goody’s & BC powders.
Gresston, Georgia
In her History of Dodge County (Atlanta, Foote & Davies, 1932), Mrs. Wilton Philip Cobb wrote: Situated about eight miles north of Eastman, on the Southern Railway, is the little town of Gresston. This town was named for Mr. [George Valentine] Gress (1846-1934), who in 1883 built one of the largest sawmills in the South at this point. In connection with the sawmill was a large dry kiln plant, the first of its kind in this section. Although here was the best yellow pine timber, which was both plentiful and cheap, the mills at that time were having trouble in disposing of their lumber…because of low price and the lack of demand. G. V. Gress was quick to see the advantage of selling a finished product, and he made a trade with a Mr. Moore, of the Moore Dry Kiln Co., to build these dry kilns, which were among the first in the South.
…the Gress mill had a big advantage over the less progressive manufacturers and as a result the Gress Lumber Company built up a profitable business…
…The mill town of Gresston grew and flourished for many years, but like all sawmill towns of those early days, when the mills were through and moved away, the town also went. All that is left of this once flourishing town are a few residences and a mercantile establishment and a large ginnery that are owned and operated by Ragan Brothers…Claud and R. T., of Eastman.
After retiring from the lumber business, Mr. Gress moved to Atlanta, where in 1889 he presented the city with the menagerie that would become today’s Zoo Atlanta. He also purchased the Cyclorama in Grant Park and presented it to the city. He later moved to Jacksonville, Florida.