This is a wonderful tribute to the Irwinville Farms Project! Erin O’Quinn expertly blends archival photographs with the anthem of the Great Depression, Happy Days are Here Again, to set the context and has a great interview with Irwinville Farms resident Edward McIntyre. If you’re not familiar with Vanishing Media’s Irwinville Farms website, visit this link:
http://irwinvillega.wordpress.com/
or Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/irwinvillefarms
Historically known as Bone Pond, Crystal Lake was, at least from the late 1930s until its closure, a wildly popular rural recreation spot. It was originally known as Bone Pond, for Willis Bone, who ran a grist mill at the site. Bone has traditionally been vilified in local circles as a Union sympathizer because he harbored a runaway slave on his property, but his great-great-great grandson, Richard Thornton, sheds new light on the story: “His son was a soldier in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Bones were Creek Indians. Most Creeks did not believe in slavery and traditionally helped runaway slaves”. Thornton also dispelled the long-held local legend that Bone was a Yankee, noting his birthplace was Elbert County, Georgia.
It was historically a pond of normal size but a sinkhole reportedly swallowed the mill and filled the surrounding the area with water. In the recreational era, the water level was fed by numerous underground springs connected to the nearby Alapaha River It’s completely dried up today and is no longer open to the public.I’m not sure who owned it after Willis Bone, but Dr. W. L. Story of Ashburn owned it for a time. Mandy Bryant notes that her “grandfather, Leon Lewis, and Jehu Fletcher owned Crystal Lake for awhile in the 40′s and 50′s. My grandfather died in 1953 and at that time my mother (Athleen Lewis Harp) and her sister (Maudine Lewis Holden) bought Jehu Fletcher’s half. Then the three sisters sold the property.” The late A. N. Adcock, Jr., of Tifton. who was one of the greatest promoters of tourism in the region, was the owner who expanded and popularized the park. It is now used as a hunting club. The Adcock family has done a great job in regard to its general preservation, as the surrounding hammocks and scrublands are ecologically important habitats. I was fortunate enough to go riding in the woods at Crystal Lake with Mr. Adcock, along with my father and the late Milton Hopkins, in search of a rare bird whose identity I can no longer recall. It was probably around 1989 and even then, at the height of the park’s popularity, Mr. Adcock was deeply interested in preserving the natural history of this special place.
It was a big deal when the park closed, and apparently, it’s been sixteen years. There were times in the past when the lake was known to have dried up but it always naturally regenerated. I expect agricultural strains on the aquifer have rendered that impossible today.
At some point, as the park grew in popularity, the name was changed to Crystal Beach. I can remember a time when there was one of these bumper stickers on nearly every teenager’s vehicle in Ben Hill & Irwin Counties.
A large modern drive-through entrance gate was added in the 1990s. I remember the ticket booth pictured below.
This is the pavilion as it looked in the days when I was visiting Crystal Lake, from the 1970s to 1990s.
And here’s a postcard view of a smaller pavilion in the early 1960s.
And an anonymous snapshot of someone with a 1940s convertible, a “tame” wild boar, and the old wooden pavilion of an earlier era, probably 1930s-1950s. (This came from a Facebook page; I’d appreciate knowing more about it from whomever posted it).
As the postcard view indicates, there was nothing much on the beach in the 1960s, but by the 1970s and 1980s, growing crowds wanted more diverse things to do when spending the day.
I’m sure many people have memories of grilling hot dogs and hamburgers here.
Just past the picnic area and behind the pavilion was the real star attraction, the park’s first large waterslide. Derek Veal, who worked at the park as a teenager, reminded me that it was known as the “Slippery Dip”.
Other waterslides were added as the park expanded.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to see it one more time, but it is NOT publicly accessible nor do I have ability to get anyone access. Trespassing on the property is illegal and is watched closely.
For my first post on Crystal Lake:
http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2012/01/03/crystal-lake-irwin-county/
Aerial Views of Crystal Lake, 2008
My friend Browne Harper made these shots of the lake in 2008. I’m grateful to him for sharing them with Vanishing South Georgia.
This view shows water in the sinkhole; I didn’t see any when I visited.
Here’s a view of the pavilion and main beach, with the Slippery Dip waterslide in the right background.
This was a newer waterslide which I wasn’t familiar with.
The preceding three photographs are courtesy of Browne Harper. Please do not share them without proper credit to him.
