Mr. Randy Nance writes that his structure was built in 1925 and served from that time until 1969 as the Tyson General Merchandise Store. He maintains a wonderful collection of antique bottles, forestry tools, and turpentine ephemera in the storefront.
People like Mr. Nance are curators of a vanishing culture. He has preserved the integrity of the building and it remains an important part of downtown Folkston.
Founder in 1868 of the Georgia Land and Lumber Company, William Pitt Eastman (1813-1888) settled the town bearing his name in 1870. He was also instrumental in the founding of Dodge County. He built this Italianate Victorian, designed by J. H. Russell (who also built Dodge County’s first courthouse) in 1872 and his daughter sold it to Judge James Bishop, Sr., in 1896. It is the oldest house in Eastman. James Bishop and Cary Bullock inherited it in 1926. It now serves as headquarters of the Dodge Historical Society.
National Register of Historic Places
This neighborhood of Lenox was originally known as Staunton. According to Linda W. Meadows, believes it was built by local timber baron Sim Harrell (1851-1929) in the early 1890s. Remembered Places Leftover Pieces of the Coastal Plain Area, an architectural resource published in 1976, identifies it as the Cannon House. It’s possible that Mr. Harrell was simply the builder. The front gable originally contained an arched window, that was removed during a remodel at some point.
However, Holt Daughtrey writes: Speaking as a great-great grandson of T.P. Daughtrey both Cannon house as well as many of the houses including the post office were payed for by either the Cannon family which Tom married into or the Daughtrey clan. Money made through turpentine as well as running a local saw mill.
