Burrage - Clarke County

The first Clarke County courthouse was built in Grove Hill when the county seat was moved in 1832 from Clarkesville to Smithville, which was also known as Macon. The immediate area around the courthouse was referred to by both names until about 1850, when the post office moved closer to the courthouse. However, the name Grove Hill was given to the post office in 1828, when it was located 2 miles north of the present town. It had been established in 1820 and was then called Post Oak Level. This photograph supposedly was made by a Universalist preacher, Rev. Q.H. Shinn, in 1898, a year before the courthouse was torn down.

The second courthouse, built in 1899, stood where the present building is today. It replaced the wooden structure built in 1832, when Grove Hill became the county seat. The Clarke County Democrat noted the completion of the building in its November 23, 1899 edition, stating that all rooms could be kept comfortable with fireplaces and stoves. This structure was torn down in 1955, when the present courthouse was built.

Photographed after 1899, this view still bears some resemblance to Main Street today. On the right is a blacksmith shop, the Wells-Morrow-Leggitte Hotel, Cobb Drug Store, Pugh Brothers Store, originally known as the W.L. Mitchell Store, and the W.W. Daffin Store. Farther down on the right is J.W. Cunninghams Store, known later as S.C. Gordon and Company, and a vacant lot which completes this side. On the left is Plez Riverss Barber Shop, across the street on the corner, followed by the post office, a millinery, John S. Chapmans store, and the Cunningham Hotel.

W.L. Mitchells store became the Pugh Brothers Store, located next to the Cobb Drugstore (later the Newton Grocery). W.L. Mitchell is shown on the left and his nephew, Frank Bonner, is on the right.

Left: Built in the early 1900s, next to the courthouse, was the Zack Rodgers Store, later operated by Will Dunn and eventually by G.C. Paul. This was one of the first stores built of brick in Grove Hill.

Right: The Pugh Brothers Store, owned by Jesse P. and Isaac Pugh, is seen here as it looked in the 1920s.

The inside of the Pugh Store was filled with groceries, candy, and even china. A spool of string hung from the ceiling for securing packages wrapped in paper, before paper bags came into use. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Pugh served Grove Hill for over 45 years at this location.

Will Dunn began operating the Zack Rodgers store and ran a very successful business, which began around 1920. This picture, probably taken around 1925, shows Floyd Burge, the owner of his own grocery business in Grove Hill in later years. Also pictured are, from left to right, Bertha Thomas, Will Dunn, unidentified, Lionel McDonald, and Floyd Burge.

The Clarke County Democrat , the oldest business in Clarke County, has been in operation since 1856, when it occupied the building of a former saloon located across from the courthouse.

A two-story building was constructed in 1912 for the newspaper. Finally, a brick building was erected in 1941. In 1992, the editor and owner of the newspaper, Jim Cox, moved the business to Highway 43 to its fourth building, but only the second location of the weekly newspaper.

In this rare photograph, possibly the only one of the first Grove Hill Baptist Church, funeral flowers are visible on the truck in front of the building, which was nestled in a grove of oak treesfrom which Grove Hill received its name. This church, begun in 1861, sat just out from the Graham Waite home and faced north. The funeral in progress is for John D. Lavender, a soldier killed in World War I. The photograph is dated around 1918.

Clarke County High School can be seen towering over the military funeral for John D. Lavender about 1918. This photograph is part of the Mary Tucker Collection.