Lisa Cooper s notes for the building at the southeast corner of Bowden and Church Streets for Brandon Thompson:

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Victoria Evangeline Merritt
5 years ago
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1 From: EHT/Lisa Cooper Subject: Notes/Images for your building Date: April 17, 2017 at 1:22 PM To: Here are the notes and attached images... Lisa Cooper s notes for the building at the southeast corner of Bowden and Church Streets for Brandon Thompson: From Douglasville s earliest days the building space at the southeast corner of Bowden and Broad Streets was known at Watson s General Store owned by John P. and Isaac M. Watson more than likely the building started out as a wooden structure, and the brick came later as profits were made. That is the general pattern of buildings in the historic district of Douglasville pre To date the earliest source I have something in that space is 1879 though I m sure it was built a bit earlier the time frame being The building was used in 1879 by Robert A Massey, an attorney who began The Weekly Star, the first known newspaper in Douglasville, that I know of so far. Massey has an interesting history in town as well as his father. Both have prominent places in my book Every Now and Then: The Amazing Stories of Douglas County, Vol. 1. Both men are listed in the index. Attorney Massey hired Charles O. Peavey to serve as the operator of the paper, and Peavey did so in a loud way constantly shaping the news to fit his political agenda and the agendas of his friends. Peavey was a temperance leader/anti-saloon league member, and was instrumental in getting prohibition voted in county-wide in Prior to that there were several saloons which encircled the courthouse square, which was basically u-shaped formed by Bowden, Factory, and Pray Streets. Factory was the earliest name for Church Street and Pray Street is today sometimes referred to as Courthouse Square West. Mentions of Peavey and the Saloon Era are in my book as well. Douglas County was one of the earliest Georgia Counties to vote to go dry during this period, and remained so through the Depression and beyond. In 1886, James S. James, attorney, Douglasville s first mayor, and booster of all things Douglasville coedited The Weekly Star, and by 1891 the voice of Douglasville became known as The New South. The Sanborn Fire maps for 1895, 1900, 1905, and 1911 all indicate the building was brick and marked with the words Furniture/General Store or just General Store, so at some point the wooden building was taken down and the brick structure was erected, or they simply bricked around it. A forensic architect/historian would be able to tell. In later years the bottom floor of the building was used as a car dealership with a garage building at the back, and as a dress shop for woman when Mr. Vandiver owned it. Sometimes people get your building mixed up with information regarding the Douglas County Sentinel. Your space housed the first newspapers being The Weekly Star and later The New South. The Douglas County Sentinel s first office was next door to your building immediately to the east. The Sentinel started there in Image explanations: BrandonThompson1: A smaller version of the Vandiver Dress Shop image you already have. See image 7 for a larger file.a huge file image. BrandonThompson2: Late 1940s/1950s taken on Broad Street at Price Avenue (O Neal Plaza). If you enlarge you can make your building out at the end of the block Painted white, it appears.

2 BrandonThompson3: In this cropped image you can see the lettering above Vandiver s Dress Shop.. John something? A mystery I want to solve. Perhaps the lettering is still visible underneath what is on the building now. BrandonThompson4: A view of the backside of your building.the street seen is Bowden. You can see the shed awning that wrapped around to the Broad Street side, too. It was there for many years. BrandonThompson5: A cropped version of a photo from the 1920s that shows the awning only..seen just to the east of your building is the Banks Brother store and the two-story building is the Hutcheson Building, today s Gumbeaux Restaurant. BrandonThompson6: Mr. JH Vandiver who owned the dress shop on the first floor of your building. My notes indicate he opened in March, 1933 and was in business for several years. BrandonThompson7: This is a large file of this particular image I used in my book Images of America Douglasville. Good for reproduction, etc.. Brandon Thompson8: <This image is out of order below...last on the list> This is a closely cropped image of your building in 1920s..notice the division between the first and second floor that is the tin (I think) shed awning over the sidewalk that existed on your building for several years. BrandonThompson9: Another glimpse of the buiding showing the tin awning over the sidewalk as well as awnings over the upper floor buildings.and the building is white painted white. BrandonThompson10: Not a great image, but you can see your building when it was a Dodge Plymouth business owned by CL (Lawton) Banks. I m also told that White s Auto Supply was located in your building from the 1960s through 1980s. Lisa Cooper Author - History Research - Curriculum Design LisaLandCooper.com

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