I first came to know of this iconic barn from another photographer in the area and was absolutely amazed when I was finally able to photograph it a few years ago. It’s a massive structure and its architectural features, such as wooden-shingle dormers and trellis vents and doors, make it among the most interesting I’ve ever encountered in South Georgia.
Last July, Anna Williams shared this history of the barn: My husband (Ben Williams, owner of the Heritage Barber Shop in Metter) is the great-grandson of the man who built the barn. It was the Coleman Farm before the Rushtons purchased it. Jim Coleman was the original owner and he was the one who built it. My husband, his brothers and many cousin’s played their when they were young. That was many years ago; he is now 77. This is better known today as the R. L. Rushton farm.
It’s hard to do justice to this barn in photographs. It’s massive, but beyond that, its architecture and the attention Jim Coleman paid to the details take it a step above most any of its contemporaries in South Georgia. The old cedar tree adds a lot to the landscape. Robin Robbins & Vicky Prince both wrote to inform me that this barn had been used in the opening sequence of the 1974 movie Buster and Billie. The barn appears at 2:20 on the Youtube clip.
