A dogtrot house consists of two rooms, one for living and sleeping. The other was used for cooking and dining. The large central breezeway would help circulate air during the hot summer months. The name dogtrot stuck because dogs (and other animals) could run through the open-air space with ease.
Created by artist Corey Barksdale, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument Park commemorates the speech that Dr. King made as a school boy in 1944 at the First African Baptist Church. It sits between the church and Dublin’s downtown. More info about the park can be read here.
Built in 1958, the Dudley Motel provided respite for Black travelers along US Highway 80 in Dublin, Georgia. The motel hosted such luminaries as Andrew Young and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Dudley family were prominent entrepreneurs in the community who developed not only the motel, but a cafe, gas station, mortuary, and cemetery for the African American community. For a thorough history on the family, and their history, please visit The Herbert “Hub” Dudley page. There are a lot of great photos there.
It was placed on the The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2023 Places in Peril.
I haven’t found much information on the church, but I love the archways and the towers. My favorite unexpected detail is the CME spelled out in the bricks at the top.
Clayton and Katie Dudley moved to Dublin from Cordele in the late 1800s. They started several businesses that provided goods and services to the Black community. This building started as a grocery store run by the family. Later they began the funeral home in this space as the C. D. Dudley & Son, Undertakers & Embalmers in 1922.
Herbert “Hub” Dudley was the son of Clayton and Katie Dudley, who started several businesses in Dudley. At the corner of Jackson and Truxton Streets, the family opened up a motel, gas station, and cafe to accommodate Black travelers.
Dudley opened up this space to provide food for the Black officers of the United Services Organization, hence the name “Retreat.” After the conclusion of World War II, Dudley continued to serve food, but now It was to the general public. Well-known acts such as Little Richard, Rosetta Tharpe, and James Brown stopped by the restaurant; sometimes, they entertained patrons. It was a full-service restaurant that offered such treats as fresh doughnuts, ice cream, and Coca-Cola.
