Thanks to you, Vanishing South Georgia has reached a milestone.

As of today, one million views have been recorded on the website! Traffic has grown exponentially since I first launched it back in 2008. The style of the site has also changed from time to time and it continues to evolve. When I started the project, one of the catalysts was the lack of any information, especially imagery, of South Georgia on the internet. My mission has been to share my neck of the woods with the rest of the world, and with your help I’ve succeeded.  I’ve traveled to every county in South Georgia in the past four years and in the process of searching for the most forgotten and most unknown places of the region, I’ve taken over 300,000 photographs. As I’ve said many times before, it wouldn’t be possible without you and your generosity in spreading the word about my work.

Thank You!

(To know more about the beautiful Royal Palm turkey pictured above, stay tuned. It’s one of several heritage livestock and poultry breeds at Red Earth Farms in Tattnall County.)

Owned by Clark Paulk in the 1930s and 1940s, Pine Ridge is nearly forgotten today. It’s located between Ocilla and Lax.

For another view:

http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2008/11/20/pine-ridge-store-irwin-county-2/

From: Willie Mae Smith, The Ocilla Star, 23 August 1973

“History tells us that the first and oldest Masonic Lodge in original Irwin County was Irwin Lodge #212, which was granted a dispensation in 1856 and later was granted a charter…this old lodge barely had time to get a good start before the South was faced with what turned out to be almost total devastation…

During and after the Civil War the nearest lodge to Irwinville was the Western Light lodge in Abbeville, which originated from the old Irwinville lodge. Sometime in the 1880s, David Hogan donated an acre of land in Irwinville for the purpose of erecting a Masonic lodge…the new lodge was constituted as Lodge #315, with these members coming from Western Light in Abbeville: Reverend O. D. Mulkey, Z. T. Player, John J. Luke and Lemuel Taylor. The lodge was constituted by John A. Tomberlin on November 28th, 1885…Charter members were: William M. Gibbs, Worshipful Master; Jonathan Smith, Senior Warden; John J. Luke, Junior Warden; John Walker, Senior Deacon; Cornelius Clements, Junior Deacon; David M. Hogan, Treasurer; R. W. Clements, Secretary; and C. A. Johnson, Tyler. Other brethren included: W. J. Clements, Lemuel Taylor, Z. T. Player, and Reverend O. D. Mulkey…

In 1885, Irwin County was not too thickly settled. Plantations were many miles apart and the members of the Masonic Lodge had to travel a good many miles on horseback or by a buggy to come to their meeting. These men were working and making a living for their families and disliked the idea of leaving them alone at night. After due consideration, they decided to hold their monthly meeting each third Saturday morning at 10 o’clock, thus making this a daylight lodge, which it remains today, the only daylight lodge left in the state of Georgia…”

Judging from meeting schedules, I don’t believe this is still a “daylight lodge”, but apparently, when Willie Mae Smith wrote this article in 1973, it was.

For another view:

http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2009/10/26/masonic-lodge-irwinville/

]]> http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/16/masonic-lodge-1885-irwinville/feed/ 0 drtrd Late 19th Century Masonic Hall Wooden Two Story Clapboard Rural South Pictures Photo Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2011 http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/16/irwinville-farms-house-thomas-road/ http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/16/irwinville-farms-house-thomas-road/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:12:10 +0000 Brian Brown http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.wordpress.com/?p=20797 ]]>

For more about Irwinville Farms, visit:

http://irwinvillega.wordpress.com/

This is located between Irwinville and Waterloo.

]]> http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/16/commissary-stillwater-road-2/feed/ 1 drtrd Farm Commissary Irwin County GA Pictures Photo Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2011 Farm Life in the Old South Commissary Store Vernacular Architecture Irwin County GA Pictures Photo Copyright Brian Brown Vansihing South Georgia USA 2011 http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/15/blue-farmhouse-tyler-road/ http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/15/blue-farmhouse-tyler-road/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:07:22 +0000 Brian Brown http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/?p=20784 ]]>

Here’s a shot of the same house, made in December 2008:

http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2008/12/21/blue-house-tyler-road/

I believe this is actually two old put-together tenant farmhouses (sharecropper shacks). I knew people who lived here about ten years ago, and the walls and floors were very uneven, leading me to this conclusion. The clapboard exterior walls have been covered with vinyl siding, but still, it’s a neat little house.

The old precinct houses, or precincts as most locals call these little buildings, are quickly fading from the landscape in South Georgia. Irwin County has more of these than any other county I know of, and most have this same general style. For older views of the Waterloo precinct:

http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2009/05/11/waterloo-precinct-house/

http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2008/11/21/precinct-house-waterloo/

]]> http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/15/precinct-house-waterloo-2/feed/ 0 drtrd Waterloo GA Precinct Voting Place Pictures Photo Image Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2011 Waterloo GA Iriwn County Voting Precinct House Pictures Photo Copyright Brian Brown Vanishing South Georgia USA 2011 http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/09/adams-sons-country-store-wilsonville-7/ http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/02/09/adams-sons-country-store-wilsonville-7/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:02:49 +0000 Brian Brown http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/?p=20244 ]]>

I knew I’d like Thora Adams when she greeted me at the front door. She told me to remember her name by thinking  “goddess of thunder”, and later related that as the mother of five sons, she had to be. Thora met her late husband Cornelius in her native England while he was stationed there in the military and they opened this store in the 1970s. An earlier store had operated at the same site. All their sons still live nearby, and people in the neighborhood are glad to have a neighborhood store and gathering place. I certainly enjoyed talking with her about country stores and everything else. Thora is open every day except Sundays. Stop by and see her on Georgia Highway 158, about 12 miles south of Douglas, between the 17 Mile River and the Ware County Line. Just bring cash. She doesn’t take debit or credit cards.

I’ve been seeing this sign for years. Imagine my surprise to realize the store was still open…

As you can see in this photo, Adams & Sons is the real thing. No pretension. I photograph so many abandoned country stores, I’m moved by the experience of finding one that is open.