Category Archives: Signs

-Georgia, National Register of Historic Places, Signs

Lula’s Kitchen of Sapelo Island

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Sapelo Island is one of my favorite places in Georgia. It’s mostly untouched, with fewer than 100 people living there. With so few people on the island, there aren’t restaurants, but there is Lula’s Kitchen.

Located in Hog Hammock, Lula Walker is the chef behind Lula’s Kitchen. She grew up on Sapelo Island as Lula Ward and later married George Walker. She now provides meals to visitors on the island. Meals are made by request before you arrive on the island.

On the recent Spring Ramble for the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, attendees were treated to a day trip to Sapelo Island, and were fortunate enough to enjoy Mrs. Walker’s food. Fried chicken, collards, mac-n-cheese, squash casserole, and homemade pies were part of the menu. After lunch was done, Mrs. Walker shared stories about her life on the island. She’s cooked for President Jimmy Carter and other dignitaries.

If you ever get the chance to visit Sapelo, I highly recommend ordering ahead for meals cooked by Lula herself. Your host for the island will be able to connect you with Lula or one of her staff members.

-Georgia, Signs

Ghost Signs of Sasser, Georgia

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Sasser, Georgia, has an approximate population of 250. It is situated along the Columbus Southern railway and had a population of 412 in 1930. The downtown area boasts a traditional main street thoroughfare seen in so many small towns. One building was once painted with an advertisement for Coca-Cola, and the other is Ballard’s Obelisk Flour, a Kentucky flour company that ceased operation in 1951. Their ghost signs persist today.

-Georgia, Signs, Theaters

Strand Theatre of Marietta, Georgia

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The Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, located in the heart of Marietta, Georgia, is an Art Deco gem that opened in 1935. Originally built as a movie palace by the Manning-Winks Theatre Company, the Strand is used for movies and the performing arts today. Manning-Winks was a theatre company that owned movie houses throughout north Georgia and eastern Tennessee.

The theater has a long history in the community. The first Strand was opened in 1914 on Atlanta Street, but like so many early buildings, it was lost to fire in 1929. The current location came to fruition after another fire damaged the buildings at this corner of Marietta Square.

The theater was used continuously until the early 2000s. It then fell into disrepair. Under the leadership of Earl and Rachel Smith, the theater was restored and reopened in 2009.

-Georgia, Signs

Coca-Cola Bottling Company-Albany, Georgia

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The Coca-Cola Bottling Company was built in 1940 in Albany, Georgia. It was active until the early 2000s. In 2010, the building was donated to Sherwood Baptist Church, which now uses it as a community center.

-Georgia, -North Carolina, -South Carolina, -Tennessee, Abandoned, Cemeteries, Famous People, Hotels and Motels, Houses, National Register of Historic Places, Signs, Stores, Vernacular Headstones

The Year in Review-Top Ten Posts of 2024

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Thank you for joining me in my travels around the South. It’s been a great year of wandering backroads and a few main ones. If I learned anything, it is that people love abandoned houses, buildings with unexpected histories, and (in)famous graves.

Cleveland DeLuxe Cottages-A Georgia Motel with a Connection to the Cabbage Patch Kids
The Grave of Moses Harshaw-The Story of “The Meanest Man Alive” in Clarkesville, Georgia
The Krispy Kreme of Spartanburg, South Carolina
Lone Oak Motel in Toccoa, Georgia was the Final Home of R&B singer Dee Clark
Briarcliff, The Mansion of Asa “Buddie” Candler Jr. In Atlanta, Georgia
The Graves of The McCrary Twins-World’s Largest Twins
The James and Lily Gaines House of Adairsville, Georgia
The William Knight House-The First Lustron Built in Georgia Still Stands Today
The Tent Graves of Stamps Cemetery in Putnam County, Tennessee
Coca-Cola Building of Spartanburg, South Carolina
-South Carolina, Signs, Stores

Coca-Cola Building of Spartanburg, South Carolina

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Spartanburg Coca-Cola began in 1902 in a building behind the Spartan Inn. The fourth and final building was opened in 1936. The Art Deco construction was designed by local noted architect James Frank Collins, who designed the Masonic Temple, Spartanburg General Hospital, and Wofford and Converse campuses. The building was in use until 2017. It then sat abandoned until 2023, when plans were made to save the building and turn it into a mixed-use facility.