Tag Archives: White County

-Georgia, Churches and Temples

Loudsville Campmeeting: Preserving Heritage, Faith, and Architecture in Georgia

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Camp meetings are annual events hosted by churches to bring community and faith together for a week-long series of Protestant worship. There are several theories on how this practice started, but one of the most widely supported beliefs is that these meetings emulated Scottish and English events celebrating communion season, a weeklong holy fair that would end with the Lord’s supper.

The practice of camp meetings is similar to tent revivals, but attendees would stay on-site for the week. Camp meetings occur throughout the United States, but most of them happen in the South. Their purpose was often to provide a place and time to worship for people who lived in areas without easy access to a church. It was also about building community. Claudia Delviney (2002) states, “The camp meeting provided a place to affirm one’s humanity, and to find meaning and order in the turmoil of pioneer existence. The Christian gospel preached at these revivals celebrated the worthiness of the individual soul amidst an environment that threatened human worth” (p. 27).

Camp meeting sites are an important example of vernacular architecture and “town” planning because they show the importance of building lodges close together, providing porches for neighborly discussions, and a central gathering place for attendees to gather. These architectural highlights can be seen in religious campgrounds around the South.

The Loudsville Campgrounds are across from the Loudsville United Methodist Church in White County, Georgia. White County has four of the state’s extant camp meeting sites. Since 1838, families have gathered for the annual camp meeting in Loudsville. Except during the Civil War, the Louisville Campmeeting happened every year. Before the Civil War, families would bring the people they enslaved with them, and they would participate separately from the white families in an area set aside for them to participate.

Like many campgrounds, these meeting sites evolved from brush arbors to tents to wooden or metal buildings. The Louisville site illustrates the evolution of these structures from more rudimentary one-story buildings to two-story buildings that often include porches. According to the Loudsville Campmeeting website, there are over 73 “tents” with the plan to add more. Their annual meeting happens every July.

This is the Google Earth view of the campground. The “tents” are built around the central place of worship.

References:

Deviney, C. (2002). From spirit to structure: A study of Georgia’s Historic Camp Meeting Grounds [Master’s Thesis, University of Georgia]. https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/deviney_claudia_h_200212_mhp.pdf

Glover, P. (n.d.). History of Loudsville Campmeeting. Loudsville Campmeeting. Retrieved July 21, 2024, from https://www.loudsvillecampmeeting.com/ldvlhist.htm

-Georgia, Black History, Churches and Temples

Bean Creek Missionary Baptist Church-White County, Georgia

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The Bean Creek Missionary Baptist Church is located in the Bean Creek Community. The community supposedly got its name when a man was riding along the creek when the sack of beans he was carrying burst open and landed in the water. The beans eventually took root.

JH Nichols donated one acre of land in 1863 to be used for worship. A log cabin that once stood across the street served as the first place of worship. The current church was built in 1955.

The Bean Creek Cemetery sits on the hill behind the current church structure. Burials date back to when the church was first founded. The cemetery and church are still active.

-Georgia, Hotels and Motels

Cleveland DeLuxe Cottages-A Georgia Motel with a Connection to the Cabbage Patch Kids

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On the northwest outskirts of Cleveland, Georgia, you will drive past a sign that says, “You just passed BabyLand.” When I passed the sign, I immediately looked to my right to see through the trees an abandoned building. The allure of an abandoned building and the possible former home of the Cabbage Patch Kids caused me to turn around immediately.

As someone who did not collect Cabbage Patch Dolls, I was unaware of what BabyLand looked like, but I was immediately perplexed by what the building was. It did not seem to be a place where baby dolls could be adopted. It turns out this mid-century modern building with its breezeblock window and octagonal bay windows started out as the Cleveland Deluxe Cottages.

An article in The New York Times about the filming of I’d Climb the Highest Mountain in the north Georgia mountains sent me to research more about the Cleveland DeLuxe Cottages. Grady Johnson (1950) writes that the population of White County doubled its population of 6,000 during filming. He shares, “Incidentally, these headquarters, the Cleveland DeLuxe Cottages, are a story in themselves–a $300,000 anomaly in the mountains built by reckless Grady Carpenter, who was lured back from Augusta to help save his home town [sic] from financial ruin.”

May 20, 1946 advertisement in The Atlanta Journal

So, why did the author state he was reckless? My guess is that it is because of Carpenter’s storied past. It seems Carpenter got himself into a bit of trouble in Augusta. In 1934, the feds shut down his business for illegally selling alcohol and not paying taxes. By 1942, he was in trouble again with the federal government. This time, Solicitor General George Hains was trying to tackle the issue of “the war-aggravated problem of venereal disease.” He was trying to close down Carpenter’s tourist camp, Big Oak, in Augusta, which he described as ‘the last word in an up-to-date lewd house’ (The Macon Telegraph). Judge A. L. Franklin called it a ‘filthy cesspool of indecency.’ Carpenter challenged the ruling to the Richmond Superior Court, but they supported the decision. In 1944, Grady Carpenter was fined $10,000 and sentenced to two years in prison for violating whiskey sale laws.

1955 aerial view of the Cleveland DeLuxe Cottages

By 1946, Carpenter seemed to be out of prison because the tax records indicate that the main building of the DeLuxe Cottage was built and opened. By the 1960s, it was named Holiday Manor and became a place for locals to eat and have a good time. The dance floor was situated on a sand bar in the middle of the Little Tesnatee River. In 1988, Xavier Roberts (Harman, 1988), the designer and owner of the Cabbage Patch doll empire and Cleveland native, purchased Holiday Manor and renamed it the Villagio di Montagna. Roberts restored the motel and created a resort with an Olympic-sized pool, jacuzzi, and other amenities. Supposedly, no clocks were on the premises so guests could focus on the ultimate getaway. I am uncertain when the Villagio closed. Comments I’ve received elsewhere on social media was that it closed in late 1996.

Image in the July 13, 1991, Atlanta Constitution

The land is still owned by Original Appalachian Works, the company owned by Xavier Roberts.

-Georgia, Abandoned, Churches and Temples

Unnamed Chapel-Mossy Creek, Georgia

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There’s limited information on this chapel. A historic resources report identifies it as a “historic chapel.” The home that is located near it was built in the 1890s. The lack of windows makes me think it could be Primitive Baptist.

-Georgia, Abandoned, Houses

Gabled Ell Farmhouse-White County, Georgia

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-Georgia, Cemeteries, Historic Photos, National Register of Historic Places

Historic Photos of the Sautee Nacoochee Indian Mound-Helen, Georgia

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For people familiar with the Sautee Nacoochee Indian Mound, they may not have seen the numerous photos from the dig. While I was familiar with the survey conducted of the mound in the early 1900s, I never thought to look at it until recently when I was trying to find information about a church in White County and stumbled across a pdf of the report.

I didn’t read the document fully, but some interesting information was in it. Dr. L. G. Hardman granted the archeologists permission for the dig only on the condition that they turned over any gold discovered to Hardman. Additionally, they could not complete the dig in 1915 and asked to return. Hardman refused to grant access to the land again.

Additionally, at least three feet had been removed from the mound that did contain skeletal remains. These were gone before the arrival of the researchers. No one could tell the researchers where the remains went.

Seventy-five skeletal remains were identified in the dig. The first set of remains was found approximately three feet down. Some, like the top photo, were found with different objects. This one is believed to have a pendant at its neck. The bottom photo shows a copper armband around the top part of the arm.

This is a drawing of the material layers in the mound.

Below are images of different items found in the mound. I am particularly intrigued by the “effigies” and the heads.

There are more images in the report. I highly suggest taking a look if you want to see more.