A sign identifies this amazing survivor as the Lee Pope Hotel. It was primarily used as housing for Pearson Farms’ seasonal peach workers.
All the structures of the Lee Pope Fruit Farm should be included in the National Register of Historic Places as an important example of a 20th century Georgia peach farm.
Around 1910, the Pearson family purchased the tremendous Lee Pope Fruit Farm and its peach packing operation here. It included numerous tenant houses, this commissary, a “hotel” which housed seasonal workers (really a dormitory), a packing house (now gone), and numerous barns and sheds. At one time, the Pearson peaches were branded “Big 6”. The family’s long-term preservation of this property provides an important historic lesson of the importance of the peach industry in this section of Middle Georgia and she be commended.
Thanks to Royce Neal for the identification. He notes: (this) was Max “Bo” Ray, Sr’s, store. He was our barber and a mechanic/handyman for the community.
This building is sided with tin false brick siding which was painted at one time. I’m unsure of its use; the lack of windows on the side would indicate it wasn’t a residence, but it’s possible they were covered when the building was sided.
My identification of this structure is an educated guess, considering it is surrounded by the historic Wade Plantation. It looks to date from circa 1910-1930. It’s possible it was a general store independent of the plantation but this seems unlikely. (There is a location known locally as Hill’s Store just down the road but I don’t think this is associated with it). False front structures are quite rare in rural Georgia and I can’t recall having seen a commissary of this style. The pressed tin is in amazingly good condition, though the structure has likely been neglected for many years.
This warehouse was part of the Sinclair Oil distributorship in Brunswick and was later moved to Sterling, where it has been a familiar landmark for many years.