This classic Miller Meteor Hearse served Albritten’s Funeral Service in Dawson for many years. Robert L. Albritten opened Albritten’s Funeral Service, with Bobby E. Glover, at 527 Lemon Street in 1966, and they are still in business.
The Miller-Meteor line of Cadillac hearses was made famous in the movie Ghostbusters, and as a result is one of the most recognized funeral cars ever produced. In that movie, the Ecto-1 was a 1959 custom; this hearse was likely made in the early 1970s.
The Bakery was built by Henry Ford in 1941 to supplement the adjacent Commissary and was a source of pride for the community. Ira C. Womble, Sr., managed the Bakery during the Ford years.
Ford was an early advocate of healthy eating and his friend, George Washington Carver, provided soybean flour to the bakery for experimental purposes.
The parking lot of the Bakery is like a mini vintage automobile museum and even if you’re not an enthusiast, I believe you’ll be amazed.
This structure has never been an annex as best I can tell, but it was known as “the Courthouse” for generations, likely due to the fact it was a polling place. Rural precincts are still known as “court houses” in many Georgia communities. Richmond Hill is a rapidly growing suburb of Savannah today, but its population didn’t surpass 1000 until the 1970s.
A historic marker placed by the Coastal Bryan Heritage Trail in 2012 reads: “This wood-frame structure, situated on a site known since the creation of Bryan County in 1793 as “the Crossroads”, was built in 1939 with funding provided by Henry Ford. The building came to be familiarly called “the Courthouse” by local citizens. For many years it was used for civic meetings and as the official Richmond Hill voting site. The local Masonic Lodge and Order of the Eastern Star organizations held their meetings in this facility. Later, city and county governmental offices were housed here.”
I made this shot in 2010, and it’s still a mystery. At the time, the truck was parked near the Trudie community and caught my eye every time I drove past it. There was usually a note on the windshield from someone wanting to buy it. Since it’s been gone for many years, I guess someone finally heard from the owner and took it off their hands.
It’s a 1980s model Toyota 4-WD, but beyond that, I don’t know a model name. The most curious aspect of the truck isn’t the camouflage but the fact that it has a custom cab that mirrors the front cab. With this configuration, I imagine the back seats faced the back, instead of the traditional layout facing the front. It’s also as roomy as the front. I don’t know much about custom trucks, and all I was able to locate in research is that this was a practice with some fire trucks from the 1940s onward. This obviously wasn’t a fire truck and my bet would be that it was used for hunting.
If anyone knows the rest of the story, please reach out and let me know.
I often see vintage automobiles when I’m in Musella. This one brought back a lot of memories. For those who don’t recognize it, or even know what a station wagon is, it’s a circa 1967 Ford County Squire, which was the top of the line of Ford station wagons and perhaps the most popular American automobile of its type. It was an evolution of the woody wagons of the 1930s and 1940s. Eventually, mini-vans replaced station wagons.
When I was growing up my grandmother always had one at the farm. My grandfather had all the usual trucks necessary for farming operations and my grandmother always had a station wagon, until she got older. I remember the last one was red and wood grain and it always seemed so big to my younger self.
I think this is a 1953 model.
I can’t resist photographing classic cars.
Richard Wall of Valley, Alabama, is the owner of this great old truck.
Photographed at Harvest Days in Old Talbot, Patsiliga Plantation, 2013
These beauties, along with many others, were on display by members of the River Cities Model A Car Club of Columbus & Phenix City.
Photographed at Harvest Days in Old Talbot, Patsiliga Plantation, 2013