J. G. Jackson notes that this was the business office of the Wrightsville Lumber Company. Mr. Jackson also notes that the pumps were used to fill the operators’ trucks and not for use by the general public.
This is among the only surviving early commercial structures in White Plains. I believe it was originally a general store. Donna Higdon notes: There is another. To us it was Veazey’s store. Train would come in and they turned it right above there. I THINK there was a cotton gin there. Some of the old stuff is still standing.
Millhaven dates to 1769. According to an historical marker placed in 1953: The earliest trade center and industrial development in interior Georgia was established here before the Revolutionary War by Francis Paris, Senior. A rick dam was constructed across the creek, of which it is said that the 400 horse power developed for the feed and saw mills was by far the greatest in the colony. The rock foundations of the old dam are still embedded in the creek about 300 yards above the present bridge. Paris sold the land, mills, and appurtenances to Seaborn Jones, of Augusta, on February 8th, 1796.
It’s grown over the past two centuries into a mixed-purpose property that still includes active farming operations, timber holdings and hunting reservations.
This is part of the modern farming operation. I’m not sure what the round building was/is used for.
Today, it’s owned by William S. Morris III of the Morris Communications Company, who has received awards for its conservation and management.
That’s no small accomplishment considering it’s the largest farm operating as a single unit east of the Mississippi.
A few old houses remain around the property.
They were likely employee-related structures from the early to mid-20th century.
They are very diverse in their architectural styles.
This is the grandest home in Baxley, made more so by all the azaleas in bloom. If you’ve ever passed north through the town on U. S. Highway 1, you’ve undoubtedly seen it. Begun in 1894 and completed in 1897, it was built for C. W. Deen. The house was designed by Joseph J. Johnson, a prominent architect and builder responsible for a number of local landmarks, including the county courthouse, a bank, a church, and several other residences. Deen was a timber and naval stores operator and one of the leading businessmen and landowners in Appling County at the turn of the last century. He also operated a grist mill and store in Baxley. In 1901, he became a leader in a project hoping to bring a sugar refinery to Appling County. Despite a large investment, this project was unsuccessful. In 1906 he became involved with the development of the town of Alma. Deen moved his family to Lakeland, Florida, in 1908, but remained active in the business affairs of Baxley and Appling County. The home was purchased by W. Hughes & Carrie Rogers in 1909. Mrs. Rogers was a co-founder of the Baxley Women’s Club.
Update: Bedell Mayers writes that this landmark burned to the ground in 2023, during renovation.
National Register of Historic Places
This landmark stands as not only the grandest in Manassas but one of the largest and best preserved Folk Victorians I’ve ever seen. Its size is truly awe-inspiring. And the house is not vacant. Please do not trespass, as if I should even need to say so. According to Lisa Hearne, it was built by the namesake of Manassas himself, Manassas Foy and was purchased in the late 1800s by her great-great grandmother, Eliza Ann Collins Hodges and her husband. Mrs. Hodges was a descendant of the Collins family for whom the nearby town of Collins was named. There are even more notable structures in Manassas but I didn’t have the time to shoot them yesterday. I will certainly be back and encourage photographers in the area to explore Manassas and vicinity when they have the opportunity.
No matter how many historic buildings I uncover in my travels, finding a structure like this is still what motivates my work more than anything else. This is located between Folkston and St. George, near the old logging community of Toledo. (As of 2016, I’m told that this has been razed). Wesley Williams writes: My understanding, from the old folks, is that this started out as a school /church when there was a logging camp in the area. It was later abandoned and turned into a home. For the record…that is how I understand the history from old timers in the area…This is in the Toledo area about a 1/3 of the way between Folkston and St George…
This home, designed for Robert and Missouri Garbutt by Ivey P. Crutchfield, is the grandest in Lyons. It is also known as “Twenty Columns”. Robert Musgrove Garbutt made a fortune in the timber business as the partner of H. M. Rountree in the late 19th century and served for a time as mayor of Swainsboro. Garbutt was first married to Missouri Coleman and upon her death married her sister, Sophronia Coleman. He moved to Lyons around 1894. In addition to his ongoing interest in the Rountree-Garbutt Lumber Company in Emanuel County, Garbutt owned or held interest in the Garbutt-Donovan Lumber Company in Lyons, Hartfelder-Garbutt Company of Savannah, Garbutt-Donovan Real Estate Company of Fitzgerald, and the Southern Foundry & Fitting Company of Savannah. He was also a major stockholder in the First National Bank of Fitzgerald and the First National Bank of Lyons. One of Fitzgerald’s most important commercial landmarks, the five-story Garbutt-Donovan Building, was also a venture.
Bobby Thomas Akins recalls: …when I was a boy, it had a second floor balcony around the three fourths of the house. My sister-in-law Ellen Akins and I were taken through the house by Mrs. Garbutt, a real southern aristocrat, but very friendly and kind. The little room on top of the house contained a copy of every newspaper ever produced by the Lyons Progress tied up neatly with string, stacked up around the walls of the room. [The house] had the most beautiful furniture I have ever seen.
National Register of Historic Places
A. T. Fuller was a well-known landowner and timber operator in south central Georgia for a good part of the 20th century. I made these film photographs of his headquarters in 2001. The structures were razed not long after, but represent an important era in the development of South Georgia. Andrew Taylor writes: “This is the warehouse my grandfather (AT Fuller) used for his lumber mill and building supply business. It was a long string of buildings behind the front office. A railroad track ran along its side. The doors were raised to the level of the railroad cars to allow unloading. As a kid in the 1960s, I used to run through the buildings from end to end, delighted in the variety of objects stored inside. I believe the warehouse was built in the 1930s, but it could have been earlier.”
The top two shots illustrate the warehouse, and the bottom image features Mr. A. T.’s office.
