Tenant Homes, c. 1920, Lexington, Oglethorpe County, GA

Photographer facing SE

This trio of houses, all listed as being built in 1920, and all of them sitting on a one-acre parcel leads me to believe that they were built for the purpose of being tenant homes. Perhaps one of them, considering its size (1200 sq ft) and quality of craftsmanship, was the owner's personal home. It is the home in the center between the two homes in the photo below.

Photographer facing NE

Located about 17 miles SE of Athens, Lexington, GA reached its population peak in 1900 with 635 residents. By 1920, that number fell to 469. Today, Lexington has an estimated population of 228, a far cry from its heyday in the early 20th century.

Lexington was founded in 1800, is the county seat of Oglethorpe County, founded in 1793. The land that makes up the county was surrendered by the Creek and Cherokee Indian Nations in the treaty of 1773, and named for Georgia founder James Oglethorpe.

Photographer facing SE

On the opposite side of  Main Street from the location of this property, particularly on Church Street, are some grand homes that were all built in the early 1900s. Located less than 1000' from these modest homes, yet a world away.

Photographer facing north.

Pirkle & Son Grocery, Dawson County, GA

Old sign, photographer facing SW

I've always been a sucker for old stores. Whether it be grocery, general, or hardware stores, these were lifelines to their surrounding areas, during a time before the mega-grocery stores. Of course, the low low prices that the larger chain stores were able to charge became the death of most independent stores. This one was probably a casualty of the market forces.

Closed before I moved into Dawson County, this store was located on the eastern side of the intersection of Nix Bridge Road, and Harmony Church Road in eastern Dawson County. Nix Bridge Road is a conduit to several neighborhoods that have lakefront access to Lake Sidney Lanier.

The building had been used for a clubhouse for a chapter of The Wingmen Motorcycle Club, whose website states that they "promote motorcycle touring and brotherhood". Started by military veterans, but not limited to, they are a "fraternal brotherhood of men of high character committed to common goals, and supporting one another through good times as well as bad". I posted all of that because I often wondered what kind of group was meeting there, and I figured others were curious as well.

Photographer facing north.

Time marches on, and the property was purchased by a group that ended up building a Dollar General Store. The construction of the new store required the complete removal of the old store. However, before the construction got rolling too heavy, I saw a couple of men taking down the old sign. Hopefully it is being saved as a memento of what used to stand on this site.

Like all of my posts, I encourage anyone that has stories about this place, or historical information to add, it would be greatly appreciated.

Photographer facing SW

Photographer facing NW

Photographer facing east.

View as seen currently, photographer facing east.