Located next to Battle Smith Bridge, this metal bridge was once the only way to cross Murder Creek. It’s wholly engulfed by wisteria. If you decide to try to capture it during its brief time in bloom, I recommend photographing it in the morning light.
As a side note, Murder Creek supposedly did get its name from actual murders that happened there in the 1700s.
The Rock Eagle 4-H Center Chapel was completed June 16, 1955. It was part of the original Rock Eagle campus. Designed by Grady Smith, an architect with Cooper, Barrett, Skinner, Woodbury and Cooper, it was built using local rock and timber.
In February 2019, the chapel caught on fire. Ruled accidental, the interior of the church was gutted, but the stone walls were still standing. It was fully restored, and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the camp “Excellence in Preservation.”
Based on death dates and the church style, I would estimate this church was built around 1900.
I am unable to locate much information on the church. The cemetery is active with burials as recent as 2021. The names on most of the headstones were some version of Clements, Clemons, and Clemmons. Several of the headstones had impressions on the back of the headstones.
It’s rare to find an antebellum building still standing. While it will be dismantled, I am glad I had the opportunity to photograph this 1818 carriage factory.
On a rural road in Putnam County, Georgia, Alice Walker’s childhood home and church can be visited. While the house where she was born no longer stands, her family’s home is still standing.
Ward’s Chapel AME was built in the late 1800s. Thanks to a community effort the church has been restored in the last few years. This was Alice Walker’s church. Many of her ancestors, including her parents, rest in the cemetery across the road.
