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- [Reconstruction-era Stereoviews of the Southern Georgia Coast]
[Reconstruction-era Stereoviews of the Southern Georgia Coast]
[Reconstruction-era Stereoviews of the Southern Georgia Coast]
A series of 12 original stereoview photographs we believe capture the industrial, townscape, and beach resort environs around Darien, Georgia and an adjacent barrier island (or islands) in about 1875. The photos lack notation, though a handful of visual clues, most notably hand-painted signage on the side of a large building identifying the San Savilla saw mill (which an 1885 Sanborn Map places on the outskirts of Darien), along with the identified name of a local merchant expanded on below, have us confident identifying the location.
A storefront sign reading “HENRY MILLER” across from another sign labeling “BAR AND BILLIARD ROOM” on a modest dirt street is clearly visible in one view. And, the 1877 publication of an insurance case brought before the Georgia Supreme Court provides sound identification of Henry Miller as a general store operator in Darien in premises matching those seen in the photograph. The case centered on an insurance policy issued to Miller on October 27, 1874 to insure, “[...] his stock of general merchandise, such as usually kept in country stores, contained in a two-story, shingle-roofed building in Darien, Georgia, which was destroyed by fire.”* According to the report, the store burned on February 14, 1875, suggesting a potential timeframe of 1875 or earlier for the present group. Further, a census entry from 1870 noted Henry Miller, merchant (b. about 1838 in Germany) in Darien, though 1880 had him relocated to Savannah.
Additional views focus on other unidentified industrial sites and the infrastructure of a beach resort complex including an elaborate changing / bather’s house, a large gathering hall, boardwalk and ticket windows, the veranda of a possible hotel, etc…A potential date of 1875 or earlier places the views of the beach resort, which we suspect may have been on St. Simon's Island, exceedingly early in the development of the pleasure industry on the Georgia barrier islands as more elaborate hotels and structures were not widely established until the mid-to-late 1880’s.
A previously unpublished and scarce photographic glimpse at the ephemeral environs of coastal southern Georgia during the first decade of Reconstruction, centered on a place entirely destroyed during the War.
*“Supreme Court Decisions Rendered May 5, 1877.” THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, May 5, 1877 (pp. 2)
[Americana] : [Georgiana] : [Stereoview Photography]. [Reconstruction-era Stereoviews of the Southern Georgia Coast]. Darien, Georgia and environs]: [ca. 1875]. 12 stereoview photographs. Albumen prints on uniform, orange imperial mounts. Versos a plain, pale pink. Lacking any notation or stamping. Some mild handling wear and trace cracking to emulsion of most prints, overall group very good.
A series of 12 original stereoview photographs we believe capture the industrial, townscape, and beach resort environs around Darien, Georgia and an adjacent barrier island (or islands) in about 1875. The photos lack notation, though a handful of visual clues, most notably hand-painted signage on the side of a large building identifying the San Savilla saw mill (which an 1885 Sanborn Map places on the outskirts of Darien), along with the identified name of a local merchant expanded on below, have us confident identifying the location.
A storefront sign reading “HENRY MILLER” across from another sign labeling “BAR AND BILLIARD ROOM” on a modest dirt street is clearly visible in one view. And, the 1877 publication of an insurance case brought before the Georgia Supreme Court provides sound identification of Henry Miller as a general store operator in Darien in premises matching those seen in the photograph. The case centered on an insurance policy issued to Miller on October 27, 1874 to insure, “[...] his stock of general merchandise, such as usually kept in country stores, contained in a two-story, shingle-roofed building in Darien, Georgia, which was destroyed by fire.”* According to the report, the store burned on February 14, 1875, suggesting a potential timeframe of 1875 or earlier for the present group. Further, a census entry from 1870 noted Henry Miller, merchant (b. about 1838 in Germany) in Darien, though 1880 had him relocated to Savannah.
Additional views focus on other unidentified industrial sites and the infrastructure of a beach resort complex including an elaborate changing / bather’s house, a large gathering hall, boardwalk and ticket windows, the veranda of a possible hotel, etc…A potential date of 1875 or earlier places the views of the beach resort, which we suspect may have been on St. Simon's Island, exceedingly early in the development of the pleasure industry on the Georgia barrier islands as more elaborate hotels and structures were not widely established until the mid-to-late 1880’s.
A previously unpublished and scarce photographic glimpse at the ephemeral environs of coastal southern Georgia during the first decade of Reconstruction, centered on a place entirely destroyed during the War.
*“Supreme Court Decisions Rendered May 5, 1877.” THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, May 5, 1877 (pp. 2)
[Americana] : [Georgiana] : [Stereoview Photography]. [Reconstruction-era Stereoviews of the Southern Georgia Coast]. Darien, Georgia and environs]: [ca. 1875]. 12 stereoview photographs. Albumen prints on uniform, orange imperial mounts. Versos a plain, pale pink. Lacking any notation or stamping. Some mild handling wear and trace cracking to emulsion of most prints, overall group very good.