Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Byron Herbert Reece Farm and Heritage Center

North of Vogel Lake in the North Georgia Mountains, Highway 129 carved out of the mountainside, is the home of Byron Herbert Reece.  The buildings now standing relate to part of his life.

Reece was a  respected poet and novelist of Georgia, and won many literary honors both nationally and statewide.  He was strongly moved by the old mountain folk ballads.  His stimulation in poetry (at an early age) came mostly from the Bible.  He was a farmer and poet who taught at Young Harris College.

The above photo is known as a Double Crib Barn, found on Appalachian farms from Kentucky to Arkansas.  The barn had a number of cribs that served as storage for fodder, or pens for cattle, mules, and pigs.

This is a photo of Byron Herbert Reece shucking corn in the field.




The above three photos are the Poetry Trail located at the Reece Heritage Center.  You'll find Reece's verse carved in stone and may sit on a bench and reflect on his poetry.

This is the Mulberry Hall where Byron Herbert Reece wrote.  He built this writing studio and would muse and write here.


This is young Byron Herbert Reece composing poetry in his writing studio.


Corn cribs were used to store and dry corn still on the cob.

Bags of cornmeal after the corn was ground.

Smokehouses were a necessity before refrigeration and every farm had one.  



The chicken coop had a small fenced in area to shelter chickens and contained nesting boxes.

This was the kitchen where the mountain women cooked on a wood stove.

The Welcome Center at the Byron Herbert Reece Farm and Heritage Center.

To contact the Reece Center:
Call:  (706)-745-2034
E-mail:  reecesociety@gmail.com
www.ByronHerbertReeceSociety.org 

14 comments:

Connie said...

What an interesting place! This looks like a fun place to visit. Nice post, Brenda.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

What a great place. Such history there ---and can you just imagine sitting there in that writing studio doing your writing??? WOW---would be wonderful to sit and relax there!!!! Thanks for sharing that old farm.

Hugs,
Betsy

magnoliasntea said...

One of my favorite pastimes is visiting historical homes/museums. I really enjoyed reading this, and I'd love to see this one for myself now that I know it's there.
Thank you for sharing your visit to the farm and have a great week!

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

Another interesting place, Brenda! Thank you for sharing. I really like his writing studio.

Granny Sue said...

I have not heard of him; now I want to find his work. Thank for this interesting post.

lil red hen said...

Brenda, I enjoyed this post so much! I love old homesteads with their warm and homey feel. We had a barn with a crib; my cousin and I played with my dolls there. And how special it was to see the cook stove; I have an electric stove patterned after an old wood stove and it looks just like this one!

Janet, said...

Oh, I would love to go there. If I'm ever down that far south, I'll make a point to visit. Especially love the poetry trail and his writing cabin. I would love to have one!

Anonymous said...

I would love to visit here one day. Thanks so much for sharing and I wish you a nice evening.

TexWisGirl said...

beautiful historical buildings. :)

Susie Swanson said...

Awe, thank you so much for sharing this. I'm honored that I've had the opportunity to visit there and it is awesome. I love his poetry. There's alot of history in that place.

Susie Swanson said...

Awe, thank you so much for sharing this. I'm honored that I've had the opportunity to visit there and it is awesome. I love his poetry. There's alot of history in that place.

Cranberry Morning said...

What an interesting post, Brenda. I hadn't heard of the double crib barn. We have a few of those around here, but I'd never heard them called that. I actually have an old 1913 Home Comfort cookstove, and have often thought it might be a good idea to build a smokehouse. We've all become so dependent upon electricity. The museum looks like a very interesting place to visit.

Hootin Anni said...

This historical value of this area...AND your post was delightful to read. I learned something today....thanks to you.

NCmountainwoman said...

I had never heard of Byron Reece but I did a bit of research and I love his poetry. Thank you for introducing me to this gifted poet.