The Empire Bank Building is the most spectacular Neoclassical Revival structure in the vibrant commercial historic district of Americus, and a landmark of the form. It was built on the site of George Oliver’s store and completed in 1911. I’m still trying to identify the architect. From 1950-1989, it was home to the First Federal Savings and Loan Association. It is presently home to the River Valley Regional Commission and is a great adaptive re-use for an important historic building.
Americus Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
New Corinth Baptist Church is an historic Freedmen’s congregation and perhaps the oldest Black church standing in Sumter County. According to the National Register of Historic Places, it was built by William Hooks in 1870, using lumber from his own mill, for his African-American laborers and their families. Though such a largesse wasn’t unique, it was nonetheless quite unusual at the time. This was just five years after the Civil War. The congregation grew into one of the largest in Southwest Georgia, with nearly 300 members by 1894. A school on the grounds, which is no longer extant, served children of the community until the 1940s.
Boston is a hidden gem, located near Thomasville and not far from Florida, with small but intact commercial and residential historic districts. It’s one of my favorite little towns in South Georgia.
According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination: The original settlement of Boston was located southeast of present day Thomasville and was little more than a stagecoach stop in 1826.In the late 1820s, the hamlet of Boston consisted of a few houses, a church, a mercantile, and a stagecoach stop. There are several differing accounts of how Boston was named. According to the Boston Edition, a 1906 article by Professor Axson Quarterman Moody, Principal of Boston Academy, the name “Boston” derives from the name “Botolph Town”, named for Saint Botolph, the noted 17th-century English educator. Other sources indicated that the town was named for Major Thomas M. Boston, a northern traveler who frequently visited Thomas County and the settlement of Boston by stagecoach in the early 1800s. A third account is that Joel Spencer and Eli Graves of Massachusetts named the town. Graves was one of the founding fathers of the Presbyterian Church at the original settlement location. The earliest settlers of Boston included the McLeods, McKinnons, McMillans, and the Mclntoshes, who reportedly came to the area in the late 1820s from South Carolina and before that, Scotland. There are three graves from the Mclntosh family located on the property that now includes Russell Dairy Farm on Sally Road (outside of district). Many believe that this is the site of the original settlement of Boston, however, maps of Thomas County from 1855 through 1865 show Boston in a different location and on an 1864 topographical map, the town is shown in two locations, neither of which appears to coincide with popular belief.
Regardless of the exact whereabouts of the original settlement, when the railroad tracks were laid in1860, city leaders made the decision to move the town. The new location was platted beginning in1860 and Boston was incorporated on October 24, 1870.
As with many historic settlements, we may never know the whole story, but Boston as it stands today has plenty of stories to tell.
Boston Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Near the depot in Boston is a small row of historic shotgun buildings and warehouses. These were related to agribusiness, seed storage, and livery stables. They don’t often get much attention, perhaps because they’re more utilitarian than they are aesthetically interesting, but they are as important to the development, perhaps more so, of our small rural towns as any bank or general store. The railroad was central to Boston’s development and these warehouses were directly tied to its success. In recent years, I believe they’ve been associated with the Boston Seed Company.
Boston Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I made this photograph several years ago and, since that time, it has been repainted and completely restored, to my understanding. It’s quite difficult to photograph because of the asymmetry, the way it rambles in different sections, but it’s a great example of an “exotic” Queen Anne and one of the most unique Victorian homes in Thomasville.
Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This historic structure, built in 1905, originally served as the administration building of Young’s Female College. According to Wikipedia, Young’s Female College was established in 1869, and had 15 teachers and 115 students in 1906. It was purchased in 1939 by the Rolt family and repurposed as the Rosemary Inn, a boarding house and hotel catering to the wealthy Northerners who spent their winters in Thomasville. Even with its current use as condominiums, it retains its original appearance.
Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This exquisite cottage may have begun as a simpler structure, with the Queen Anne decorative elements being added later, but no matter the history, the effect is one of near perfection. The house is not associated with the famous Margaret Mitchell, who wrote Gone With the Wind. I couldn’t locate anyone with that name in Thomasville. Perhaps she owned and preserved the house at some point during its history. It has had numerous owners over the years.
Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
It isn’t every day a whole little village gets restored, but that’s what concerned citizens did in Metcalfe, and these two shotgun buildings, and another not pictured, have been given a new lease on life. They likely date from 1900-1920. I’m not sure their specific history, but most such structures were used as stores, warehouses, and offices. These are important as survivors of the boom days of Metcalfe, when the railroad made the town hum. They have no doubt witnessed a lot of history in their time.
Metcalfe Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Professor Thomas Jefferson Elder (1869-1946) came to Sandersville around 1889, at the invitation of a local minister, for the purpose of improving educational opportunities for Sandersville’s Black children. According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form, he was “the one man who had meant most to the educational, social and spiritual advancement of the colored people of the county for almost 60 years.”
Newspaper photos of Professor Thomas Jefferson Elder and Lillian Phinizy Elder, circa 1940s. Public Domain images accessed via Findagrave. No known restrictions.
A brochure from the City of Sandersville notes that Thomas Jefferson Elder was born and raised in Oconee County. His father was Blant Elder, a planter, and his mother was Sarah A. Love. He barely knew his mother as she lived in the home of her employer. A white man named John Meeks took care of Elder and his brother after their mother died. They attended the Knox Institute in Athens and graduated from Atlanta University. He taught for two years in Athens, where he met his wife, Lillian Phinizy Elder (1868-1943), a graduate of Spelman Seminary and fellow teacher. He furthered his education at Morgan Park Academy and Cook County Normal in Chicago, and Hampton Institute in Virginia.
In 1889, Elder established “Sandersville’s first Negro school” in the Springfield Baptist Church, with 25 students. Two years later, he purchased a nearby lot and built a two-room school, which became the Sandersville High and Industrial School. It was the first school in this part of the state to include manual training in its curriculum and in 1917 a domestic science building was constructed with the help of the Rosenwald Fund. In 1928, due largely to the fundraising efforts of Professor Elder, the present structure was built by the Rosenwald Fund and renamed the Thomas J. Elder High and Industrial School in his honor. It is in the H-Form popular among Rosenwald schools and was considered one of the finest and largest Black schools in Middle Georgia at the time. As to his administrative skill, his obituary noted: During his superintendency of the school, he maintained rigid discipline. A student breaking a window replaced it at his own expense, often working after hours to earn the money. Desks in the school, some of them over 40 years old, were unmarred by carving and whittling. Elder explained that offenders were made either to sand down and varnish the desk top or to buy a new one.
Professor Elder and his wife are buried in front of the school. An article in the 13 June 1946 edition of the Sandersville Progress recounts the following: Nearly 20 years ago, standing in the city square, the late George Warthen and the late C. B. Chapman made an agreement. “When Elder died,” said Mr. Warthen, “if one or the other of us is living he will see that Elder has white pall bearers. Agreed?” “Agreed,” said Mr. Chapman. G.S. Chapman overheard the conversation; it was he who carried out the agreement for his father.
The school became an elementary school in 1960, when a new Black high school was built, and continued in that capacity until closing in 1980. It now serves as the T. J. Elder Community Center.
I’ve been trying to identify this building for quite some time. It’s located near the entrance to Rosedale Cemetery and based on its size I’d guess it was once much nicer and a community landmark. Its present state suggests it’s been derelict for years. It appears that the front door once faced Gordon Street, but at some point the orientation was changed. Some windows have been boarded over, and porches removed, as well. My initial thought is that it was a house or boarding house, but it could have even been a school or lodge. If anyone knows, please get in touch.
Cuthbert Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
