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A Prosperous Beginning For Flovilla
By Dale Whiten
“Nothing but the dead of.,
night back in my little
town... ” So go the words to
the popular Simon and
Garfunkle song.
And if you ride along the
main street in the small
Butts County town of Flovilla
late on a Friday evening,
you’re not likely to see or
hear much more than the
dead of night—maybe the
sound of an occasional
tractor trailer rig on U. S. 23
about a quarter-mile away.
It’s not that the stores and
businesses are closed for the
weekend. They’ve been
closed for 54 years, since the
most illustrious chapter in
the history of Flovilla came
to an end.
There were few businesses
that hung on after the
disastrous fire of 1923 that
practically wiped out the
business district—the only
general store left closed in
1965 with the death of the
owner, E. R. Edwards, and
today there’s an upholstery
store, Burpee’s radio shop,
the post office and the city
hall.
But if you go back before
the fire and imagine you’re
walking along the main
street of this tiny community
tucked away in the south
eastern corner of the county,
you’re likely to hear again
the swearing and hearty
FLOVILLA’S PHARMACY—Dr. W. J. Waits was one of two druggists in Flovilla who
operated successful businesses before the fire in 1923. Besides the usual pharmaceutical
needs, Dr. Waits also advertised the popular delight of ice cream. Barely legible is the
“Ice Cream—lo cents” sign to the left of the door to the drug store. In the picture (1-r) are
Walker Preston, Claude Bryant, Dr. Waits and Rose Grier.
II
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NEW THIRST QUENCHER—Inside the beautifully designed and well-stocked store of
Dr. Waits, Claude Bryant mixes the new popular drink of soda water for a customer.
Notice in the mirrors above Bryant the reflection of shelves lined with pharmacy needs,
the two oil-burning lamps in the mirror on the left, and the straws with which to sip the cool
soda water at the right of the counter.
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot and ne'er brought to mind”. Flovilla and
Indian Springs Railroad 1887-19 IR
laughter of farmers from
Jasper, Monroe and parts of
Butts County who, about the
turn of the century, made
Flovilla one of their major
stops for selling and trading
their products.
Or you might hear again
the ringing sound of the
blacksmith’s hammer
against the anvil—there were
two blacksmith shops in
Flovilla. Or the jingling of
horse reins in one of the
several livery stables that
had teams of horses for hire.
Yes, Flovilla was a
bustling town—a rival to its
more famous sister cities of
Indian Springs and Jackson.
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARCUS, JACKSON, GEORGIA
During the late 1800 sand
early 1900s, if you were one of
the many Saturday shoppers
in Flovilla, you could
transact practically all your
business at the string of
stores and businesses lining
Heard Street.
Take your pick of the
banks—The Bank of Flovilla
owned by Frank S. Etheridge
or the W. B. Dozier Bank.
In addition, there were
several mercantile business
es—R. L. Allen Trading
Company, Lawson’s Millin
ery, Smith’s General Mer
chandise, the “up-to-date”
Partridge mercantile store
and the R. L. Allen
department store, among
several other places of
business.
Business at warehouses,
gins, the furniture store, post
office or city hall may have
taken some of your time
before you wound up at Dr.
W. J. Waits' drug store lunch
stand for lunch or at Dr. A. F.
White’s drug store to sip on
that new and exciting drink,
“soda water,” or to cool off a
bit with the latest taste
treat—ice cream.
Yes, business was lively
and good and every time the
Southern’s whistle signaled
the approach of another
train, the merchants were
probably reminded the rail
road was probably the single
most important link Flovilla
had to prosperity and
growth.
Flovilla grew up along the
East Tennessee and Virginia
Railroad which was com
pleted during the early 1880s
and connected Macon and
Atlanta.
This was a time w-hen the
American South was slowly
beginning to emerge from
the worst years of Recon
struction. and had it not been
for outstanding community
leaders like Captain W. F.
Smith, there might never
have been a thriving town of
Flovilla.
