The Coleman House/Hotel is typical of late-19th and early-20th century properties found in small towns along railroad lines. Owners often lived in the hotel and rented rooms. At the height of the railroad era, such enterprises could be quite profitable. The Coleman Hotel has come full circle and once again is a bed and breakfast known as the Serenity Inn.
This well-maintained Folk Victorian in Cobbtown was built circa 1900. Its fascinating story was shared with me by Hudak Hendrix, the son of owner Mary Joyce Durden Hendrix.
“The Durden House was purchased by Lester Eason and Louvenia Youmans Durden sometime in the early 1930’s. The family had moved to Cobbtown in the late 1920’s. According to family lore, the move from Norristown in Emanuel County was prompted by an incident that had occurred at a local baseball game where Mr. Durden’s father, John Fitzgerald Durden, Emanuel County Tax Collector, was attacked by a man with a knife. His son rose to his defense and beat the attacker with a baseball bat. Later, the man died from his injuries. Apparently, the families decided that the best course of action would be for my grandfather to take his family to Cobbtown to provide some distance and minimize the possibility of further aggressions.
While the Durden family had two children, Tom and Nannie Lou, upon their arrival to Cobbtown, another son, Lamar Eason, was born during their brief stay in the Coleman Hotel in December of 1929. Later, after the family purchased the Durden House, two more children, Kenneth Lawson Durden(1932) and Mary Joyce Durden (1934), were born. Mary Joyce (Durden) Hendrix currently lives in the house.
While in Cobbtown, Mr. Durden operated a “rolling store” throughout the local area of northern Tattnall County while Mrs. Durden was a cook at the Cobbtown School that was located across the street from the Durden House until a lightning strike in 1968 caused a fire which burned the school.
Originally, the house included several acres of land that stretched down Railroad Street to the corner of Collins Street but over the the years, several parcels were distributed to family members who built houses that remain under the ownership of direct descendants of the original family.”
These are located just south of Cobbtown on Georgia Highway 57. The farmer appears to have been constructed of old fertilizer barrels.
This beautiful farm is located near Cobbtown. The barns are really nice.
Allen Collins writes: “This barn is…owned by my uncle R L Collins of Valdosta; another one once stood next to it. Local residents might also remember the three tiny white tenant / rental houses that once stood next to the highway. The big white house was built by my great granddaddy Remer Collins in the 1930s. His father Adamsom W. Collins, or Addison, or simply “Base Collins” as he was more commonly known, built another house nearby in the 1880s. That house burned about thirty years ago. Older residents of Cobbtown might also remember two other houses that were located on this farm. My granddaddy Gordon “Base” Collins sold one of them around 1976 and it was moved to another location. .. The other house, possibly the first house built on the farm in the mid to late 1800s was owned by two sisters, .. former slaves, named “Harriet” and “Sophie.” Sadly, many of these old structures in southeast Georgia featured in this series are fading relics of a vanishing world, their stories often forgotten in the gray mists of time, ..or untold.. But if they could talk, .. what tales, both tragic and wonderful, might they tell..”
Cobbtown is located at the extreme northern end of Tattnall County, near the Candler County line. The settlement was first known as Corsica, which was possibly a plantation name. It was presumably renamed for a prolific local family named Cobb. The population as of 2020 was 341.
Bobby Sikes writes: “This house was built by the Sue Paradise family who later moved to Atlanta. My father, Walt Sikes bought it in 1937. We lived there, or at least my mother and step- father did until they died. I later sold it to G. W. Collins.” Renee Johnson adds that her aunt, Delma Collins is the present owner.
Cobbtown Baptist Church was organized in 1906 by Dr. J. C. Brewton. The first pastor was B. F. Hogan, in 1907, and charter members were: William M. & Lucy Bird; Marshall & Mattie Hattaway; Mr. & Mrs. Luther Mills; Stiles A. & Roxie Ann Sikes; and Henry & Laura Yeomans. The present structure was completed in 1944. E. L. Harrison was the pastor at the time and the building committee was: W. L. Brown, Chairman; E. L. Vaughn, Treasurer; T. D. Slater, Construction Superintendent; R. L. Collins; and R. C. Coleman.
Renee Johnson writes: “This was the Roger Wood Masonic Lodge #438 and a school. The masonic meetings were upstairs and school was downstairs. The Roger Wood Masonic Lodge was formed Oct 1, 1901. This building was built about 1924. In 1989 a new masonic building was built across the street from the Cobbtown Baptist Church.“
This is an exceptional Craftsman bungalow, more so for its presence in such a small town.
