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Pane 2C -
SOMETHINGS ARE NOW
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
By A. W.
Dorsey
Special to The .j
Leader-Tribune
Before you
readers get
upset, this is
v m
not another
piece on the ■
Y2K bug nor
is it about the A. W. Dorsey
new Millen¬
nium that we have just entered.
This is about the past, about
where we were a few decades
ago and how things have
changed, and where we are
today.
I wish that we would have
thought about doing, this
before the time capsule was
sealed up, but in my old age, I
did not think of it until it was
too late. However, I hope I can
stir up in readers mind some
recollection of how Fort Valley
was 50 years ago. I realize
there are a lot of people who
will remember some of this,
but to some of the younger
readers, it will not make a lot
of sense to them. So, I say to
you young people, talk to some
of the mature people around
and they can tell you about
what I have mentioned here.
I will be doing this from my
personal observation and there¬
fore will have to use the per
sonal pronoun “I” a lot. When
the word “I” is used, it is not
meant in the bragging, sense
that people sometimes use.
Contrary to what some people
think, I was not here when we
went from 1K00 to 1900, but I
came into this world in 1936. I
have been around for a long
time and have seen things
change. My first memories of
l ort Valley came about 1944
Rededication Ceremony
Mt. Zion C.M.E. Church
0 In die year of our Lord, 1870 •
V group of Christian hearted people
'v* got together and organised of
> * one
our earliest churches. They felt the
St Jm, need of a place where they could
-
assemble together to worship God.
. This place was called M Bush Arbor.**
Later, a building erected and
given the name, through an
* unknown origin. Mount Zion CJH.E.
#...* Church. It was in Roberta, Crawford
County, Georgia that this church was
built. Written records were found
7 which dated back 1870. this lets
to
us know that Mt. Zion was erected
More 129 years ago.
.iM. —rm On March
19, 2000 at 2:30 p.m.,
Mt. Zion CJM.E. Church will be haw¬
■V ing a Rededication Ceremony. Mt.
Zion will be rededicating the church
X ■ back historical to the community. for Mu This Zion. will be
a event
There will be choirs from various
local churches marching in different
directions to Mu Zion followed by
the community and others that
would like to join. If your Church
During renovation or Choir want to participate in this
historical event, please call our pas¬
m? tor, Rev. Dr. Sidney L. Kendrick at
-v 912-825-4076. The Bishop, Rev.
4 Othal 1 akey and Presiding Elder,
Rev. Raymond D. Ford will lead the
procession into the church. Bishop
A Lakey will be the speaker as
well as rcdedicating the church
to the community and lay the cor¬
nerstone. The Mayor of Roberta,
-
Georgia is going to the
Chair
-4 will render the There will be
During renovation a big feast after the ceremony.
Following the osramon^ Mt Sion will host s
8v»(S) night Revival starting tin weak off
with Shiloh Baptist Church of Fart VsDnj,
SSK£s& III
CRS. Church of Fort VsBs^ flsoegts.
w«0 as tin Cfcy of Fort VsBsy to
toa st e d off Hwy. 96
E
»
Millennium Edmon, The Leaben-Tmhune, Januany 26, 2000
when it was time to enter the
first grade in school. I lived
then on Fairground Street or
what is now known as Com
mercial Heights. I don’t know
why it was called Fairground
because I can never remember
a fair on that street. To the
families who lived there, it was
commonly referred to as “Pos
sum Trot”.
The house where I spent the
first 10 years of my life was
spent was just across the street
from where the Wing Shack is
located today. In those days,
houses lined both sides of the
street. There were no business
establishments on that part of
town.
On the comer of East Church
and Fairground was a boarding
house where men who worked
on the railroad and at the cot¬
ton mill stayed. This boarding
house was owned by a family
named Pope. There were sever
al children in the family, but
the one I remember most was
the boy, J. I. Pope.
We were about the same age
and went to school together. It
was a long walk from there to
Everett Square to the elemen
tary school. Having to walk up
Church Street to the school we
got real familiar with cracks in
the sidewalks and it gave us
plenty of time to think up
pranks to play. I would like to
tell about a couple of the most
played ones that we did.
