Tag Archives: Gay

A Foggy Cemetery in Meriwether County, Georgia

The Gay Family Cemetery is located in a field near Gay, Georgia, in Meriwether County. William F. Gay (1850-1916) was the area’s postmaster, and the town was incorporated and named after him in 1907.

Over the years, I have driven by the cemetery and wasn’t sure how to access it without trespassing. The early morning fog inspired me to pull over and photograph it from the road.

Gay, Georgia General Store Featured in the movie “Till”

Gay, Georgia, in Meriwether County, is located an hour South of Atlanta. The town’s population was 110 in the 2020 Census. Because of its proximity to Atlanta, it is one of the many Georgia towns benefiting from the Atlanta film industry.

This store was featured in the movie Till as the location where Emmitt Till met Carolyn Bryant at her family’s grocery store. While faded, the sign for the store can still be seen above the door.

Tax records indicate the store was built in 1965. Based on the style, it would seem this store is much older. The set designers did a remarkable job capturing the store from 1955. They even painted the CB Turner advertisement on the side of the building.

Note how much the Bryant’s and CB Turner signs are replicas of the original store.

If you have not seen the movie or read about Emmitt Till’s lynching, I highly recommend learning about this horrible story. .

2017 photo of Bryant’s Grocery in Money, Mississippi (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)