Charlton County Hotels

Just before the turn of the century, around 1898, Folkston had become a bustling center of commerce. Passenger trains loaded and unloaded passengers dozens of times each day at the busy Folkston ACL Railroad Depot. H. C. Page was the genial station agent after the turn of the century, beginning his job there in 1904.

But, it was Folkston's array of top-flight hotels that ringed the railroad depot that made Folkston such a popular stopping point. Johnny Roddenberry owned and operated his Roddenberry Hotel, located then just east of where the Folkston post office is today. Roddenberry also ran a livery stable nearby and when court officials arrived on the trains, he rented the horses and buggies to them so they could get to the county courthouse at Traders Hill for court sessions.

Lois Barefoot Mays, in her Settlers of the Okefenokee, wrote. "The court officials usually filled the hotel, and many yarns were spun after the evening meals when these old friends gathered to assess the strengths of the plaintiff or defendant in the trial that was in progress."

Roddenberry's hotel was one of the busiest places in town as it sat majestically on Folkston's main street. The pages of the Charlton County Herald usually contained an advertisement placed by Johnny Roddenberry for his hotel and livery stable.

More and more trains began to come through Folkston just after the turn of the century. The Jesup Short Line was opened by the railroads, adding to the route from Waycross.

With the increase in train travel came more hotels for Folkston. Mrs. Walker from Waycross opened the Central House Hotel where today are the offices of South Georgia Timber Company. Ben Scott built the mammoth Arnold Hotel that today contains the offices of attorneys John Adams and Kelly Brooks.

Then came Ben McDonald's hotel, which he named the McDonald House. It stills stands today just west of the restored railroad depot. The McDonald House is the only hotel that escaped destruction by fires. The Central House, Roddenberry Hotel, and Arnold Hotel were destroyed by fire. The Arnold Hotel burned twice.

After the Roddenberry hotel burned, H. J. Davis bought the land and built his general store, around 1912.  The building today contains a dance studio and is next door to the Folkston post office.

The hey-days of those Folkston hotels contain some of the most memorable history of Charlton County. When the Arnold opened, its dining room was the center for the county's cultural events. Some events were not so filled with culture. Watermelon seed spitting contests were held there, when adults and children alike tried to see who could spit a watermelon seed the furthest. The Citizens Bank opened its first office in the Arnold Hotel in 1912, and Ben Scott's general store occupied part of the ground floor.

Ben McDonald's hotel was perhaps the most upscale of the hotels. His ground floor general store regularly brought in fashion designers that enthralled the women of the town with the latest fashions in hats and clothing.

Mrs. Walker, the mother of the late Mrs. O. C. Mizell, operated the Central House for a time. The mother and two daughters called the hotel home for a number of years.

The Central House had a number of long-term boarders, including Doctor Albert Fleming. The Arnold Hotel, for years, was the Folkston home of John S. Tyson, Sr., and his family.

In those late days of the 1800s and early days of the 1900s, hotels were not as upscale as they are today. Most were just large two-story homes with a single bath for all the customers.

St. George had a number of hotels along its main street, Florida Avenue. One of the most popular was the Smith House, owned and operated by the mother of Mrs. Pete Stroup.

In Homeland, the impressive Palmetto Hotel was built and operated by C. W. Waughtel, that city's founder. Much of that hotel still stands today on Pennsylvania Avenue amid the towering palm trees from which it got its name.

In Winokur, a replica of Ben McDonald's Folkston hotel sat beside the railroad tracks. N. G. Wade built it for the offices of his crosstie operations. It housed a general store on the ground floor.

With the coming of highway transportation, and with railroads cutting back on passenger operations, those old hotels began to vanish. Tourist Courts and Motels were built beside the highways as travelers began to abandon rail travel for highway travel. Those motels will never create the colorful legends of the railroad hotels.

The hotels of Folkston, Homeland, Winokur and St. George are interesting chapters in the history of Charlton County.