Across the street from the
boarding house was a park that
had high shrubs around it. We
would take an old billfold, clip
the comer of a play bill ($5 or
$10) and stick, it out the corner
of this wallet. We would then
tie fishing line to the wallet, go
across the street and hide.
When someone came along
and tried to pick this wallet
we would then jerk the
and, watch their facial
sion. We would also take
piece of old inner tube, cut
and coil it up like a snake
pull it across in front of
walking up the street, just
make them run. If boys did
today, they would be
ered, “socially unfit” and
“politically incorrect". But we
had fun.
The Popes are long gone and
so is the boarding house. Since
those days, it has been a huge
furniture store and now a Pawn
shop. There are a couple
buildings still standing on
Church Street now, that was
there back then. Where First
Liberty’s parking lot is now,
used to be a variety of stores,
both grocery and clothing
stores. The most unique store
was the fish market owned by
Maryanne Lavender Lashley’s
father. Most everybody went
there on the weekend to buy
fresh seafood brought in from
Florida. I can almost taste
some of it now. This was locat
ed at the back entrance of
Avera’s Drugs,
As we continue our trek down
memory lane,we go on west¬
ward toward the elementary
school, we cross what is now
Camellia Blvd. Back then it
was called simply Macon
Road . In the next block we
had two major grocery chain
stores. On the corner where
Mr. Adams has his law office
located, there was the biggest
grocery store in town. This was
the Colonial Stores and on the
other comer where Fox Valley
Printing is, stood the A. and P.
Tea Co.
Colonial Stores no longer
exists and A. and P. exists in
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Main Street in the early 1900s before paved streets.
some other sections of the
country, but not in Ga.
Between these food giants
were a variety of other stores
including Young’s. The rest
have all gone by the wayside,
The funeral home in Fort Val
ley was located in my early
days in the building that hous
es Fox Valley Printing. It was
owned by a Mr. McCord. I can
not be certain, but I believe the
Post Office was then in exis
tence in what is now the
Police Department. The Fire
Department was not located in
its present location until later,
More on the fire department
later,
From there on up to the
school, there were mainly resi
dences and of course the
Methodist Church has been
there a lot longer than I have
been around. The next stop on
the way was the school,
Notice. I said was. It no longer
exists, but I understand the
four brick columns left stand
ing will used as an exit to the
proposed park.
Some of the teachers that I
recall from those days are Miss
Emily Shepard, Ms. Boykin
and Ms. Nell Dover. Mrs.
Dover for those who were for
tunate to have, would make
you dust erasers on the side¬
walk if you were unlucky
enough to mess up in her class.
Leaving school, we would
walk back home on the other
side of the street. We would
pass the Methodist Church, the
courthouse. It was there, but I
cannot picture how it looked in
the early days. 1 do remember
the Public Library was on the
Central Avenue end of it and
that part of it was destroyed in
fire.
On our way from school, as
we entered downtown, we
went down the other side of the
street. The first person we
would encounter would be Mr
Butler, who had a small store
there. Almost every day he
would give us a piece of gum
of candy, so you ':now why we
went down that side.
In the vicinity of where
World Finance is now, Mr.
“Dud" Poole had a cafe, where
some of the best food in town
was served. Mr. "Dud" had
some of the best barbeque that
you ever put your teeth on.
Like so many other small town
cafes. Mr. “Dud's" place had a
long table in the back of the
restaurant where the movers
and shakers in town met to
drink coffee and thrash out the
problems of the world. When
we were kids, we could not
wait till we got old enough to
join those giants of the busi¬
ness world at the back table.
As we got to the only red
light in town in my early years,
at the intersection of Mam and
Macon Rd. (Camellia Blvd. ).
we were headed to the most
famous spot in town, the Can¬
dy kitchen. This place was
owned by Pete and Gus Wou¬
vis. They were Greek immi
grants who came to Fort Val
t
ley. We spoke of the Fire
Department and said we would
write more about it. The Candy
Kitchen was located in the last
building, before that is now the
parking lot on the end of East
Main iust before the railroad
tracks. The Winona Hotel
stood on what is now that park
ing lot. City Hall and the Fire
Department was right behind
the Candy Kitchen and the
Wouvis brothers were the Fire
Department. When a call
would come in, they would
leave the place, run out the
back door, and take the old fire
truck and go to the fire. Now,
if you were lucky, and caught
them gone, you could go in
and read all the comic books
and magazines you wanted to.
