Tag Archives: Cherokee County

-South Carolina, Abandoned, Black History, Churches and Temples

The Ruins of Wesley Chapel ME Church in Wilkinsville, South Carolina

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I don’t remember how I found out about this church, but it’s been on my list for a while to photograph. I finally got the chance to do so this past weekend.

Located in Cherokee County, South Carolina, the Wesley Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church is right at the crossroads of Wilkinsville, a town of approximately 700 people. Wilkinsville is southeast of Gaffney. For those unfamiliar with Gaffney, it’s the town with the big peach butt in the sky off of I-85.

Often when I am researching the history of a place that isn’t well known, I am uncovering a lot of details through news articles and, for churches and cemeteries, obituaries. I must commend the research of Tom Taylor at Random Connections. He did a remarkable deep dive into the history of the Wesley ME Church. If you want in-depth research, please head to his site.

In a nutshell, the congregation was formed in 1915. The stone structure was built in the 1940s after a storm damaged the previous building. While the cemetery is still active and well-maintained, the church closed by 1970.

Wesley Chapel Methodist Church
Wilkinsville SC Nov 15, 1943
Willie Edward Corry, School Teacher
Architect And Builder
Directors
Levi Garrett, A. C. Corry, James Love,
G. Dewey Harris
Workers
Jossie Love, Ressie Rodgers, Addie Corry
Strossie Mae Harris
Treasure
John Davis, Beatrice Jefferies
Secteary
Vestor Harris, Ninnie Hambright
Geo W. Davis, Emily Davis

Image from the September 1, 1971 photo spread on Wilkinsville in The Gaffney Ledger
-Georgia, National Register of Historic Places, Stores

The Jones Mercantile Building of Canton, Georgia

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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.

Image from Empire; Georgia today in photographs and paragraphs, compiled and edited by Emily Woodward
Image from Empire; Georgia today in photographs and paragraphs, compiled and edited by Emily Woodward
Ad in The Cherokee Advance (January 12, 1917)
-Alabama, Abandoned, Churches and Temples

Wright Will Church-Farill Community

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I cannot locate the history of the church on Pig Trail Road in Cherokee County, Alabama. There are some newspaper mentions of revivals, but that is it. If you have any info on the church, please let me know.

-Alabama, Churches and Temples

Unidentified Church-Cherokee County, Alabama

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This church sits in Alabama near the Georgia border. Tax records did not provide any information on the identity of the church.

-Georgia, Houses

Harmon House-Waleska, Georgia

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Built circa 1885, the George Harmon House is a vernacular Gothic Revival home.

-Georgia, Cemeteries

Epitaphs that tell a story

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Five family members lost their lives in a fire when gasoline the father was pouring into another container was too close to open flame. The Cochran family members are laid to rest in the Mica Baptist Church in Cherokee County, Georgia.

The Victorians used symbolism to discuss death. From heavenly hands reaching down to earth to wilted flowers, the use of words was rarely utilized to discuss the tragedy of death. Sometimes seen prior to 1900, there was a slight change in the 1900s where the manner of death was permanently shared as part of an epitaph. While not a frequent find, I admit these epitaphs always leaving me wanting to know more.

Brothers Charles and Walter McGuire drowned when their boat capsized in Thunderbolt. While it is hard to see, their names are at the top of the monument. They are laid to rest with their parents in Catholic Cemetery in Savannah.
Millard Chalker, a Gibson, Georgia business owner, was ambushed by a bandit. He was killed for the money in his pocket. He is laid to rest in Gibson City Cemetery in Glascock County, Georgia.
I was unable to find a newspaper article about Samuel’s death, but the epitaph let’s us know he drowned during the summer. His marker can be found in the Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens, Georgia.