J. R. Shannon, one-time convict guard, opened his jot-em-down store on the town's Main Street in the 1940s. He offered cat-protected white bacon.

Photo above shows J. R. Shannon's jot-em-down store on Folkston's Main Street in the late 1940s. Its at left of Topper Theater.

Charlton Convict Camp is in the background as three Indian football cheerleaders root on their Folkston Indians in their second year. Left to right, Lanier Gibson (Gross), Malette Brown (Clark), Betty Raulerson (Stover), and Jean Dixon. Mrs. Gross and Mrs. Stover are now deceased.

Old landmarks disappear, leaving future generations to ask; "do you remember?"

All through the 20^th Century, buildings were erected, only to be torn down, renovated, burned or allowed to rot. Few photographs exist today of those early landmarks. Missing are photographs of the Paxton Theater, The Ritz Theater, railroad depots at Homeland, Winokur, Saint George, Uptonville, and many more.

Soon after the end of World War Two, Georgia built a convict camp, as it was then called, on the Saint George Highway just south of Folkston. Barracks, dining rooms, and conference rooms were built of wood and local employees were hired to run the camp. The Prison Warden was W. H.  McHan brought in from another state prison camp.

McHan was an outgoing man, making friends in Folkston's business community with ease. He regularly invited the Folkston Lions Club to meet in the prison dining room, with the prison furnishing the meal. The Lions looked forward in glee to these frequent events, savoring some of the juiciest steaks that could be bought.

McHan had his inmates work for the county and city governments, cleaning the towns, erecting lighting poles on the school football field, and generally making the prison invaluable to the community. Likewise, when McHan would need a favor, the business and government leaders granted his request without a murmur.

McHan, an accomplished leader, soon became needed to take charge of Georgia's toughest prison camp, at Buford. That prison housed some of Georgia's most troublesome prisoners. McHan needed only a few months there to bring the inmates under control, drawing praise from state officials.

The convict camp at Folkston soon was phased out. It was located where today the Charlton County Maintenance Shops are located. The county had made the land available to the state without cost to entice the prison camp into the county. When it closed, the county took back over the facility, together with the improvements that had been erected there.

But, when the camp closed, most employees moved elsewhere with the prison system. Some, however, stayed in the Folkston area and blended into the community.

Such was a man that had been a convict guard; J. R. Shannon, determined to go into business in Folkston.

Shannon opened, what was to become known as "Shannon's Jot-em-down Store." It was located on Folkston's Main Street, adjoining the Topper Theater in a rather dilapidated building with a tarpaper front.

Inside Shannon's store, the former convict guard tended the store all-alone. Large piles of white bacon lay on the floor, and on top of the pile slept Shannon's pet cat. Shannon said the cat kept the mice away. No one ever reported an illness due to the cat's sleeping place.

The wiry Shannon kept very little books for his credit customers. When someone bought something, one of the first questions asked by Shannon was "Can I put that down on the books?" Most times the answer was "yes". Shannon would then write the amount of purchase on a brown paper sack, which included records of all his other credit customers for the month.

Shannon didn't lose as much money as one might think. His collection methods were ruthless, reportedly threatening to "bash in your head" when customers became delinquent. Most of his problem customers knew he would do just that, his reputation as a tough convict guard had preceded him into the business community.

Shannon's grocery business thrived, so much so that he built a new, larger store in Folkston. Most of Shannon's customers followed him into his new quarters. Soon the former convict guard-turned merchant tired of the grocery business and sold out. His antics, however, continued to be a topic of conversation when talk centers on the one-time businesses along Folkston's Main Street. The building, in which Shannon opened his first store, had formerly been a funeral parlor, operated by Charlie F. Adkins during the early post-war years. Before that, it was operated as a restaurant, and at one time it housed a meat market. None of the predecessors however, allowed their pet cat to sleep on the top layer of salt pork bellies.

The convict camp, where Shannon worked before turning merchant, adjoined the football field of early Charlton County football players. Prisoners would sit atop the camp's water tower to get a better look at the high school football games, all played then in the afternoons since the field had no lights.

That convict camp, along with the jot-em-down store operated by J. R. Shannon has vanished from the town's landmarks. Few photographs exist of either, but there are those who recall those days a half-century ago, of the McHans, the Shannons, and others who worked at the prison camp and traded later at J. R. Shannon's jot-em-down store.

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