Category Archives: Historic Photos

Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and School-Pennick, Georgia

The Good Shepherd Episcopal Church and School are two buildings that remain of a historic Black community known as Pennick in Glynn County, Georgia. The school and church were founded by Deaconess Anna Alexander in the early 20th Century. Deaconess Alexander was the first Black deaconess in the Episcopal Church. in 1998, she was named a Saint of Georgia by the Diocese of Georgia.

The school building is one of my favorite schoolhouses. It is listed as a Place in Peril by The Georgia Trust of Historic Preservation.

Deaconess Alexander’s final resting place is in front of the schoolhouse.

Boggs Academy-Keysville, Georgia

Burke County

Boggs Academy, now the Boggs Rural Life Center, is a former boarding school that served the Black community of Keysville, Georgia. Founded in 1906 by the Board of Missions for Freedman, Presbyterian Church, it educated students in the grades 9 through 12. The reputation of the school grew, and it educated Black students from all over the country. Closing in 1984, it was the last remaining boarding school built for the education of Black youth.

The campus is quite large and some parts are being restored. These photos show only a few of the buildings in existence.

Boggs Dining Hall
Boggs Dining Hall
Classroom Building
Classroom Building
Classroom Building
Gymnasium
From the February 14, 1925 issue of The True Citizen

R. E. Ringer General Merchandise Store-Carroll County, Georgia

Built in 1927, the R. E. Ringer General Merchandise store is located south of Carrollton, Georgia. The store was owned by Richard E. and Etta Ringer. In 1933, it was documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey by the photographer Andy Hall. It was documented as an important example of a rural commercial building.

Historic American Buildings Survey photos courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Smithville School-Smithville, Georgia

The Smithville School opened in 1928 and stayed open until May 1955. It was a four-teacher-type school. Afterward, the building was converted into apartments. It now sits empty.

Image is from the 1976 Smithville Historical Committee’s Smithville, Georgia…a glimpse into the past.

Apalachee School-Apalachee, Georgia

The Apalachee School was built in 1911 to replace a small frame building (pictured below) that was built in 1890. The two-story school was in use from 1911-1951. The Georgian Revival structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

From the 1915 Educational Survey of Morgan County

Episcopal Church of the Redeemer-Greensboro, Georgia

Organized in 1863, the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer is the only Episcopal church in Greene County. The church building was designed and constructed in 1868 by J. O. Barnwell. It is an example of Gothic Revival architecture. The first rector was Joshua Knowles. He and his wife are next to the church building.

It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

1939 photo in the Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)