It was Captain Smith who
rode horseback from Atlanta
to Macon in an effort to get
the railroad, which later
became the Southern, to go
through Butts County and
Flovilla. And with the
coming of the rail, the
short-lived “golden era" of
Flovilla had begun.
During its early years, the
community went through a
succession of name changes.
It was first called East End
and later Heard's Station for
its noted citizen, Captain J.
W. Heard. At one time, it was
also called East Indian
Springs. The name waS
changed to Flovilla, “villa of
flowers.” in 1886.
In addition to the railroad,
it was the proximity to the
famous spa and tourist
center of Indian Springs that,
doubtless. spurred the
growth of Flovilla.
Tourists flocked to Indian
Springs by the hundreds
during the summer months,
and they usually came on
passenger trains from the
neighboring cities of Macon
and Atlanta. Therefore the
first stop in Butts County was
Flovilla.
A. F. White, native of
Flovilla whose father was
Dr. A. F. White, says that
during the height of the
tourist season, usually the
month of August, Southern
operated excursions to Flo
villa. The price of a round
trip ticket from Atlanta—
sl.2s.
However, if you arrived in
PHOTO SPECIAL
FREE 5X7
With Each Color Roll Left For
Developing and Printing.
Offer Expires 8-31-77
JACKSON DRUG
JACKSON, GA.
Ad Must Accompany Order
Flovilla by rail, transporta
tion for the additional two
miles to Indian Springs
might have posed problems if
all the teams of horses at the
livery stables had been
rented.
That’s why five Flovilla
businessmen, one of whom
was Captain Smith, pur
chased Atlanta’s steam rail
way system in the mid 1880s
after that city converted to
an electrical streetcar sys
tem.
The tracks were laid
rapidly and the line became
the Flovilla-Indian Springs
Railway. According to an
early edition of the Progress-
Argus, the newly formed
railway came into being
“because of a need to
transport passengers from
Flovilla, on the main line of
the Southern, to Indian
Springs, one of the most
popular watering places and
spas in the Southeast.”
It wasn’t long until the line
became popularly known as
“the Dummy.” Several
times a day, it would make
the trip between Flovilla and
Indian Springs with over
flowing crowds which occa
sionally included many digni
taries such as Senator Walter
F. George or Governor Cliff
Walker, both of whom were
regular seasonal visitors to
Butts County.
The Dummy had two
engines and six passenger
cars and was quite a
profitable business enter
prise until anew era in
transportation that was to be
the wave of the future caused
a decline in rail passengers.
It was the dawn of the
automobile and it came to
Flovilla about the time of
World War I. In fact, in 1912,
two years before the war
began, Dr. White. Dr. R. Bob
Thompson and Mrs. Ed
Lawson were the first
citizens of Flovilla to invest
in the “horseless carriage.”
As the automobile came
into wider and wider use, the
death knell for the Flovilla-
Indian Springs Railroad was
sounded and in 1918 its
engines were sold to the U. S.
Government. During the
closing months of the war,
one of the engines was used
in France to carry supplies to
the front.
However, it wasn't the
disappearance of the Dum
my that brought about the
demise of Flovilla's prosper
ity. and after the war, which
probably remained primar
ily a distant European affair
for most residents of Flo
villa, the town continued to
prosper.
It prospered until that
tragic day in January of 1923.
“The Great Flovilla Fire"
later.
STATE PATROL BEGINS
SCHOOL BUS INSPECTION
A sure sign that the
summer vacation season is
on the wane became evident
today when a 50-man force of
State Troopers spread out
over the state to begin annual
inspection of the state's more
than 6.000 public and private
school buses in anticipation
of the upcoming school year.
Georgia Public Safety
Commissioner Col. Herman
Cofer said any buses found
not meeting minimum safety
standards during the first
couple of weeks would be
checked again before the
school year starts to give
mechanics an opportunity to
correct the deficiencies.
THURSDAY. JULY 2S. 1977.
SOUTHERN DEPOT—The thousands of tourists flocking to Indian Springs during the
summer months arrived first in Butts County at the Southern depot in Flovilla. Located
near Ho Doe Crossing, this depot replaced the first one built when the railroad was
completed in the early 1880s. The depot was torn down in the mid 19605.
