General

More Vanishing History

Many of you have read my blog post and subsequent mentions of The Old Church At Freeport.  Just as I saw that church many times before we decided to stop and photograph it, we have driven by many other historic structures without stopping to document their state of disrepair or renovation.

We’re almost always on a long road trip to see family and too anxious to get to our destination to take the time to stop for photographs.

This past weekend I was concerned enough about a deteriorating house that I rolled my window down and photographed the building as we slowly drove by.  It didn’t matter that the image was probably not going to be “fine art” since it was taken out of a moving vehicle and might be very blurry. The purpose was to document the structure before it was gone.

Brian Brown, a photographer who documents Georgia history was the only source of information on the house that I could find online.  Every other photograph with a description of the house was a copy of his research.

This is from a post on his site:

“Variously known locally as the Muse-Dews-Gay-Martin-Blaskow House, this structure, which has been enlarged and improved during its long history, was originally built by a Baptist minister known as “Uncle Tommy” Muse for use as the dormitory of the Baptist Female College of Southwest Georgia. The school was also known as the Cuthbert Female College. It operated until 1863 and was briefly reopened a few times into the 1870s. By the 1880s the property was given to the state and from then on was used for private residences.”

(https://vanishinggeorgia.com/category/cuthbert-ga/page/3/)

Besides two photographs of his own, Brian shared three other photos of the house when it was a home in the 1960s and 70s. Those photographs were sent to him by an occupant’s niece.

This building now has roof damage that looks like a large tree may have fallen on it or there may have been a fire in the second story perhaps.   It’s a fact that allowing water into the house will surely destroy it.

How could such a historical structure not have the backing of a city, county, state or other historical organization for preservation? 

I’m glad I captured this house in a photo when I did. Although we travel through that town an average of once a year, there is no guarantee that the building will be there the next time we drive by.   If that is the case I will not have to say, “I wish I had taken a photograph of that house when I had the chance.”

Remember that comments are always welcome!