Lathemtown Historic District, W.A. Lathem and Sons Store, 11611 Cumming Highway (State Route 20), Lathemtown

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-O. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The W.A. Lathem and Sons Store is located at Cumming Highway/State Route 20 (SR 20) in Cherokee County, Georgia. The resource sits on the north side of the highway and stands west of Trenton Lane. The store is located at latitude: longitude: This point was taken from the center of the W.A. Lathem and Sons Store. It was obtained on September 10, using Google Earth There is no restriction on its release to the public.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-O. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The W.A. Lathem and Sons Store is a contributing resource to the Lathemtown Historic District. The early twentieth-century store supports Lathemtown s significance as an intact, rural historic district. The store stands as a representation of the agricultural community s continued growth and development during the first half of the twentieth century. See the Lathemtown Historic District (HABS No. GA-2445) overview for further discussion of overall district significance. Historians: Marvin Brown, M.A., Senior Architectural Historian, AECOM Sarah Potere, Architectural Historian, AECOM Report Completed October

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-O. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is implementing plans to widen State Route 20 from two to six lanes between Scott Road (near Canton) and North Corners Parkway (near Cumming). The project corridor spans approximately miles and falls within Cherokee and Forsyth Counties. As a result of this roadway expansion, all or part of the W.A. Lathem and Sons Store will be demolished. Mitigation efforts were explored and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was developed between the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer. This Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation (historical narrative report and large format photography) was prepared in accordance with the stipulations of the MOA.

LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 2) Description: The W.A. Lathem and Sons Store stands on the north side of SR 20 to the east of Trenton Lane. It is oriented south toward the highway and is accompanied on its lot by an early twentieth-century cotton warehouse which stands approximately 75 -0 north of the store. Dating to the early twentieth-century, the large frame commercial building is comprised of an original, rectangular block with a shed-roof addition extending from its eastern side. The main block s roofline has been altered. Its western half displays the building s original low-pitched roof, and its eastern half is topped by a shed roof, resulting in an overall saltbox shape. The roof is fronted by a large, trapezoidal parapet wall.

Unlike the rest of the store, which is clad in vinyl, the parapet displays original weatherboards. Centered on the parapet is the original painted sign for the store which reads: W.A. Lathem and Sons General Merchants. A hipped roof porch projects from the building s front (south) facade and wraps around the building s western facade, where it terminates at a small single-block, shed-roof addition at the building s northwestern corner. The porch is topped with a combination of asphalt-shingles and standing-seam metal and supported by wooden and metal posts. It rests on a new, poured concrete foundation. The store s front (south) facade is divisible into eight bays. Two doorways are symmetrically placed and comprise the second and fifth bays of the facade.

The first doorway, which serves as the store s primary entrance, holds a pair of single-light, single-leaf, fiberglass doors which are replacement. They are flanked on either side by large, paired, single-light store windows. The second doorway has been infilled and is flanked by a four-over-four, double-hung, wood-sash window to its west. The facade s remaining three bays are found on the shed- roof addition and lie outside the protection of the shed-roof porch. They include a pair of single-light fiberglass doors with a large, single-light store window on either side. A variety of replacement doors and windows punctuate the building s eastern (side) facade. The original western facade is covered by the shed-roof addition, which is void of fenestration (Figure 3 and Figure 4).

The building s rear (north) elevation is divisible into five openings. A centrally placed doorway holds a paired set of eighteen-light wood doors, and a rectangular fixed-light transom tops them. The remaining openings are comprised of single-light replacement windows. All of the openings are sheltered by a large, raised shed-roof wooden deck which is a twenty-first-century addition (Figure 5). An early twentieth-century Cotton Warehouse is situated to the rear (northeast) of the Store. The building is oriented southwest and capped with a front-gable LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 3) roof which is elongated on its western side. It rests on a raised stone pier foundation and is clad in standing-seam metal.

A shed-roof porch extends from the building s front (south) facade and is supported by wood posts. It rests on a raised wooden loading deck approached by wood stairs on its southeastern side. The porch shelters a metal-track sliding door. A smaller metal door, sheltered by a shed-roof hood supported by wooden braces, is found to the north of the loading dock. Additional large metal-track doors are found on the building s southeastern facade. History: William Asberry ( W.A. or Will ) Lathem gave his name not only to this store, but to the community of Lathemtown that rose around it. W.A. Lathem grew up on his parents farm in Cherokee County s Cross Roads district. In he and Arizona ( Zonie or Zona ) Davis wed in the county.