Much of the land surrounding the upper reaches of the Alapaha River is characterized by sandy soils, dunes and scrub oaks. They’re most often encountered by hunters and fishermen but they’re a magnificent ecosystem, worthy of exploring when you can get access. Several endangered species call these scrublands home.
The Alapaha originates in southern Dooly County and flows southerly through or along the borders of Crisp, Wilcox, Turner, Ben Hill, Irwin, Tift, Berrien, Atkinson, Lanier, Lowndes, and Echols in Georgia and Hamilton County in Florida. The Willacoochee and Alapahoochee Rivers are its two main tributaries. It flows into the Suwanee River 1o miles south of Jasper, Florida.
Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is ubiquitous.
The remains of a weather-damaged oak lie beside the banks of a man-made canal near the river.
The Alapaha isn’t widely known beyond the counties it embraces except by a few kayakers and canoeists, yet it courses 202 miles from its headwaters to its confluence with the Suwanee. Its levels are increasingly strained by modern agricultural practices in a region considered to harbor some of the most productive farmland in the state. It’s particularly important to me as it’s where I first went fishing in a boat with my father as a very young boy. I may be foolish to think so, but I believe people who live near the river will always have a strong desire to protect it.
Set amongst stately old oaks and pines, this monument was placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1976 to honor the memory of two of Irwin County’s pioneer settlers and veterans of the American Revolution. Corporal James Griffin and Lieutenant Thomas Bradford lived and were buried near this site. Both families are still well-represented in the county today.
James Griffin was born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina in 1753. He enlisted in the Continental Army in 1776 and made the rank of corporal in 1777, seeing action at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Guilford Courthouse. After migrating first to Burke and then Montgomery counties with his wife Sarah Lodge (b. October 23, 1766, d. between August 22, 1853 and March 4, 1854) they finally settled in Irwin County in 1827.
His close friend for many years, Thomas Bradford, and Thomas’s wife are also buried here. I’ve been unable to locate further information on Lieutenant Bradford, but some of his children married into the family of Corporal Griffin.
The historical marker reads: This Historic Marker Erected by Descendants of Corporal James Griffin 1753-1836 and Lieutenant Thomas Bradford 1756-1840. These Revolutionary War Heroes were both Born in Edgecombe County, N. C. and their remains are near this site where they settled these lands in the early 1800’s.
There is more information on the genealogy here:
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15007997
This was last used by an African-American congregation. I am searching my archives for an older photograph which shows the sign, which is now gone.
This was among the first houses I photographed in Irwin County, nearly eight years ago when Vanishing South Georgia was just a concept. It was derelict then, but now simply awaits its certain fate.
The front porch roof was still attached in the image below, from four years ago:
This postcard from my collection dates to around 1960. I regret I never photographed this place, which was demolished some time before 2006.
Due to the overwhelming response of my first post about Crystal Lake a couple of months ago, I’m sharing these outtakes to round out the July 4th holiday weekend. I think it’s an appropriate tie-in considering that Charlie Daniels played a huge Independence Day concert here in the late 1970s and for many years it was a favorite summer destination for thousands of South Georgians.
The palm trees weren’t natural to the park, but they sure made it feel more like the beach. Of course, water slides were always the favorite attraction for young and old alike.
Lots of people have asked me about the Rampage, which was one of the most popular attractions at Crystal Lake. Here are two shots of this high-speed water slide, one from the lake bed and another from the front.
I believe there were several of these metal mushroom umbrellas on the pavilion side of the lake.
The area known as Varsity Beach was located on the far side of the lake.
It was more natural than the pavilion side and set in a nice stand of oak trees.
Many hope the lake will once again be a family destination, but at this time I think it’s highly unlikely.
Don’t forget to check out these images:
http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2014/04/10/crystal-lake-irwin-county-2/
I take this place for granted since I see it almost every time I visit my home in Fitzgerald, but it’s a real landmark. If you’re in the area, drive down the hill from Holt toward Ocilla on Georgia Highway 32 to Hutto’s Bar-B-Que (Tony Hutto owns this old store, as well) for some of the best barbeque in South Georgia.
I’ve photographed this old country store and the Volkswagens often parked nearby since the earliest days of Vanishing South Georgia. This photograph is from my archives, dating to circa 2010.
These photographs are from a postcard dating to the late 1980s and show Crystal Lake at the height of its popularity.
Cutoff denim shorts were a common sight on the beach at the time.
