Here’s a recent picture of the H.C. Melton store in the Wilkinson County town of Allentown, Ga., which we featured here back in August.
This photo, taken by longtime Georgia journalist Elliott Brack, holds a special place in his heart, he explains in GwinnettForum.com:
“Several of my relatives lived and still live in this town and I was born near there. One cousin is on the City Council. My uncle once clerked for H.C. Melton. I remember spending many a day with my cousins in the area, often visiting the store, and pulling soft drinks for five cents out of the circulating cold water of the coolers, then emptying a package of peanuts into the drink bottle. We sat on the bench on the porch at the front of the store and enjoyed our purchase. Yes, this photo holds special memories.”
Today, Wilkinson County has fewer people (9,577 in the 2012 Census estimate) than it did in the 1940s (11,025 people) when my dad was a boy here before moving to the “big city” of Macon with his family. About three in five people are white, with most of the rest being black. Poverty is about 20 percent.
- More from QuickFacts from the U.S. Census.
- More from Wikipedia.
Copyrighted photo by Elliott Brack. Used by permission. All rights reserved.