Georgia – Page 6 – Building a better South

March 15, 2014March 17, 2014

Melton store, Allentown, Ga.

H.C. Melton General Merchandise, Allentown, Ga.

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.

March 13, 2014March 12, 2014

Lambs, Dudley, Ga.

If you’re driving on U.S. Highway 80 through Dudley, Ga., just after the big “Jesus is coming soon” sign, you’ll see a pasture full of sheep on the left inside the town limits near Sixth Street. Here’s another shot highlighted on March 11.

Dudley, home to fewer than 500 people, is about seven miles west of Dublin, Ga., the county seat of Laurens County. Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty.

March 11, 2014March 12, 2014

B-a-a, Dudley, Ga.

March 1, 2014February 27, 2014

Pool hall for sale, Dublin, Ga.

Just down the street from the tallest building in Dublin, Ga. — the closed old First National Bank — sits this empty pool hall on Madison Street. It is sandwiched between two other buildings that look like they’ve been closed for a long time.

Dublin suffered during the recent recession as the unemployment rate for Laurens County, where Dublin (population 16,201) is the county seat, rose to 13.8 percent in July 2011. Two years later it was about two points lower, but was down to 9.4 percent in December 2013, according to federal government data found at this site.

Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty, according to Census data

February 27, 2014

Closed chicken joint, Dublin, Ga.

Empty fast-food chicken joint, Dublin, Ga.

This fried chicken outlet on Telfair Street in Dublin, Ga., is one of many buildings that closed during the recession. The unemployment rate for Laurens County, where Dublin (population 16,201) is the county seat, rose to 13.8 percent in July 2011. Two years later it was about two points lower, but was down to 9.4 percent in December 2013, according to federal government data found at this site.

Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty, according to Census data

February 25, 2014

Empty bank, Dublin, Ga.

Look closely at the top of the six-story brick building on South Jefferson Street in Dublin, Ga., and you can barely make out the words “Citizens and Southern Bank.”

The now-empty building, built around 1910 (“MCMX”), has boards on some windows; others are open without glass. The bank, apparently the tallest building between Macon and Savannah, started out as the First National Bank, according to the letters carved over the front door. By the time the bank was built, Dublin had emerged from obscurity after the Civil War into one of the largest cities in Georgia, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Other interesting facts about Dublin:

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his first public speech at the First African Baptist Church in Dublin when he was 14. You can seek King celebrated in the right side of the picture as part of the town’s Black History Month observation.
Baseball manager Earl Weaver, who ended up in the Hall of Fame, once was a player-manager for the Dublin Orioles, a Class D minor league team in the city.
During World War II, Dublin was home to a prisoner-of-war camp of captured Germans and Italians.

Dublin (population 16,201) is the county seat for Laurens County. Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty.

February 21, 2014February 21, 2014

Old farmhouse, near Dexter, Ga.

Here’s the old farmhouse near Dexter, Ga., that fronts the privy mentioned in the previous post. As you can see, the front of the house rests on a pile of concrete blocks, but the back of the house is on newer brick supports.

Dexter has about 500 people and is a few miles southwest of Dublin, the county seat for Laurens County. Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty.

February 19, 2014February 19, 2014

Old privy, near Dexter, Ga.

There’s no telling how old this privy is outside an old farmhouse just north of Dexter, Ga., in Laurens County. The unpainted house had some signs that someone might have been restoring it awhile back (new brick foundation in the rear; random concrete blocks at front holding up building.) But there was no electricity going into the place on Georgia Highway 257 near Dexter’s new water tower.

Just beyond the privy, you can see a small grove of seven mature pecan trees with a field in the rear.

Dexter has about 500 people and is a few miles southwest of Dublin, the county seat for Laurens County. Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty.

February 17, 2014

Familiar scene

This scene of a flat Interstate highway could be anywhere. On Interstate 16 near Savannah? Or on Interstate 26 near Charleston? Maybe Interstate 55 in Mississippi or 65 in Alabama? How about I-40 near Wilmington? (Answer: I-16 at Exit 132, Ash Branch Church Road in Bryan County just north of Pembroke, Ga.)

What’s so familiar about the scene is that there are miles and miles of little development between large cities. Over the last 50 years, Interstates connected America in new ways never imagined years earlier, but that connectedness started an outpouring of talent and people from rural areas to cities and the suburbs. Bryan County, which is in Savannah’s metro area, has a poverty rate of 14.7 percent.

February 13, 2014February 12, 2014

Jesus sign, Dudley, Ga.

You can’t miss this sign in Dudley, Ga., that VanishingSouthGeorgia.com Brian Brown calls “Roadside Religion.”

Better South President Andy Brack remembers Dudley as a home to a great aunt who passed away a few years back. Dudley, home to fewer than 500 people, is in Laurens County in the middle of Georgia. Some 23.6 percent of residents of Laurens County (population 48,434) live in poverty.