Tag Archives: Endangered Places of Coastal Georgia
Ronster Johnson House, Sapelo Island
Penny Butler Rossiter writes: This was the home of Ronster Johnson (1913-1994). It is in Johnson Hammock. He was the famous “storyteller” of Sapelo Island. Hopefully it will be restored one day. It is a “supporting structure” in Hog Hammock and is on The National Register.
Hog Hammock Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Filed under -MCINTOSH COUNTY, Hog Hammock GA, Sapelo Island GA
Glynn Ice Company Ruins, 1920, Brunswick
R. C. Baumgartner established the Glynn Ice Company in 1903. It was first located on Grant Street, then Newcastle. With an output of 75 tons per day, it was one of the most successful businesses in Brunswick. Baumgartner sold it to F. D. M. Strachan in 1912, and it was relocated here in 1920. Coal delivery was added to the business at that time. F. D. Aiken purchased the ice company in 1930 and changed the name to Glynn Ice & Coal Company. Modern appliances put an end to the day-to-day delivery of ice by the end of World War II, but bulk customers such as shrimpers and other fishermen kept the business afloat. The business closed permanently in 1982 and the building fell into ruin. It was scheduled for demolition by the city but in 2001, Keith Missildine, a Brunswick native with preservation experience, successfully petitioned the city to purchase and restore the property. One structure was saved and restored as a residence, and the remainder was stabilized, as seen today. I’m unsure what has come of plans to restore the building as office space, but at least it has survived with some of its original character intact.
Thanks to Kristen Knost for sharing her photographs and the location on the Vanishing Georgia Facebook group.
Brunswick Old Town Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Filed under -GLYNN COUNTY, Brunswick GA
Walthourville International F & AM OES Johnson Lodge No. 37
Donated and built by John Walt, this was the meeting place of the International Free & Accepted Masons and Order of the Eastern Star, known as Johnson Lodge No. 37. It was an African-American lodge. A list of Walthourville’s historic resources in the most recent Liberty County Joint Comprehensive Plan dates it to circa 1845, but I believe this to be an error. If it was originally a white lodge, it could date to the antebellum era, but the style of construction doesn’t support that date. Furthermore, its African-American association precludes that date as such organizations and gathering places for blacks were illegal at the time. My guess is that it was built in the late 1800s. Whatever its history, it’s an important landmark and should be preserved.
Filed under -LIBERTY COUNTY, Walthourville GA
