Rebuilding through Reconstruction 1865-1880

The men return

Shortly after the War ended and the men returned to town, several of the former businesses and trades began to flourish again and to grow. The main mode of travel by individuals was still the horse and buggy or horse and wagon. Jackson G. Smith, a blacksmith, and George L. Summers had been working together before the War at Dumas and Sullivan. This repair shop worked with harnesses, horse shoeing, and blacksmithing. Smith and Summers bought out Dumas and Sullivan and began manufacturing buggies under the firm name of Smith and Summers Buggy Company in 1866. Smith had come to Barnesville before the War from Buffalo, New York and Summers had come from Virginia.

Buggy Industry Prosperity

This period of growth brought prosperity to Barnesville as a result of the buggy industry and its related businesses. Some of these were harness manufacturing, livestock breeding and sales, feed and seed stores, livery stables and buggy body manufacturing. Nearly everyone in the community was employed in an industry that was in some way connected with the manufacturing and shipping of the buggies, wagons, carts, hearses, and coffins. At the height of the buggy business in 1900, nearly 9,000 buggies were produced annually in Barnesville.
Some of the other smaller buggy companies were Brazier and Dumas, Trio Buggy Company, and Franklin Buggy Company. The firm of Smith and Summers split in 1878 and Smith formed his own firm. Summers went into business with Murphey. This firm was known as Summers and Murphey until the fire of 1884. After Summers rebuilt, the firm was known as Summers' Buggy Company.
The various buggy firms employed hundreds of people. Barnesville became known as "the Buggy Capital of the South" because it produced more buggies than any other location south of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Buggy Capital of the South

Some of the other smaller buggy companies were Brazier and Dumas, Trio Buggy Company, and Franklin Buggy Company. The firm of Smith and Summers split in 1878 and Smith formed his own firm. Summers went into business with Murphey. This firm was known as Summers and Murphey until the fire of 1884. After Summers rebuilt, the firm was known as Summers' Buggy Company.
The various buggy firms employed hundreds of people. Barnesville became known as "the Buggy Capital of the South" because it produced more buggies than any other location south of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hundreds of buggies, carts, wagons, hearses, and coffins were shipped from the railroad sidings to the market place. In addition to rail shipping, the buggies were sold throughout the countryside by Smith. He hitched up five buggies to one team and traveled through the countryside with one team of horses pulling his string of buggies. After he sold the last buggy, he would return to Barnesville by train to ready another "string of buggies." This type of marketing made the buggy accessible to the rural areas where the train did not run.

Amusements

This period saw a surge in local recreational facilities; as many as five saloons were operating at one time. Billiard parlors were filled with tobacco chewing patrons and an opera house was built on Market Street. This building, first known as Granite Hall, was built by Stafford and Blalock. Local musicians gave public programs there along with recitals and plays. Although Barnesville had a reputation of "not being a show town," various traveling companies stopped overnight in Barnesville and put on variety shows, magic shows, and theatrical performances. The advertisements in the local paper quoted the price of admission at twenty-five cents for general admission and thirty-five cents for the "better seats." The opera house was located on the north side of Market Street, just behind the corner building facing Main Street. The second story was utilized as the performing hall. After traveling companies went out of vogue, the upstairs portion of the building was used as apartments. This portion was torn away due to structural problems in the early 1960s.

Educational and Cultural Center

Barnesville's first newspaper was formed in 1867 by Lambdin and Pound. This brought the world to Barnesville. Businesses began to advertise specials and a sense of regionalism began to take hold.
Under the guidance of Charles E. Lambdin and Azmon A. Murphey, Gordon Institute was formed. This evolved out of the old Barnesville Masonic Female Seminary. As the enrollment grew, the reputation of Barnesville as an educational and cultural center also grew. Gordon became the center of all cultural and educational activity with new debating societies, literary societies, philosophical societies, and a concert band, the Silver Coronet Band. These groups were all part of the activities at Gordon. A bandstand was built in the center of the business district for the Silver Coronet Band to give Sunday afternoon concerts.

Drawing New Families

Barnesville's population had doubled since 1850 from 400 to 800 by the beginning of Reconstruction in 1865. Businesses had grown, new economic growth in local manufacturing had continued and Gordon Institute was drawing families and boarding students from all over the southeast.
These new residents arrived mostly by train. This brought revenue to the depot through fares and freight charges. New dwelling construction and boarding houses met housing demands. Some of the boarding houses of the day were the Five Oaks, The Young Ladies' Home, and the J.T. Murphey boarding house. The hotels of the day were the Matthews Hotel, the Lyon House, the Blalock House, and the Magnolia Inn.
During Gordon's commencement exercises and during the height of the summer resort season, boarding houses and hotels were filled to capacity. Visitors came from Florida to spend the summers in Barnesville because of its business, educational and cultural advantages.

Buggy Industry Flourishes

During Reconstruction (1865-1877), the buggy industry began to expand and flourish. Three of the smaller size buggy manufacturers were Trio Buggy Company, Brazier and Dumas Buggy Company, and Franklin Buggy Company. The two largest were Summers' Buggy Company and the J.G. Smith & Sons Buggy Company.

The office and the commissary of J.G. Smith & Sons Company still stand today on the northeast side of the main railroad line. The building that housed the Franklin Buggy Company is totally intact on the site adjacent to the main line of the railroad. This building was the last location of the Franklin Buggy Company. The first was a warehouse at the intersection of Zebulon and Greenwood Streets, which burned in the 1920s. The Trio Buggy Company was in that location after Franklin had moved to the larger building that stands today on the rail line. That building was built in 1897 for the Gem Knitting Mills. After they went out of business Franklin occupied it, and then an infant casket company used it as a manufacturing site.

