This was beloved author Alice Walker‘s home during much of her childhood. Her parents worked the farm and she drew inspiration from all around.
Alice Walker Childhood Home, 1910s, Putnam County
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Category Archives: Phoenix GA
Unidentified Structure, Putnam County
This structure on Phoenix Road appears to have been a store or commissary, judging by the architecture, but that’s just a guess. I first thought it a school or church, but the lack of windows rules that out. Its proximity to Turnwold Plantation may be a clue.
Turnwold, Early 1800s , Putnam County
Located on private property and inaccessible, Turnwold is among the most historic plantations in Georgia. Likely dating to the 1810s-1820s, the present house, known as the Alexander-Turner House, has undergone many modifications over the years. [There is some question as to the actual date of the house today]. In 1805, brothers William and Joseph Turner received property here in the 1805 land lottery and immediately began improving the property. William named the broader property, containing two houses, Turnwold (meaning Turner’s field), and Joseph was well-known for publishing The Countryman. It is thought to be the only such periodical published on a plantation during the course of the war. It was as a printer’s devil for Mr. Turner during the Civil War that Joel Chandler Harris heard stories in Turnwold’s slave quarters that would become the basis for his Uncle Remus stories.
Just to emphasize: this is private property and can only be viewed or photographed from the right of way.
Wards Chapel A. M. E. Church, 1940s, Putnam County
This historic African-American congregation dates to the 1880s. The church is of a vernacular style typical of rural congregations from the late-19th through the mid-20th century.
It was the childhood church home of one of Georgia’s most popular authors, Alice Walker.
After years of disrepair, it has been restored.
The small cemetery across the road is where members of Ms. Walker’s family are buried.
