A project site documenting abandoned buildings throughout Georgia

Sparta, Ga in Hancock County

This week’s blog post is on a town that is near and dear to me as someone who comes from a large family of small business owners. Sparta, Ga is located in Hancock County and is actually the county seat. In the early 1800s Sparta and Hancock County were the cotton capital of the world. They remained at the top of the cotton crop world up until after World War I when the boll weevil epidemic decimated the cotton fields and the cotton industry died out. Today driving down Broad Street, the main street in the town shows rows of …

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Central State Mental Hospital – Milledgeville, Ga

One of the spookiest places I have come across in my travels for my Forgotten Pieces of Georgia project is the Central State Mental Hospital in Milledgeville, Ga. This facility was opened in December of 1842 and is still partially used today. The complex includes 200 buildings on 2,000 acres and at one time was the largest mental health facility in the world. The hospital was  run by Dr Thomas A Green from 1845-1879 and the care of patients in those days was a “family” environment. During his tenure, Green ate with the staff and patients and abolished all rope …

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Stancil’s Store – Ball Ground, Ga

Today’s blog post is on the now shuttered Stancil’s Store and Amoco station in Ball Ground, Ga. Stancil’s opened in 1912 as a general store, and sold a little bit of everything. They were the local gas station, hardware store and shoe store. They pretty much carried a little bit of everything that a family could need from dry goods to firewood, coal and most small appliances for the home. The signs on the outside of this decaying building show that they were the local Red Wing shoes and boots store and from what locals have told me, they were also …

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Monthly Archives

May 2018