When Jimmy Carter left the Navy in 1953, he and Rosalynn Carter returned to live in Plains. Since they had no guaranteed income, they applied to live in public housing. Located at the corner of Paschal and Thomas Streets, they lived in public housing Unit 9A for the first year.
Founded in 1913, Archery sits on the Webster and Sumter county lines, not far from Plains, Georgia. A historic Black community, it was named for the Sublime Order of Archery, an AME Church relief fund that helped Black families. Bishop William Decker Johnson, Supreme Archer and organizer of the order, moved to the area to start a school and helped build the community.
The community had an AME church, school, and store. Twenty-seven families called Archery, Georgia home. Former President Jimmy Carter lived in Archery for a few years as a child. His boyhood home and family farm is just down the road between Archery and Plains.
Goodwill Parochial School was built in 1890 to educate Black schoolchildren in Sumter County, South Carolina. The Presbyterian Church, USA funded it until 1933. It was in use until 1960.
It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Another school funded by the Presbyterian Church was Boggs Academy in Keysville, Georgia.
Located on a dirt road near Livingston, Alabama is the Coatopa Church. Built in 1901, the church served the small community of Coatopa. It’s most famous resident was Kelly Mitchell, the gypsy queen. She died in Coatopa during childbirth but was buried in Mississippi.
When I first saw a photo of the church, I knew I needed to document it one day. If you visit, just do it post mosquito season.
The signs tell the stories. On the second level, there is the Masonic symbol. There is then the Ferguson sign which is now a ghost sign. I am assuming it was a dry goods store. Finally, it was a host to DiscoD’s, which I assume was a disco. I bet there are some stories to share there.
Designed by Louis H. Persley, the first Georgia-registered Black architect, the Romanesque Revival church was built in 1920. It is still an active congregation for the Americus community.