The lake was always popular, but when features like the Slippery Dip waterslide (below) were added, the park took on a new dimension of popularity.
For images of the site today:
http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/2014/04/10/crystal-lake-irwin-county-2/
Places like this are one of the greatest things about life in the rural South.
Jane Tucker Gentry has made it her personal mission to keep Jefferson Davis Historic Site alive and well. She’s been able to do this despite a general lack of interest by most local politicians. I caught up with her at the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the capture of Jefferson Davis. The festivities included a Chasing Jefferson Davis Marathon, day-long re-enactments, free tours of the museum, as well as local food and craft vendors. Jane even did most of the baking herself. The event was capped off by a late afternoon showing of Gone with the Wind on the museum grounds.
Members of the local SCV encampment were on hand, as well as other supporters from all over Georgia.
November 2008
The photograph above has come to be my favorite of the many I’ve made of Henry Land’s Grocery over the years. My earliest photographs of the store were made when the Coca-Cola sign was still hanging on the front door and not long after the Colonial Bread (or Sunbeam) screen doors had been removed.The community around the store, known as Lands Crossing (incorrectly identified on most maps as Lands Crossroads), has always been focused on farming and the country life and Henry Land was its beloved ambassador, a local figure who kept his community alive by keeping this store open as long as he was physically able to do so. A note from Gary McDaniel (son of Joy McDaniel, author of the wonderful book Irwinville Farms Project: The Making of a Community) in November 2008 sums up the place and the man: …in the 60’s, I would visit my grandparents nearby and my cousins and I would walk to Land’s Crossing and get an orange Ne-hi and a pack of peanuts from the grocery store. Henry Land was a gentle and nice man. It’s been closed for a generation now, but remains a local landmark and the anchor of many good memories.
Summer 2005
March 2010
In April 2010, J. W. Howell wrote: – Back in the 60’s I used to live about 3 miles from Land’s Crossing. Mr. Land who owned the grocery store wqs a fine man. I stopped in many a time for a Coke. There was another store across the intersection from his store, owned by Mr. George Clements. This was a great community where everybody knew everybody and everyone was a friend. I miss those days when life was so simple.
March 2010
The photograph above shows the Lands Crossing Precinct House to the left of the store, which was saved by Rex Johnson and removed to his property. You’ll notice its absence in the final two images. In October 2010, Donya Land wrote this note, which gives a good idea of when the store was given its new look: Henry Land was my great grandpa. I drive by the store every time I go to visit my family, and if Im not mistaken the store is getting a couple coats of paint as of a few days ago! This was around the time the old name plates from the Coca-Cola sign were removed and replaced with these stenciled versions, painted on wood.
June 2011
December 2013
It may look a bit different, but it’s still the heart of a community.
This house is being deconstructed. Below is a view from seven years ago. For years, it’s been a landmark in my travels around home.
A few years ago, when I was photographing this old Valiant and the house nearby, these dogs came up to check me out. They turned out to be very friendly.
Grier & Biggers, Architects – McCowan Brothers, Builders
G. Morgan Copland was the first Principal. Members of the Board of Trustees were: J. B. Morgan, Chairman; John M. Willis, Secretary-Treasurer; M. G. Hogan; Warren Fletcher; and W. A. York. It has since served as the home of Irwin Academy and Grace Christian Academy. Mr. Foster Goolsby served for many years as headmaster of Irwin Academy.
This was made between Holt and Lax, on Holt Road, one of the most scenic drives in Irwin County.
Built after the Civil War (likely 1870s) by 1st Lieutenant Reuben Walton Clements (1836-1899), this plantation house remains one of Irwinville’s most prominent landmarks. Clements was commissioned 1st Lieutenant of the Irwin Volunteers, Company F, 49th Regiment of Georgia Infantry on 4 March 1862 . Though he resigned on 30 July 1862 due to measles, he re-enlisted as a private in Company H, 4th Regiment of Georgia Cavalry (Clinch’s,) on 2 March 1863 . He surrendered at Tallahassee on 10 May 1865. [Ironically, this was the same day Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured by Union troops on nearby property also owned by Clements. That property today is home to Jefferson Davis Historic Site] R. W. Clements’ son, James Bagley (Jim) Clements, resided here for many years. He was the author of History of Irwin County (Atlanta, Foote & Davies, 1932). Clements was a member of the Irwin County school board, an appointed and elected judge, and subsequently served in the Georgia Houses of Representatives and the Georgia State Senate.
