Tag Archives: Georgia Vernacular Architecture

Wayfair Primitive Baptist Church, Cox

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Wayfair Primitive Baptist Church is the only representative congregation of the Alabaha Association Crawfordites in McIntosh County. It was established in 1873 but little else is known about it. It is no longer active but the cemetery is still used for burials.

Like all of the Crawfordite meeting houses, Wayfair is free of ornament and any modern creature comforts.

Members of this faith believed that such enhancements distracted from worship.

The carpentry skills of the members are on full display in each of these meeting houses, and Wayfair is no exception.

These photographs were made in 2012; they were originally posted on Vanishing South Georgia.

Hall-and-Parlor Farmhouse, Crisp County

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This hall-and-parlor farmhouse features a so-called “preacher’s room” off the left front porch. It has been a landmark to me in my travels between Cordele and Americus for many years.

Purvis Farmhouse, Irwin County

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This is one of the first vernacular farmhouses I ever photographed [this photo dates to 1999]. I believe it may have originally been a dogtrot, but I can’t confirm that.  Rodney Gray writes: This home belonged to my grandmother Annie Purvis Gray’s brother, Richard Purvis. He had two sons who lived there and it now belongs to Glenn Purvis.

Single-Pen Tenant Farmhouse, Laurens County

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This is an iconic house type in rural Georgia, sometimes referred to as Cracker Style.

It has that association as it was often the typical housing of white sharecroppers and small farmers, but it’s actually just a single-pen (one-room) house.

This example, like many I’ve encountered, has a preacher’s room on the front, which in the case of most of these utilitarian structures didn’t house a preacher but rather accommodated the needs of a growing family. It also has a shed room at the back. So, the traditional single-pen often grew as the family grew…from one room to three, in this case.

American Small House, Laurens County

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The term American Small House has been assigned in recent years to a type of structure that proliferated from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. A movement began during the Depression, dictated by changing economic realities, to promote the construction of small homes, often prefabricated, to make home ownership more broadly available to the masses. Previous terms for this type included Depression Cottage, Victory Cottage, and FHA House. This abandoned example well illustrates the general layout of the American Small House.

Carter’s Chapel United Methodist Church, 1901, Laurens County

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Carter’s Chapel was established  in 1885 and named for Mrs. Edith Calhoun Carter, one of its earliest members. The original building was located across the road. I believe the present structure dates to circa 1901.

Community Hall, Orianna

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This building now serves as the Orianna Community Hall; it was originally a general store.

Hall-and-Parlor Tenant House, Treutlen County

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