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PAGE 10A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2010
OLD TIRE BARN DEMOLISHED IN BRASELTON
An old tire barn on Ga. Hwy. 53 — between a former gristmill and an existing interior
design business — was demolished last week in downtown Braselton. The building
was removed to make way for the realignment of Ga. Hwy. 124 at the intersection of
Ga. Hwy. 53. Material from the building will be used in restoration projects.
Braselton buildings in path of new
CHANGING SCENERY
A building that once housed a telephone exchange
company (left) will be relocated in downtown Braselton,
while a former tire barn (right) was demolished last
week for the realignment of Ga. Hwy. 124.
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
THE SLOWDOWN of curi
ous motorists was obvious for
anyone watching the destruc
tion unfold in downtown
Braselton.
Along Ga. Hwy. 53 —
between an old gristmill and
a former gas station that now
serves as an interior design busi
ness — cars slowed last week
to catch a glimpse of work
ers tearing down a decades-old
building.
And while the building
— believed to at least 50 years
old — may not have garnered
much attention from motorists
in the past, its final days were
an obvious downfall.
The reason for its removal?
It rests in the path of a new
realignment for Ga. Hwy. 124
through downtown Braselton.
The unnamed building
— commonly called a tire bam
— was a former tire business,
according to town manager
Jennifer Dees. The building,
however, had been unoccupied
for years.
For the roadway project,
Braselton contracted with a
Bostwick-based company that
tore down the building and
plans to reuse the materials for
restoration projects.
David W. Sheppard
Construction, LLC has already
done the same for two other
buildings in downtown and will
be responsible for relocating
another building in the area.
“They reuse everything,”
Dees said. “They reuse the
metal, the boards, the bricks
— everything.”
Braselton officials wanted
to keep any materials possible
from the buildings, Dees said.
The method is cheaper than
dumping the materials into a
landfill.
After finishing the removal of
the tire bam, the company will
focus on moving the town’s
former telephone exchange to a
new spot in downtown.
That project is expected to
start later this week, or possibly
next week — after a new foun
dation is ready.
The old telephone exchange
is located in a 524-square-foot
building behind the Braselton
Brothers Store, at the intersec
tion of Ga. Hwy. 53 and Wall
Street — also in the path of the
realignment of Ga. Hwy. 124.
“That’s where the operator
actually sat and transferred
calls,” Dees said.
The history of the telephone
exchange company starts in
Hoschton — where a group
of people began the business
in 1907 in a building in the
city square. Judge Richard B.
Russell, Winder, also had own
ership of the company in its
early days.
Russell later partnered with
Braselton’s founding brothers
— called the “3Bs,” who pur
chased half of the company in
1927.
In 1927, they moved the
Hoschton Telephone Company
to the building behind their
store in Braselton, according to
the book, “Treasured Memories
of The Braseltons.” The broth
ers purchased Russell’s shares
of the company in 1937 and
took over ownership.
The telephone exchange in
Braselton was largely operated
by Levie Holman, who worked
at its switchboard for 22 years.
Holman discussed some
of her job duties in an article
reprinted in the “Treasured
Memories of The Braseltons.”
“I’ve heard some very inter
esting things,” she said. “Of
course, I don’t care about the
business calls. The only thing
I was told, was that I could
Secretary of state to speak at Republican meeting
SECRETARY OF state Brian Kemp will The meeting will be held at 7:30 a.m.
be the guest speaker at the Jackson County on Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Jefferson
Republican Party meeting. Clubhouse.
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Boston Butt or Stew
The Jefferson FFA is selling smoked Boston Butts and Stew. Fully cooked
and ready to eat. The Boston Butts will have a precooked weight of 6-8 lbs.
They will be available for pickup at the Jefferson High
School Agricultural Department on Friday,
August 13 from 3PM until 6PM. If you are not
contacted by a Jefferson FFA member, you can
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The cost is $25 for a Boston Butt and
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All proceeds benefit Jefferson High School FFA
TELEPHONE EXCHANGE BUILDING TO BE MOVED
This small building at the intersection of Ga. Hwy. 53 and Wall Street, behind the
Braselton Brothers Store, will be relocated to another spot in downtown. It once
housed a telephone exchange company.
Photos by Kerri Testement
roadway demolished or relocated
not talk about what I heard,
but they never told me not to
listen.”
The spot for the old telephone
exchange will be on Ga. Hwy.
124 — near Harrison Street,
and next to a small creek. It will
be a short distance from a for
mer barbershop and an existing
gardening business.
Town officials will offer rent
al space in the old telephone
exchange - after it’s moved to
its new location.
“We’ve already got some
interest from people in town,
because we don’t have any
thing else in downtown that is
empty (to rent),” Dees said.
As for the realignment proj
ect, Mayor Bill Orr signed a
contract with the road com
pany on Tuesday, July 27, Dees
said.
The town is now waiting
for the Georgia Department
of Transportation to certify its
available rights-of-way, she
said. But before that can hap
pen, the buildings had to moved
out of the way for the realigned
state highway.
Town officials also had to
work with a state historian on
the project, since downtown
Braselton is on the National
Register of Historic Places.
David W. Sheppard
Construction removed an old
house on Ga. Hwy. 124 and
a former cotton warehouse
next to an old gin behind the
Braselton Brothers Store for
the project. Those buildings
were tom down in early July.
The town owns all of the
buildings that are being tom
down or relocated — after
developer Wayne Mason donat
ed the property to Braselton
in 2009 through one of his
companies, Braselton Ventures,
LLC.
Once completed, Ga. Hwy.
124 will be realigned behind
the Braselton Brothers Store
to create a new, safer intersec
tion at Ga. Hwy. 53. The proj
ect will also allow Braselton to
build a “town green” in front of
the store in the path of the exist
ing intersection.
Town officials further plan to
stabilize a former gristmill in
downtown before major con
struction starts on the Ga. Hwy.
124 realignment project.
Another project in Braselton
is also starting to show an
increasing amount of visible
changes in town.
Jackson County is clearing
land for its Zion Church Road
project — which will widen
and realign the road from Tom
White Road on Ga. Hwy. 124, to
an area near Jesse Cronic Road.
Construction on that project
is expected to be complete in
November or December 2011.
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