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Channel: –BEN HILL COUNTY GA–– Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown
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Tornado Damage at Young’s Chapel, Ben Hill County

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Young’s Chapel has been one of my favorite places since I first discovered it over ten years ago. I drive out from Fitzgerald nearly every time I’m home just to check on it. Though I have no connections to the church, I’ve always felt at home when I visit. It’s the kind of place that has that effect on many. On one of those recent trips, I was heartbroken when I saw the damage done by a tornado which passed through in January. As if this special little church needed anything else working against it.

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Luckily, Matt Brown recently rescued the pews before vandals could steal or destroy them. They were gone before the tornado came through.

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Talk of restoration has been ongoing, but in light of the recent damage it will be an even more difficult task, perhaps impossible.



Tenant Farmhouse, Ben Hill County

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Most tenant houses were either in the shotgun style or the gable-front style seen here.


Ruins of Bowen’s Mill, Ben Hill County

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Having grown up swimming and exploring House Creek, I always wondered about the history of Bowen’s Mill. A few days ago, I got a message from Mike Hudson that a new bridge over House Creek was about to be constructed and he expressed concern that these ruins would likely be swept up in the debris of the construction project. Mike Carlok of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Office of Environmental Services notes:  these ruins will not be swept up from GDOT construction. Our Office of Environmental Services (OES) has taken extraordinary steps to make sure that this history will not be erased by our projects. This site has been recommended Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places…and it deserves that recommendation…and I myself will be there to monitor construction…

A large grist mill was constructed here by R. V. Bowen, Sr., in 1836 and was in operation here into the 20th century. A water-powered sawmill was also part of the operation. This was one of the first industrial sites in this section of the state.

A wooden dam, which contained a 100-acre lake, failed at some point in the 1940s and swept away most of the mill.

 


Toomer Medical Office & Boarding House, Fitzgerald

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I believe the lower floor of this landmark was once the office of Fitzgerald’s first black physician, Dr. Edward Toomer. The structure has been historically known as a boarding house, primarily for black railroad men. Though other businesses have been located here, its connection to Dr. Toomer is certainly the most significant aspect of its history. Sadly, it was demolished in the spring of 2017.


Dr. George Kirkley House, Fitzgerald

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This Sears-Roebuck kit house, a perfect Craftsman bungalow, was the longtime home of Fitzgerald dentist Dr. George Kirkley.

South Main Street-South Lee Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places


Dissected Beardtongue, Ben Hill County

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Also known as Cutleaf Beardtongue, Penstemon dissectus is a rare member of the beardtongue family and the only species in the region with deeply dissected leaves. It’s endemic to the outcrops and surrounding woodlands of the Altamaha Grit habitat; this population was discovered near Reuben’s Lake. There are only about 30 known populations, all in Georgia.


Batton’s Store, Ben Hill County

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This landmark stood for much of the 20th century at the fork of Sibbie Road and Georgia Highway 215, near the Wilcox County line. I made this photograph in 2003. The store has since been relocated to the Batton homeplace nearby.


Young Farmhouse, Circa 1880s, Ben Hill County

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This house seemed sure to be lost, as it sat abandoned for many years, but luckily it had a happy ending. It was restored. It’s a central hallway farmhouse with a long addition at the rear. This photograph dates to 2001 and is among my earliest.

Dr. Johnny Young notes that this was once the home of his grandparents (Mr. & Mrs. J. R. F. Young) and his father (S. B. Young). They lived here from at least 1912 until 1927, when they built another home nearby. The Young family were among the earliest settlers of this area, the northwestern corner of present-day Ben Hill County.



Log Tobacco Barn Ruins, Ben Hill County

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This was photographed in 2002 and gone by 2010.


L. D. Wright Grocery, Fitzgerald

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Fitzgerald historian Paul Dunn relayed this history to my father via telephone: This was L. D. Wright’s grocery store. Railroad employees charged their purchases and later “picked up” their tickets and paid their balances in the store. L. D. Wright ran two “store trucks” and traveled the area trading groceries for chickens, eggs, etc. The trucks were loaded with chicken crates to facilitate this practice.

