This is located on a large farm south of Alapaha so I’m presuming it was a commissary. It could have also been a neighborhood store or agricultural shop building.
Tag Archives: South Georgia Commissaries
Commissary, 1910s, Lee Pope
Around 1910, the Pearson family purchased the tremendous Lee Pope Fruit Farm and its peach packing operation here. It included numerous tenant houses, this commissary, a “hotel” which housed seasonal workers (really a dormitory), a packing house (now gone), and numerous barns and sheds. At one time, the Pearson peaches were branded “Big 6”. The family’s long-term preservation of this property provides an important historic lesson of the importance of the peach industry in this section of Middle Georgia and she be commended.
Filed under --CRAWFORD COUNTY GA--, Lee Pope GA
Woodland Dependencies, Wheeler County
This impressive stock barn at Woodland (it may have been used as a dairy) is one of the largest of its type in this section of South Georgia. Several other smaller barns are scattered on the property but many have been lost over the years. The other two structures depicted are the most important surviving dependencies; my identifications are educated guesses and if I’m incorrect, I’ll update.
This was likely a commissary or warehouse.
This may have been the plantation schoolhouse. Its architecture suggests that it is somewhat contemporary to the main house.
Filed under --WHEELER COUNTY GA--
Commissary, Crisp County
Located in northwestern Crisp County near Lake Blackshear (Flint River, originally), this could have been a general store or warehouse, but considering the extensive farming operations in the area, my best guess is that it was a commissary.
Filed under --CRISP COUNTY GA--
Historic Farmstead, Lowndes County
Isolated in the countryside near the Lowndes County ghost town of Delmar, this historic farm is one of the most intact collections of original agricultural structures I’ve ever seen in South Georgia. I’m grateful to Mandy Green Yates for bringing it to my attention. Mandy travels the back roads of South Georgia and North Florida finding lots of places like this. Follow her to see what she finds next.
I believe this was primarily a turpentine camp, as the area was well-known for large scale naval stores production. There would have been tenant houses here at one time, also. The structure above was likely the office for the operation.
My favorite structure is the commissary, which would have served all the needs of this small community.
The shingle-sided barn and water tower are amazing survivors, as well. The owners of the property should be commended for keeping this place in such relatively good condition throughout the years.
Filed under --LOWNDES COUNTY GA--, Delmar GA
Wade Plantation Commissary, Screven County
My identification of this structure is an educated guess, considering it is surrounded by the historic Wade Plantation. It looks to date from circa 1910-1930. It’s possible it was a general store independent of the plantation but this seems unlikely. (There is a location known locally as Hill’s Store just down the road but I don’t think this is associated with it). False front structures are quite rare in rural Georgia and I can’t recall having seen a commissary of this style. The pressed tin is in amazingly good condition, though the structure has likely been neglected for many years.
Filed under --SCREVEN COUNTY GA--
Commissary, Wayne County
This is located near the railroad line between Odessa and Gardi and considering the prevalence of the turpentine industry in the area, it was likely related to that. Thanks to Jackielee Moseley for assistance in the identification.
Filed under --WAYNE COUNTY GA--
Peebles Commissary, 1920s, Emanuel County
Becki L. Stroud writes: This store was once owned by Malley Houston Peebles who sold it to his younger brother Cicero Talmadge Peebles. Malley Peebles moved closer to Swainsboro, Georgia, and opened the long gone Southern Pines Tourist Camp on U.S. Hwy 1. I believe the building dates back to around the 1920s. My grandparents were married there by a justice of the peace.
Like many commissaries, this may have also served the area as a general store.
Filed under --EMANUEL COUNTY GA--
Commissary, Pulaski County
I photographed this commissary on US 129 south of Hawkinsville in 2010. I believe it was razed a couple of years later.
Filed under --PULASKI COUNTY GA--
Mitchell J. Green Plantation, 1878, Evans County
Intact historic farms survive only through the care of generations of families; the Mitchell J. Green plantation in Evans County is an excellent example. In 1868, after service in the Confederacy, Mr. Green built a log cabin on the property and commenced farming. The thriving operation became the center of a small community known as Green and had its own post office from 1882-1904. Mr. Green served as postmaster. A Plantation Plain farmhouse with Victorian accents, built in 1878, anchors the property. Numerous dependencies remain.
Commissaries are iconic components of Georgia’s plantations and many remained in use on larger farms until World War II. The Green Commissary appears to be in excellent condition; the shed protrusion is likely a later addition.
The stock/hay barn is the largest outbuilding on the property.
National Register of Historic Places
Filed under --EVANS COUNTY GA--
