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, 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.
If you have not seen the movie or read about Emmitt Till’s lynching, I highly recommend learning about this horrible story. .
Built in 1909, the Odessadale School sits next to the Mount Hebron Missionary Baptist Church. The school is the oldest school dedicated to educating Black schoolchildren standing in Meriwether County. It was open until 1955 when Georgia schools began to consolidate.
Also known as the Odessadale Elementary School, there is a focus to restore the school. More information can be found on the preservation committee’s Facebook page.
Located in Meriwether County, the Cane Creek Missionary Baptist Church is not far from Woodbury, Georgia. I have not located much on the church. Based on the death dates in the cemetery, the congregation has been around since the 1920s.
This Greek Revival home, built in 1850, is located near Andrews Crossroad in Meriwether County, Georgia. Unfortunately, I cannot locate additional information beyond what was provided on Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System.
This Meriwether County Rosenwald school sits just off the downtown area in Manchester. It was built as a five-teacher type school in 1928 for $13,600. The Fisk University Rosenwald database has a photo of it on their site.
