Tate L&N Depot, 1916, Pickens County, GA

L&N Depot

The Tate, or L&N (Louisville and Nashville) Depot was built in 1916, mainly to serve the Georgia Marble Company which was founded by Samuel Tate in 1884. The rail line also carried passengers southbound to Marietta, GA, or northbound through the twists and turns of the Blue Ridge Mountains to Etowah, TN.

The passenger service stopped in the 1940s, but the depot was still used as offices and storage for the L&N Railroad, and later by CSX Transportation. As you can see, the building is no longer in use and appears to be

L&N Depot from Hwy 53

suffering from a lack of maintenance. However, there are plans in the works, and a large federal grant has been given to move the depot across the street and have it restored.

There is some speculation that the reason for this is two-fold; one is to preserve the historical structure, another is to widen Hwy 53 at this point to accommodate the heavily loaded trucks transporting marble from the still-operating Georgia Marble Company.

The depot is included in an area that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

February 1, 2016, Update:

Passing through Tate in January I was able to see the newly renovated and relocated depot. Picked up and moved across Hwy 53 from the old site last year, the depot will now serve a new purpose, though what that will be still seems to be unknown. My only complaint is that the clay tiles were removed from the roof and saved, but were not used as part of the renovation. Overall, I'm glad it was preserved instead of razed, or used for fire department practice. Good job, Pickens County.

Photographer facing NE from S. Railroad Street

Dutch Barn, Dawson County, GA

Etowah River Road

Located on high ground,  adjacent to the flood plains of the Etowah River in southeastern Dawson County.

June, 2017 Update:

This barn exists no more. I'm not sure if it fell down on its own, or if someone demolished it. It still looked pretty sturdy two years ago, so I'm thinking it was torn down. 

Farmhouse, Union County, GA

Old Gumlog Road, Union County, GA

This photo of this home on Old Gumlog Road was taken in February of 2009. It was in pretty rough shape then, and I'm not sure if it's still standing. One of the interesting features on a lot of these old homes is the two front doors. Previous to doing some research on the two-door style of construction, I assumed that these old homes, at some point, were converted into duplex tenant houses. I have leaned that there are many different explanations on this subject.

Two Front Doors

One is that one door led to the family room, while the other door was for guests to enter the parlor which was kept in a more clean condition. I've also read that the style of the day was heavy on symmetry, thus there couldn't be just a single object appearing on the front of the home. The strangest thing I read was that the second door was to carry the dead out of the home feet first, but I can't imagine a construction feature to be included based on the future death of the inhabitants. 

Farmhouse, c. 1900, Dawson County, GA

House and well

 This old home is located on Will Hall Road in Dawson County, GA. This is in one of the prettiest pastoral scenes in the county, consisting of a gravel road that travels along a ridge with fenced pasture that drops down on either side of the road. I believe the home is circa 1900 construction based on information gathered from tax records. Those with a keen eye may have noticed that the photo below is the one I chose for the background photo of the blog. I love the different colors that exist on this side of the house.

View from the south

Gilmer County, GA Barn

Hwy 52, just north of Dawson County line.

I commuted past this location for about 6 months, knowing that eventually a stop and some photos would be required. I tend to leave no margin for error when it comes to travel time, so most days I would just look over and take in the pastoral beauty. On this day, however, the early morning light combined with the golden foliage meant pulling over whether I was going to be late or not.

I know absolutely nothing about this barn or the farm, so if anyone wants to chime in, please do!

Hwy 52, just north of Dawson County line.

Abandoned Farmhouse in Butler County, AL

Abandoned home with huge Cedar

 Driving south of Montgomery, Alabama on I-65 near mile marker 138, this is your view to the east. If you're driving north, you may pass it without even noticing. These photos were taken from my vehicle while stopped in the north-bound emergency lane. Too many big trucks blasting past for me to feel comfortable exiting the car. Looking at the map there was no other public road access nearby, so it meant a few harrowing moments to get these shots, but not enough to pass up the opportunity.
I have driven past this view several times and wasn't going to let it go on this trip.

200mm lens

In the top photo you can see the bog snaking its way from the house towards you. This appears to be an extremely wet site that is adjacent to Pigeon Creek. The huge Cedar Tree, to me, is what makes this a beautiful shot.

In the close up, you can still see the swinging shutters on the windows.

Bethlehem Historic District, Richmond County, GA

Circa 1940s Urban Home

Like so many old homes in this historic neighborhood in Augusta, this one has all of its windows and doors boarded. The Bethlehem neighborhood was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is a historically African American neighborhood that began to take shape in the 1870s when the three primary landowners began to subdivide the property based on its location near a developing hub of commerce. Two major roads and the Central of Georgia Railroad came together in this area and spawned businesses and freight yards that made it a desirable area for workers to live in close proximity to employment.