Just don’t get caught or you
would have to buy them,
Pete and Gus had the best hot
dogs anywhere, I don’t know
what their secret ingredient in
the sauce was, but no one has
been able to duplicate it or
even come close. You could eat
there for lunch, get two hot
dogs and milk shake for less
than a dollar. I spent many a
Saturday lunch there as later in
life. I would go to work at
Colonial Stores,
After spending either a nickel
or a dime, depending on what
we saved from our lunch mon
ey, we would head home. We
would cross Main Street to
Railroad Street, headed back to
East Church and home. On our
way we would pass the J. F.
Lowe Hardware store. Now
this store had everything you
could ever want. Guns, gro
ceries, gears for machinery. If
Mr. Lowe could not get or did
not have it in stock, you proba
bly did not have a need for it
It was in the building next to
Lowe’s store where the -
Shop is located, my
Woodrow Dorsey and
my uncle. Acie Roguemorc
and some more good people
started a little Mission Church
that has been the starting point
for several churches and a
bible camp in the middle Ga.
area. 1 can remember going
there when there would be only
10 or so people there. It lasted
and endured the test of time,
Maybe one day, after I retire. I
can write a history of what
came from that little Mission.
We have covered town from
East to West, let’s go back to
where Church Street crossed,
Macon Road, and go North and
In a one block area from
intersection there were five
serve service stations. They
your windshield,
the oil. filled the radia
vacuumed your car out.
at the battery while fill
your gas tank. A fill-up then
cost five dollars.
I can remember buying gas in
late 50’s for 10 and 15
a gallon.
Fort Valley at one time had
new car dealerships. Now
have none,
We had a Ford place that was
located where Valley Athletic
Club is located now. The
Chevrolet dealer was across
the street and the Pontiac deal
er was on the next corner.
About where McDonald’s is
located we had a Dodge-Ply
mouth-Dealer and down at
Five Points we had the Stude
baker dealer. All the other cars
are still around, but not like
the glory days. Studebaker had
two of the best looking cars
that was ever made to me..
(personal opinion). The Stude
baker Golend Hawk and the
Avanti.
Gone, but • would like to
think, not forgotten, is personal
service. I mentioned the ser
vice stations and what they did
when you drove into their lots,
I also mentioned about going
to work for Colonial Stores. 1
did. this when I was 13. Bv
this time, we had moved off
Fairground and into a house on
Belle Street. This house still
exists and every time 1 go by
there, I am reminded tf some
thing that happened there,
My job at Colonial was to
take customers' purchases to
their cars. These vehicles
might be parked at the court
house or up on East Main by
the Candy Kitchen, or might be
up North Main by the Chevro
let place or down South Macon
by the old bus station. No mat
ter the weather, we still had to
get customers' groceries to
their cars or their wagons,
(Yes. in my day, some still had
horse-drawn wagons),
One thing that 1 was recently
reminded of when going down
Belle Street was the time that I
got burned real bad. Even
though. I thought we had
moved up town, we still had
coal burning heaters, with
pipes that went into the chim
ney. If you have never seen one
these they get real hot and
where connected to another
pipe, they have ridges,
One morning when I was
about 13 or 14. getting ready
for school, I accidentally
backed into this pipe and got
burned really bad Instead of
taking me to our Doctor, my
parents took me to aim old lady
who they said could talk the
fire out of my back. I was
skeptical, but went anyway
Being a teen. 1 was afraid my
back would be scarred for life
This lady did what they said
she would do and to this day I
do not have a scar on my back
This type of treatment is gone
but not forgotten, at least not
by me
There is probably much more
that could be included in this,
but 1 don't know how much
room Mrs Whitehead will
to this,
I do hope that some of our
generation will learn
some of these things and
it on down for the genera
that come after them
Maybe in another edition, we
even come with more
not only in Fort Val
but Byron as well