A decal on the door revealed during a recent cleanup of the property suggests that Wright was associated with the RIO brand. RIO, an acronym for Retail Independently Owned, was a grocery syndicate once associated with hundreds of small grocers all over Georgia.

 


Hageman House, 1896, Fitzgerald

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This is the oldest house in the city of Fitzgerald, dating to the year the city was colonized by Union veterans; at the time of its construction it was considered a country house but is well within the city limits today. [I grew up just across a large pecan orchard from it]. It was built by original settler Adrian Hageman, who served as a corporal in Company D, 93rd Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War. His wife was Fannie Protsman Hageman, a native of Vevay, Indiana. It was restored by their grandson, Charlie A. Newcomer, Jr., in 1970.


Lark Martin Memorial, Fitzgerald

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When I was paying my respects to family members recently, I came across this memorial in Evergreen Cemetery. The name was familiar because when I was growing up, I recall my grandmother and great-grandmother speaking fondly of Lark Martin as Fitzgerald’s most famous hero of World War II. They even had a copy of The Saturday Evening Post which featured a story about him. Captain Lark E. Martin, Jr., was born on 9 October 1922 and when he was still a teenager, he was already a B-24 pilot serving in the Pacific Theater with the Jolly Rogers Bomber Squadron, 5th Air Force, based in Port Moresby, New Guinea.  A little over a month before his 20th birthday, on 2 September 1943, while piloting the “Battlin’ Betts”, Martin was killed in action. His co-pilot, engineer, radio tech, and five passengers were also lost.

Hall and Parlor House, Fitzgerald

Hawks-Mann-Cox House, 1910, Fitzgerald

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Lydia Cook shared this history of the house, via Ramona Hansbrough: The house was built in 1910 by E.E. Hawks, married to my great grandmother, Ina Strickland Hawks. The story goes that he wanted to build a home on high ground in Fitzgerald, Ga. He spared nothing when purchasing materials, even to having the gorgeous wood fireplaces imported from England. E.E. Hawks was from Commerce Ga., and so was Ina Strickland .They married and in 1910 moved into the new home in Fitzgerald. E.E. Hawks passed away in 1939 on a business trip to Atlanta. Ina continued to live in the house and her daughter, Ruby Hawks Mann and her husband lived in the house with her mother. After a few years, in 1957 Mama Hawks passed away, so her daughter Ruby Hawks Mann and her husband E.C. Mann continued to live in the house.

In 1961 the house went from the Mann family to the  Cox family. Henry and Lila Cox, my dad’s parents bought the house and lived there until 1982 when both passed away. At that time, my parents Elzie H. Cox and Elaine Mann Cox bought the house from the brothers, Edward Cox and Billy Cox. Elzie passed away in 2001, but Elaine still lived there alone until 2008 when she moved back to Florida to be near her daughters, Ramona and Melanie.

Bond-Morris House, Circa 1908, Fitzgerald

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This house and the Bond-Carroll House about twelve miles from town are said to have been built by brothers. I imagine it had other occupants after the Bonds but it’s best known today as the longtime residence of Don & Norma Morris. It is slightly more formal than the country house.


Millworker’s Houses, Fitzgerald

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These are among the last of the millworker’s houses in the Fitzgerald Cotton Mills that haven’t been covered with vinyl siding.

The utilitarian structures were provided to employees of the mill and many families remained in them after the mill closed.

This was the last in original condition; I photographed it in 2009 and it was razed by 2010.

The Fitzgerald Cotton Mills, seen on a vintage postcard, circa 1912.

Railroad Mural, Fitzgerald

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Railroads were integral to the settlement of Fitzgerald in the late 1890s and for much of its history have been one of its main economic components. The city commissioned Dylan Ross to create this colorful mural. You may recall Dylan as the artist behind the brilliant Andy Griffith Show mural in Broxton.

Surplus Store, Fitzgerald

Abandoned Church, Ben Hill County

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The architecture leads me to believe this was a church, though it could have been a schoolhouse.

 

McLendon-Walker House, Circa 1912, Fitzgerald

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This was the longtime home of Mrs. Evelyn McLendon, a history teacher at Fitzgerald High School. Patricia and David Walker have meticulously restored it.

South Main Street-South Lee Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

 

 

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