Category Archives: –TOOMBS COUNTY GA–
Paul Anderson Youth Home, Vidalia
The late Paul Anderson (1932-1994) was known as “The World’s Strongest Man” and beginning in 1961 channeled his fame into helping troubled youth get their lives on track. Truett Cathy, of Chic-Fil-A fame, was his first major patron in this work. After first operating the Paul Anderson Youth Home out of the Mimosa Motel in Vidalia, Anderson purchased this property in 1962, which now includes modern dormitories and other structures.
A marker placed at the site in 1995 notes: Paul Anderson was born October 17, 1932 in Toccoa and attended Furman University where he began lifting weights. In 1955 he traveled as a goodwill ambassador from the United States to the Soviet Union and there his lifting surpassed many world records. Later that year he won the World Championships. He brought home the gold medal from the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. To date, he was the last American to win a gold medal in the super heavyweight division. On June 12, 1957, he lifted a total of 6,270 pound in a backlit, which was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the greatest weight lifted by a human being. Paul Anderson married Glenda Garland in 1959 and the Andersons established the Paul Anderson Youth Home in 1961. The Youth Home is a Christian rehabilitation facility for young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one who otherwise might be confined to penal institutions. Paul Anderson became a professional to raise funds through demonstrations and speaking engagements to support the Youth Home. Over 2,000 young men benefited from the home and the unselfish devotion of Georgia’s beloved Paul Anderson before his death August 15, 1994.
This 1910 Colonial Revival home is the centerpiece of the property.
Filed under --TOOMBS COUNTY GA--, Vidalia GA
Central Hallway House, 1903, Lyons
This central hallway form exhibits the common additions made to these types of houses as families grew and the need for more space arose.
Filed under --TOOMBS COUNTY GA--, Lyons GA
Unidentified Church, Lyons
This nicely proportioned structured appears to be a church, based on the floor plan, but I can’t find any history or information regarding it in any available sources. I will update when I learn more.
Filed under --TOOMBS COUNTY GA--, Lyons GA
Lyons Woman’s Clubhouse, 1932
The Lyons Woman’s Club was organized in 1928 and like other woman’s clubs throughout the state was involved in community improvements, from parks and beautification to literacy and leash laws. After meeting for several years at City Hall, the club was given a city lot by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and commissioned architect William Walter Simmons to design a permanent meeting place. The clubhouse was completed in 1932 and immediately became a center of social activity in Lyons. When the Woman’s Club disbanded in 1945, it became home to the Lyons Garden Club, which still maintains it today.
National Register of Historic Places
Filed under --TOOMBS COUNTY GA--, Lyons GA
Post Office, Ohoopee
Located near the railroad tracks in Ohoopee, this appears to be the last remaining commercial structure in the community. It’s also possible that it served as a bank. Cindy Talley Nolfe, via Facebook, notes that it was the U. S. Post Office in the 1950s. [The post office closed in Oak Park in 1953].
Filed under --TOOMBS COUNTY GA--, Ohoopee GA
Single-Pen Log Farmhouse, Toombs County
This structure is already in ruins but I felt it needed documenting.
Filed under --TOOMBS COUNTY GA--
Corporal C. S. Meadows House, Normantown
Adam Underhill writes: I believe this was the residence of my great-great-grandfather, Cannie Swain Meadows, a Confederate veteran. I believe he is correct in his assertion. According to the listing on Find A Grave, where this circa 19100 postcard was shared by Olivia Williamson Braddy originates, Meadows (8 March 1843-15 August 1923) was a Corporal with Company H, 49th Georgia Infanty. He owned a dry goods store and hotel, as well as Tiger Springs, a recreational attraction on Tiger Creek. Cannie, as he was known, had 13 children, all but one of whom lived to adulthood; several lived well into their nineties.
Filed under --TOOMBS COUNTY GA--, Normantown GA
