The Log Cabin Community, also known as Springfield, did not have a store until the 1930s. The store was run as a community cooperative. It was also a community gathering spot. To the right of the store, once stood a cafeteria that fed schoolchildren who attended the school across the street. While built before the Rosenwald era, the school applied for and received additional funding from the Rosenwald Fund to improve upon and expand the school.
It is a contributing property to the Camilla-Zack Community Center Historic District.
Art Deco can be hard to find in more rural areas. This building started as the Swainsboro Ice & Fuel Company and has evolved over the years. It’s now storage.
Trew General Merchandise opened in 1890. Located on the Polk and McMinn County lines, the store was opened by John Wesley Trew. The store closed in 1996. The store stayed in the Trew family for its 106 years.
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Built in 1840 for the justice of the peace, William Wiggins, this is a rare brick hall and parlor home, especially for the area where timber was more plentiful. Wiggins purchased the land for $205 in April 1840. Benton, Tennessee, is the county seat of Polk County and was founded the same year the home was built.
Dr. J. D. Nuchols purchased the home in 1905. Until the 1920s, the home had a double porch with columns. The porch lines can still be seen between the first and second-floor windows. Nuchols used an attached commercial space as his medical office. It’s the oldest extant commercial building in the county.
The home is now a commercial space called “The Drug Store.”
It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
