By
SELENA MADDOX
CANTON, Ga. – The
Old Home Place Village consists of 12 antique buildings.
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| Old Home Place Village (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Wayne and Ann Sims (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
The
Teacher’s House
The house was
brought to the village in 1981. Wayne
and Ann Sims started their village with this building where the school teacher
would live. The home is very small
inside with a loft at the top. A 10
gallon copper whiskey still sits behind the house. A well sits outside the house for the teacher
to fetch clean water.
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| One room teacher house (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Old stove (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| 10 gallon copper whiskey still (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Well Curb (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
The
One Room School House
This is a replica of the one room school building where all
ages attended. Jewel Presley taught at
the school and she was Wayne Sims’ first, second and third grade teacher. She used flashcards, posters and other common
teaching methods, that some teachers still use today. The building is made out of chestnut logs and
has the original floors still inside.
The old bell atop the school house still is able to ring out.
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| One room school house (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| One room school house (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Role call booklet (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
The Corn Crib
This building
was used to store corn, that was used for food and animal feed. A wagon was used to haul the corn to the corn crib. This wagon belonged to Wayne Sims’ father,
Oscar Sims. The family would also use
the wagon as transportation around the village.
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| Corn Crib (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Oscar Sims' farm wagon (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Antiques inside the Corn Crib (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
The Smoke House
A hog would be
taken to the smoke house and the hair would be shaved off. Then, the hog would be hung up by its feet to
be prepared. Salt, from the salt box,
would be used to cover the hog to cure.
Once the hog was cured, the meat would hang from the rafters in a bag.
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| Smoke House (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Preparation station (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Salt box (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
Three
Hole Outhouse & Queen Ann’s Outhouse
There was a pit
under the outhouse to catch the remains.
When the pit was full, they would let it dry out and fill it up, move
the outhouse somewhere else and repeat the process. If the building did not have a pit dug out,
they would shovel up the remains and use them as fertilizer on the pastures. Ann Sims has a special outhouse that was
built just for her, complete with a heart shaped seat. She has never actually
used the outhouse as a bathroom.
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| Three hole Outhouse (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Three hole Outhouse (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Queen Ann's Throne (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Queen Ann's Throne (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
The
Wash House
An agitator
washed clothes by pulling the handle back and forth to move the wash tub. One of the first ever washing machines was
also manually operated. A sign that is
hung in the wash house reads “No whining when doing your laundry and
ironing. You could have been born 100 years
ago before electricity, push buttons and timers.”
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| Wash House (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Hand crank washing machine (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Hand crank washing machine (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
Blacksmith
Shop
This blacksmith
shop belonged to Wayne Sims’ great-great uncle, Taylor Porter, from
1893-1919. Farmers depended on the
blacksmith’s shop to make tools like plows and other farming essentials. The blacksmith would heat metal over a fire
pit then lay the hot metal on an anvil to form it. The way they formed the metal was by beating
it with hammers. The anvil weighs 183
pounds and is used to make things like horseshoes.
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| Blacksmith Shop (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Blacksmith Shop (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Blacksmith Shop (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
Cox
and Sims Store
Wayne Sims’
father and grandfather established this general store. Every community had a country store where
they bought goods. Men would come over
to the store, after they tended to the farm, and play checkers. They would go home for lunch and come right
back to the store for another round of checkers. The early credit card system consisted of
writing an IOU on a piece of paper and the cashier would keep the papers in a
special filing system.
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| Cox & Sims Store (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Cox & Sims Store (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Old cash register (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
Community
Jail House
The window
behind the sheriff’s desk is the solitary confinement room where one would have
to sleep on the floor. The normal jail
cell consists of a bunk bed, small table, chair and the slop jar. The slop jar was used as a bathroom. The padlock was actually used out in a
California jail to lock death row cell 35.
The road that
runs between the jail house and the church on the property is nicknamed Choice
Road. The Sims say that one can chose to
live their life for God or end up in the jail house.
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| Community Jail House (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Jail cell (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Sheriff's desk (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
Antioch
Chapel
This building is
a replica of what the first Antioch Christian Church building looked like, when
it was built in the late 1800s. The
building was also a school house until 1913.
Church services were held every third Sunday. The church can hold around 55 people.
A lady, who
attended services at the church and was a student in the school, wrote letters
about the church history. The letters
inspired Wayne Sims to build the church building.
The piano is
over 100 years old as well as the light fixture above the pulpit. One of the other Antioch Christian Church
buildings is on display in the building. The church building is now used for
weddings year round.
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| First Antioch Chapel (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| First Antioch Chapel sanctuary (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Antioch Christian Church 1960 (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
Chicken
Coop and Barn
The chickens lay
fresh eggs for the Sims. Charlie is the
rooster who watches over all the hens in the chicken coop.
The baby goats
love to play and climb all over the log pile.
There is a guard dog that looks after the goats. The dog rests during the day and walks the
fence line at night patrolling the pasture.
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| Chicken Coop (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Goat Pasture (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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| Baby goats playing on the log pile (Photo by Selena Maddox) |
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