Laurens County – Page 2 – Building a better South

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 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.

February 11, 2014February 12, 2014

Precinct house, Minter, Ga.

This is an old precinct house in the rural area of Minter, Ga., in Laurens County. Like many public structures in the area, it’s built of granitoid, writes VanishingSouthGeorgia.com photographer Brian Brown, who took the photo in August 2013. See another photo.

More than likely, this is the Oconee Voting Precinct on Minter Tweed Road. It’s probably still being used as a polling location as evidenced by the instructions for electronic voting on the table. Regardless, it’s certainly a relic of our rural past — a place that used to have wooden ballot boxes for paper ballots.

Laurens County, population 48,434, is in the middle of Georgia between Macon and Savannah on Interstate 16. Its county seat is Dublin, population 16,201. Thirty-six percent of Laurens County residents are black; 23.6 percent of the county’s residents live in poverty. Dublin, however, has a majority black population (57.6 percent) and 31.9 percent of residents live in poverty, according to Census data.