Kiwanis Hears
Report From
Scout Troop
Memoers of the Jackson
Kiwanis Club, loyal support
ers of the Scouting move
ment in Butts County for
years, heard a report from
Scoutmaster Harvey Hall, of
Troop 89, B.S.A.
The newer Boy Scout Troop
is making substantial pro
gress, Hall reported. Troop
strength is now up to about 20
boys, two of whom are
almost qualified to earn their
Eagle rank.
The Troop meets regularly
on Thursday evenings and. in
addition to continuing work
on merit badges, the boys
have enjoyed several camp
ing trips, a week at Camp
Thunder, and trout fishing in
the North Georgia Moun
tains.
Hall praised the Van
Deventer Youth Foundation
for its contribution which
helped provide tents, cooking
equipment and other camp
ing supplies needed by the
Troop.
Kevin Quinn is Assistant
Scoutmaster of Troop 89.
Among the Scouts accom
panying Scoutmaster Hall to
the civic club meeting were
Bobby Green. Lamar Per
kins. John Hall and Keith
Briggs.
The Covington Kiwanis
Club held an inter-club
meeting and representing
that Club were Bill Dickey,
John Lovern, Sam Hay and
Mei Waggoner.
Lindsey Powell was also
welcomed as a guest at the
July 19th meeting of the
Jackson Kiwanis Club.
CARD OF THANKS
I wish to thank everyone
for being so nice to me during
my recent stay in Sylvan
Grove Hospital and since
returning home. Every deed
of thoughtfulness is appreci
ated.—Lillie J. Godsey.
The Furniture Shop
123 N. Hill St., Downtown Griffin
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
Entire Stock is Included
FINAL REDUCTION BEGINS
MONDAY, AUGUST IST
Until All Stock Is LIQUIDATED
No Reasonable Offer Refused
Don't Wait - Choose from Our Selection Of
Famous Brand Name Home Furnishings And Appliances
Priced To Move -
Most Prices Below Wholesale
All New •
First Quality Merchandise
All items on a first
come basis.
Delivery will be
ovoilable at o nominal
fee. Subject to scheduling.
Budget financing will
be available.
All merchandise with
full warranty.
PACAA To
End Its Week
With Banquet
The Piedmont Area Com
munity Action Agency is
celebrating "Community Ac
tion Week" during the week
of July 24. The major activity
w ill be the annual banquet to
be held Thursday night. July
-28. at the First Baptist
Church, w ith William "Sonny
Walker, as guest speaker.
“Sonny" Walker is the
Region IV Director of the
Community Services Admin
istration. In that capacity, he
has jurisdiction over the
eight southeastern states.
Walker, who spoke at last
years PACAA banquet, is the
recipient of four honorary
doctorate degrees and is an
honorary citizen of over 50
cities throughout the south
eastern states.
As Regional Director, he
provides direction to a
federal staff of 100 persons in
the Community Service Ad
ministration Regional Office
in Atlanta, which supports
the w ork of over 250 state and
local agencies employing
more than 37.357 persons.
At press time, several
mayors, from the eight
county area served by
PACAA, have signed procla
mations designating the
week of July 24 as "Piedmont
FRIDAY THRU THURSDAY
AIRPORT ’77
Shows: 7:30 and 9:30 P.M.
Hillcrest Cinema
JACKSON, GA.
The Furniture Shop
Convenient Credit Available
227-4600 123 N. Hill St.
Area Community Action
Week."
PACAA. a social service
agency, operates the follow
ing programs: CETA (Man
power*. Family Planning,
Nutrition for the Elderly,
Head Start, Winterization.
Crisis Intervention, Summer
Feeding. Summer Recrea
tion. Cultural Enrichment.
Summer Reading and a
tutorial program.
Fri., Sat,, & Sun,
v KX) Proof Women
Runnin Shine
Cross The
County Line!
SUSAN HOWARD VV i UJAM _ C§NRAD
MAUREEN McCORMICK
PG^
JACKSON
DRIVE-IN
Show starts at dusk