This Second Empire house is one of the finest examples of the style I’ve ever seen in rural Georgia. The present owners, Roy and Wilma Brickle, began its restoration in 1990 and have done an exemplary job.
Update: The house was lost to fire in late 2020 or early 2021.
Barney was once a busy trading crossroads, anchored by thriving nearby peach farms. It was large enough to support several general/grocery stores, and for many years these ghosts kept vigil over the commercial center of the old town. (The largest section of the block, on the right, was Blease’s Store). I’ve learned that they have been demolished in recent months, though I’m not exactly sure when, and having photographed them since the early 2000s, I’m not surprised. These are the last photos I made here, in 2016.
Built just after the Civil War, in December 1865, this structure was originally home to Hamilton Lodge #16, Chapter #30, Free & Accepted Masons. Numerous commercial tenants occupied it throughout its history. Lou Brackett sent me an email yesterday and a copy of an article from the Harris County Journal detailing the impending demolition* of the building. According to the article, part of the roof has collapsed, as well as a section of the interior second floor and the city sees it as a potential liability. Once again, demolition by neglect has begotten actual demolition, and history goes with it.
*As of 20 September 2019, the building is being dismantled.
This house was built for the manager of the Southern Cotton Oil Company. It’s on a busy section of the Augusta Highway and a lot zoned for business and therefore endangered. It has great Arts & Crafts stained glass window panels throughout.
As of late 2021, this structure has been replaced by a dollar store.
This eclectic Craftsman cottage was built of cypress lumber from the Okefenokee Swamp by Dr. Wilbur Alderman Hafford (1886-1950). Hafford was a country doctor who took care of many of the old-timers who lived in the swamp and was one of the founders of the Okefenokee Swamp Park.
The home was later owned by Dr. Hafford’s daughter, Lois Hafford Groszmann (1917-2010), a well-loved biology teacher at Waycross High School from 1949-1984. According to Sheila Willis of the Okefenokee Bird Club, who brought the house to my attention: Mrs. Groszmann was a leader in the Georgia Garden Club Federation plus a charter member of the Okefenokee Bird Club. Also, add in a world traveler. A wonderful lady!
In the back, by a small greenhouse built onto the house, is a Red Buckeye which was once the largest in the state. [The tree remains but I was unable to get a good photograph]. Sheila continues: In the adjacent area “was” a yard filled with all the old type camellias, azaleas, and other plants. From these she won many ribbons at flower shows. She also had planted a variety of other beautiful plants and trees around her house and in the back. And she had trailing vines over a trellis for the hummingbirds and an old grapevine on its supports shading the driveway.
A few years ago before she died, I contacted LeConte-Woodmanston Plantation near Riceboro & got them to come over to try to help me get some of these legacy plants to places where they might be protected. They took cuttings & after letting them grow in their greenhouse for a while, the plan was to transplant them to their recreated plantation garden.
Update: As of 2021, the house has been demolished.
I’m not sure when this was built but I believe it was built solely for use as a boarding house/tourist home. It is presently being deconstructed. Jesup once had many such “tourist homes” but by the 1960s most were replaced by modern motels. The Broadhurst Studio postcard (pictured above) likely dates to circa 1940. The card notes the availability of a locked garage and boasts that it is a block away from the noise of highway traffic.
This example of the Darien Georgian Cottage style has been expanded with a rear kitchen addition.
As of 2021, this structure has been demolished.
Dr. Faye Stapleton Burnett writes: This is the area in Jefferson County, Ga. known as “Stapleton Crossroads.” Also in this area was “Stapleton Academy,” and “Stapleton Mill Pond.” My Great Great Grandfather, Maj. Rev. George Lawson Stapleton Jr. (1794-1874) lived in this area, near Grange, Ga. I have a copy of his obituary in my book, “The Hanging of Susan Eberhart,” as he rode almost 200 miles to Preston, Ga. to try to stop the hanging, and then say the final prayer on the gallows with the third white woman ever executed in Georgia.
This is a different area than the current town of Stapleton. The town was initially “Spread Oak,” then “Spread,” and then in 1885 it was renamed “Stapleton,” in honor of my Great Grandfather Col. Rev. James Stapleton. It was renamed at the time that the Augusta, Gibson & Sandersville Narrow Gauge Railroad was opened. (He was on the Board of Directors.)
Update: As of April 2023, this store has been razed.
Leary, Circa 1950, Photographer Unknown. Courtesy John McKinney
Leary is one of my favorite little towns to explore in Southwest Georgia and in the past decade I’ve seen most of these structures vanish from Main Street. John McKinney shared this photo, circa 1950, to help put things into perspective. The Boyd monument, which is now in a green space at the end of the street, is seen here in its original location.