A Road, A Church and A Mystery

   It has been almost two weeks since I last sat down to write, and, frankly, I miss getting to put some thoughts down on paper.

   Not that I am that busy, but it takes some undivided time for me to do this, and that is in short supply most days. It is harder to write with 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there. Much easier to say "maybe tomorrow will present some time to do it".

   The other day there was a picture on Facebook of a Primitive Baptist Church over in Brantley County, and it looked like a potential road trip. (Any chance to get us out of the condo, even if it is to photograph an old church way out in the boonies.)

   So we left this morning, taking our lunch and drove west on US 82 to Nahunta (county seat of Brantley Co.). Turning south on US 301, I followed what directions I had till we got into Charlton Co. and realized, too far.

   Going by the Georgia map, we should have passed through a town, Hickox, then the church would be off Bethlehem Rd. , but we never encountered Hickox. We could not have missed the whole town, it was shown right on 301.

   Turning around and heading back towards Nahunta, I spotted Bethlehem Rd. on the right and pulled in. It looked like a man's driveway, and, with a man in the yard working, I stopped to ask. (He was picking up pecans from an old tree in his front yard.)

   He proceeded to inform me that this was indeed the road to the church but the bridge had washed out several years earlier and the county did not have the money to rebuild it. So we had to drive back south and find the other end of the road (a dirt road by the way).

   We did find our church with his directions, about two miles off 301.

   Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church, organized around 1880.

   Typical construction , no frills, but a nice setting back off the road.

   From the website of the Historical Rural Churches of Georgia:

"We are not certain of the exact date of organization for Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church.  We do know that in 1905, Bethlehem joined the Alabaha River Association (Crawford), but based on earlier dates on a few of the headstones, the organization of the church could have preceded that, perhaps by a number of years. The oldest marked grave in the Bethlehem Cemetery bears a date of death of 1881, and our estimate is based on that. The church served its community until 1991 when it disbanded.  Today the Satilla River Association is down to two churches and one elder."

   The front door only had a latch,  and by pushing, I could get inside. It was dark, and the only light was that that filtered in through the cracks around the doors and window shutters.

   By using an extended shutter time, I was able to take some shots without using my flash.

   And there was my mystery:

   Take a look at these shots as I narrowed down to a small wooden boxlike structure on the floor in front of the pulpit.

   What was the little boxlike thing used for? It opens to the ground below.

   Anybody out there that can cast a little light on this?

   Anyway, a 4 hour journey into the unknown, looking for a church with no sign, on a road with a bridge out, that is getting out of the condo, for sure.

   And finally, a shot from the cemetery to the north of the church with a tombstone that told of a funeral just a few days prior to our visit. There were also some Hickox family headstones there.

   So, where did the town of Hickox go, and what was the use for the mystery box.

   Just another day at the office...