Taken from the National Park Service's brochure on the Bethlehem Historic District:

"The district is architecturally significant for its excellent collection of historic residential, commercial, and community landmark buildings in a variety of styles—Shotgun, Folk Victorian, Colonial Revival, and Craftsman. The residential housing stock was built around the roads and railroad lines.  Most of the houses were small so that a large number could fit into a small area. Some of the later homes are larger."

Shotgun Houses - Wrightsboro Road

Not only homes are of interest in this historic district, but there are several churches, including the Mount Zion Baptist Church as shown below.

Circa 1921 - Wrightsboro Road

 This structure has some particularly interesting features, specifically the white stonework above the triangular windows, each one with an arrow for the cap.

A big change for this neighborhood, hopefully for the better, is on the way. According to the Vison Village project overview:

"Even though the area has experienced significant blight since the early 70s, The City of Augusta has designated the Laney Walker and Historic Bethlehem Communities as urban redevelopment areas in accordance with Section 36-61-7 of Georgia’s Urban Redevelopment Law.  This designation will be a powerful tool to support significant economic development and enhanced quality of life for the citizens of these communities."

 Hopefully this will include the historic preservation of those structures that can be rehabbed. Time will tell.

Old Mountain Home in Union County, GA

This is a home and setting that jumped out at me and insisted that I stop and take a photograph. It has seemingly been several years since anyone has called it home, and yet the owner of the property is obviously fond of the old house. Every time I've passed it, the lawn is cut, with no weeds or vines running rampant. The location is on Gaddistown Road near the unincorporated community of Suches, GA.

This part of the county is remote, even by today's standards. So remote, that Woody Gap School (the nearby public school) opened in 1940 and serves grades K-12. The winding mountain roads that must be traversed in order to get to the location of the county's other schools (all located in Blairsville) are still considered a travel hardship, thus the school remains open. It is the smallest public school in the state of Georgia, with an enrollment of 67 students, all taught by 11 teachers, according the the schools website. If you want a small classroom and student to teacher ratio for your child, this is the place to be. The school sits upon the former farm of Joseph Brown, Georgia's Civil War Era Governor. He served from 1857-1865.

This house sits just a few miles north of the Appalachian Trail where it crosses Woody Gap.

Castleberry-Harbin-Roper House, Dawsonville, GA, c. 1890

I wasn't even aware of the existence of this home even though it is within eyesight of the parking lot of the office I have been working in for almost two years. It wasn't until the foliage dropped this past fall that the unveiling occurred. That and the fact that I have been paying attention to some renovations that have begun on a brick house that is on an adjacent property.

The tax assessor's website lists the date of the construction as 1890. Other than that, I don't know the history of the house. It is clearly no longer being used as a residence and appears to be in danger of falling into irrecoverable disrepair. One wing has already buckled with a partial roof collapse as seen in the picture below.

  As with a lot of these properties, vegetation is taking over with pines and vines being the primary culprits. Given time, they will contribute to the destruction of the home. Note the stacked rock pillars that make up part of the foundation.

If I learn more about the history of this property, updates will be added to this post. As always, if there are any readers that know something about any of the properties which I post, you are encouraged to share in the comments.

Update 4/12/2017 - According to the book "Dawson County, GA A History" written by the Dawson County Historic and Genealogical Society, this home "was last occupied by Miss Della Roper who rented part of the house to teachers and other ladies". The house has undergone some changes since these photos were taken. The wing with roof damage has been removed, as well as the trees and other vegetation growing near and onto the house.

New Blog for a New Year

Since I was a child riding in the backseat of my parent's car, I noticed places, primarily in rural areas where old buildings or houses were barely standing the test of time. These places ranged from those whose walls still contained residents, to those where the only remaining feature was a solitary stone chimney.

I have always found myself wondering about the history of these seemingly forgotten sites. Who were the people that built them? Was this a happy place for the occupants? Or, conversely, was this a place of misery, only to be escaped from and never return? In some cases, why was a seemingly fine looking home (at least from the outside) left to deteriorate to the point of collapse? Whether these questions can ever be answered or not, there remains the fact that these old structures are endangered by time itself. Without a photographic record, they are destined to be lost forever.

The three-hour trip down Hwy 1 from Augusta, GA to Hazlehurst, GA was one that was made a couple of times every year when I was a kid. With my Dad behind the wheel and Mom riding shotgun, my sister Angela and I rode in the backseat trying not to encroach on each others half of the seat. Hazlehurst is the county seat of Jeff Davis County, which is located in the coastal plains of the southeastern part of the state. It's flat, hot, covered with pine trees, and did I mention hot?

One of my earliest memories of having a dilapidated structure brought to my attention was my Mom pointing out a grey shack in the middle of a plowed field stating that the house she was born in was much like that one. It looked lonely sitting in the middle of that field where the farmer had to sweep his plow around the structure. It obviously meant enough to somebody that the obstacle remained. That is my subject, whether it's a house, a barn or other outbuilding, an old store or service station, mills, signs...etc. Anything that is teetering on the edge of disappearing forever from the landscape. If you know of a good one, let me know, or share your own photos here!