There are three walls of the original blacksmith shop of Summers Buggy Company still standing today. Many years ago it had a fire and was rebuilt by replacing only the burned portions. It is utilized today as a storage shed for a building supply company that is owned and operated by a direct descendant of the Smith and Summers families who were engaged in the manufacturing of buggies and wagons.
The Barnesville Savings Bank was organized on October 26, 1870. The bank's first and second locations are occupied by businesses in the downtown historic district. The first site, the current location of Antiques on Main, is at the corner of Main and Zebulon Streets. After the Barnesville Savings Bank erected a new marble front building in 1897 on East Main Street, the original building was occupied by a number of retail businesses.

Rebirth after the War

The 1879 population figure for Barnesville was 2,000. The town had begun its rebirth after the War and was prospering. By 1880, Barnesville was a thriving shipping point. Many locally made products were being shipped to other areas of the state and the southern region of the United States. In addition to the buggies, wagons, carts, hearses, and coffins, many local people were involved in the fruit production business. These fruits, including peaches, melons, grapes, and pecans, were shipped from the depot by the carload.

Cotton...A Cash Crop

Another local crop was cotton. The cotton was grown, harvested, ginned, and baled locally. Some of the cash crop was shipped out by train and some was used by several local cotton mills to manufacture goods to be shipped out. One of the cotton mills was the Eagle Knitting Mill, later known as the Oxford Knitting Mill and today known as the William Carter Company. This mill employed hundreds of people when it began operation in the 1880s. It still operates the distribution center at the original site of the mill. [This mill is not in the nominated district.] Another of the cotton mills was the Barnesville Manufacturing Company. It started in the historic district in the 1800s. After a depression at the turn of the century, it moved its operations to the western edge of town. It is Barnesville's other large employer today and is known as the General Tire Company. For many years, it was known as Aldora Mills. [The current site is not within the historic district.]

The Gee-Hanson Knitting Mill, the Hanson-Crawley Knitting Mill, and the Georgia Underwear Knitting Mill were other cotton mills that operated in Barnesville during the 1850s. Several of these merged with one another. Not only did cotton bring jobs to the farmers, the cotton gins, the cotton warehouses, the shipping department, and Southern Railway Express, but it caused the erection of "operative cottages" along Brown Avenue (now Atlanta Street) and Forsyth Street. The cotton mills needed housing for the machine operators and decided to build mill houses. Aldora Village, which was built soon after the turn of the century, was provided by the Hightower family for Aldora Mill workers to live in. Each mill had its own commissary. The "Company Store" was designed to meet the needs of the company employees. Not only did the cotton mills have these conveniences, so did the buggy manufacturers. [These resources are outside the district.]

Manufacturing Plants begin to thrive

Other manufacturing plants during the 1880s began to thrive. The Stafford-Huguley Hosiery Company was started. This factory was housed in the new Murphey Building on Zebulon Street after the fire of October 17, 1884. The fire was responsible for many economic and structural changes in the downtown business district. A passing train created sparks on the tracks. The sparks caught a bale of cotton on fire. The cotton was stacked along the track behind Corley Tire Company and the Summers' cotton warehouse. The fire raged out of control because the fire pumper could not hold pressure. The fire department was quick to respond to the alarm from its shed on Market Street, but the hoses had become rotten and could not hold pressure. Thirty-three businesses and several downtown residences were destroyed by the fire.

Another of the locally manufactured products was Stafford & Sons shoes. At their height, the Stafford Shoe Company made and shipped 5,000 pairs of shoes out of Barnesville via rail freight. The shoes were manufactured in the rear of the building that today houses Rose Nails and other merchants.

The site of the ribbed underwear manufacturing plant was later used as the freight depot and today is used as a fertilizer warehouse for Akins Feed and Seed. It is standing today just behind Summers, warehouse along the railroad tracks. The Summers' cotton warehouse stands today and is used by the City of Barnesville Electrical Department.

The site of another underwear mill stands today along the railroad tracks at the northern edge of the district, across from the depot. The building was the former site of the Franklin Buggy Company and B Lloyd's Candy.

As a result of the fire

As a result of the 1884 fire, the town's configuration was changed. Originally, the town was essentially a triangle that had as its wide base the stock yards around the depot. The point of the triangle was in front of the present day Carter's Drug Store. The city fathers decided to re-design the "Square" into a rectangular pattern. The focal point of the business district would still be the depot, but access into and out of the depot area would be greater. The three main roads would still radiate from the center point.

All of Main Street, most of Forsyth Street, all of Zebulon Street is post-October 1884 due to the fire. The only portion of the old section left was on the south side of Forsyth and Market Streets. The business district was totally rebuilt in the months just after the fire. The first building to be rebuilt was the William R. Murphey building. It was stated in the local News-Gazette that the building was begun on the "glowing embers of the fire." The building was completed in twenty-one days. It was the most desirable parcel of commercial property in the business district because it fronted the depot. The building housed law offices, restaurants, meat markets, grocery stores, harness repair shops, the first "reading room" (library), the "Blues" drill room, live stock stables, and the New South Savings Bank which would open in 1890. Today it is known as the Armory Building, it remains well used today.

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