The Jones Mercantile Company was founded by Robert Tyre Jones (golfer Bobby Jones’s grandfather). The store opened in 1879 and was expanded in 1914 and 1921. The store was so successful that more mercantiles were opened in north Georgia.
The DeSoto Theatre, which opened on August 5, 1929, was the first Southern theater built for “talkies.” Designed by O.C. Lam and modeled after the Roxy Theatre in New York, it featured modern amenities at a cost of over $100,000. After closing as a cinema in 1982, Rome Little Theatre transformed the space into a performance venue by adding a stage, orchestra pit, and new seating. In 2008, the Historic DeSoto Theatre Foundation was established, and the theater was deeded to the Foundation to preserve and maintain the historic building.
Stranger Things fans will recognize this as The Creel House, but its real name is The Claremont House. Located in Rome, Georgia, the Claremont House was built in 1882. The Second Empire home with Gothic Revival elements was constructed for Hamilton Yancey, a prominent local attorney and businessman, and his wife, Florence.
For more photos, visit The Old House Life’s post on the home.
Albany, Georgia, is home to the state’s largest remaining Lustrons. There are eight homes, all in the M02 style. According to The Macon Telegraph, Tom Malone and Deming Whiting erected the first Lustron in Albany, Georgia, in May 1949. The home was shipped from the Columbus, Georgia Lustron Corporation.
The Albany homes are within a mile or so of each other. All but one are lived in or used as a business. Some have been modified, but the hallmark tripartite windows can be seen in all homes.
By using the Albany phone directory, I determined who the original owners were of each home. Their names are under each image with the original color.
Most people know that Martin Luther King, Jr. Was first buried in South-View Cemetery in Southwest Atlanta and then The King Center. He was entombed into four different crypts over time.
After his murder on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, the King family and the city of Atlanta quickly got ready for his funeral. On April 9th, his first crypt was used at South-view Cemetery. The crypt was created by the Roberts-Shields Memorial Company.
After King’s death, Coretta Scott King immediately envisioned and founded The King Center. Land was identified and King was relocated on January 14, 1970. A new crypt was built by the same company.
The permanent dais was built in 1976 and the third crypt was constructed. Like the others, it was built out of Georgia marble.
When Coretta Scott King passed away in 2006, the Robert-Shields Memorial Company made the final double crypt.
Credit to Liz Clappin for providing the information on the Roberts-Shields Memorial Company.
In Americus, Georgia, there is one extant Lustron House. There are less than 20 remaining in the state. Lustrons are prefabricated metal houses designed by Carl Strandlund. In 1946, the federal government provided $15 million in emergency loans to help build new homes for returning GIs from World War II. Strandlund purchased a factory in Columbus, OH, and later secured an additional $25 million in loans. Despite producing around 3,000 Lustrons, the federal government repossessed the company in February 1950, and Strandlund was forced to declare bankruptcy later that year.
