I photographed this I-House, also known as a plantation plain, in August 2020. As I was driving home today and avoiding the interstate, I caught a glimpse of the house and realized it had been lost to fire.
The only information I can find on the home is that it was built in the 1880s. I suspect it might be earlier than that.
Pelzer Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1896 with Gothic Revival influence. In 1905, the church added a two-story, five-sided building for Sunday school. The Sunday school design is inspired by the “Akron Plan,” which divided up the different Sunday school classes in an efficient manner. Many Protestant churches adopted it, but it fell out of favor in the early 1900s.
It was placed on the National Register in 1996.
The congregation was founded in 1868 by freedmen and women of Troup County, Georgia. Initially, they met under a bush arbor. The church was built in 1906. An active church, baptisms were held in the nearby creek until recently, according to this article in the LaGrange Daily News.
I believe the wooden structure is a school since the history of the church states their first church building was built at the turn of the century. It also resembles the many one room schoolhouses that dot Georgia’s landscape.
The cemetery contains a mixture of prefabricated and handmade markers. It also includes at least two Eldren Bailey markers.
I believe this marker was made in the likeness of the church.
There were several markers in the cemetery that a similar angel and crown motif.
This marker contains the addition of P, 8, and S to the crown and wings. I am uncertain what means.
This marker did not have a name, but I was intrigued that the star was on the front and back side of the marker.
This is one of the Eldren Bailey markers in the cemetery.
I took this photo in March 2023 during a downpour as I was heading to Statesboro for work. I assumed incorrectly that the home was being renovated because there was a dumpster to the right and the materials in the front yard. According to Brian Brown, the Lee House, as he identified it, was burned due to a controlled burn.
This beautiful old home is down a dirt road outside of Wrens, Georgia. At one point, there was a double porch on the front and one side of the house.
As of July 2023, this was dismantled.
I photographed this church in 2021, but it seems that it has collapsed based on Google Earth. The congregation was founded in 1878. I am uncertain when the church was built. While the church was in poor condition, I am surprised it collapsed so quickly. There are many churches who are still holding on by a string.