By the following year they were farming in Cross Roads, but by had moved to the adjacent Mullins district, where W.A. was employed as a salesman.1 W.A. established W.A. Lathem & Sons General Merchandise Store in The Sons in the store s name were Luther Jackson ( Jack or Luther ), Charles Wesley ( Charlie ), and Elijah Marvin ( E.M. or Marvin ) Lathem. Their houses still stand in a line on the south side of Cumming Highway across from the store. The empty lot between them at the southeast corner of the junction of Cumming Highway and Orange Church Circle Road, immediately opposite the store was the site of their parents house, which was demolished prior to The local Cherokee Advance in May 31, noted that the store opened the previous year and was already a success.

During the past few months it had sold worth of furniture, indicating the people of the area were prosperous, happy and hopeful. 3 Based upon their business and handsome houses, W.A. Lathem and his sons numbered among those flourishing Cherokee residents. 1 Mary Helen Cissell, Living, Laughing and Loving in Old Lathemtown (Orange, GA: Orange United Methodist Women, 35; U.S. Bureau of the Census, and Federal Censuses; Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, W.A. Lathem, accessed June https://www.ancestry.com/. 2 Cissell, Living, Laughing, Loving in Old Lathemtown, (includes historic photographs of the store). For additional accounts of the store and associated buildings, see Cissell at pp.

10 (includes historic photograph), (includes historic photograph), (includes historic photograph), (includes historic photographs), and (includes historic photograph). 3 Quoted in John Carver, Cherokee County, Georgia: In Days Gone By (Jesper, GA: Wheeler Printing Company, 40. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 4) The Lathems, their store, and their associated businesses were central to the Lathemtown community. Martha Lathem Holbrook, W.A. s great- granddaughter, in spoke of their reach and success: The store had everything to sell from safety pins to caskets. Caskets were displayed open on the floor for purchase and were delivered to the homes when there was a death in the family. There was also a barber shop in the store .

Lathems Store would extend credit to farmers until their crops came in. The store even had its own coins stamped with the store s name on them for trading goods. The business expanded to include feed and seed. Lathem brothers built a cotton gin near the store. Customers could trade their cotton bales for groceries or pay off the debt accumulated over the year. Charlie Lathem was in charge of the mule barn next to the store. In the early days, a buggy shop was located there. They also had a corn mill and a blacksmith shop behind the store . The Lathems brought the first electricity and the first telephone line to Lathemtown. They owned a Delco Power Plant . The line was a party line so there were no secrets .

They also owned a school bus to carry students to Canton High School .4 The store still stands, as does the adjacent mule barn. The extant gable-front frame building behind (north of) the store served as a cotton warehouse. Tax records assign it a date of The cotton gin, which stood down a dirt lane further to the north, shut down in the and was destroyed by a tornado in the W.A. Lathem died in and Zonie Lathem in Their sons and grandchildren continued to operate and work at the store following their deaths. In or two of their grandchildren, brothers Ray Warren Lathem, Sr. 4 Cissell, Living, Laughing, Loving in Old Lathemtown, 5 Cissell, Living, Laughing, Loving in Old Lathemtown, (includes historic photographs), and LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No.

GA-2445-O (Page 5) and Herbert Lathem, closed the store. The family subsequently sold the property. The building is currently once more in use as a store.6

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS GA-2445-O. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Carver, John. Cherokee County, Georgia: In Days Gone By. Jesper, GA: Wheeler Printing Company, Cissell, Mary Helen. Living Laughing and Loving in Old Lathemtown. Orange, GA: Orange United Methodist Church, Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, W.A. Lathem. Accessed June https://www.ancestry.com/. United States Bureau of the Census. United States Federal Census. Accessed June-August https://www.ancestry.com/. 6 Cissell, Living, Laughing, Loving in Old Lathemtown, 63 and LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 6) Supplemental Materials 1. Figures Legend Figure 1: W.A. Lathem and Sons Store District Locator Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 7) Figure 2: W.A.

Lathem and Sons Store Site Map. LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 8) Figure 3: Oblique of Store, south (front) and east (side) facades. View looking northwest. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 9) Figure 4: Oblique of Store, north (rear) and west (side). View looking southeast. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 10) Figure 5: Rear (north) facade. View looking south. (Photograph by Sarah Potere, July LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 11) Figure 6: W. A.

Lathem and Sons General Merchants, ca (Image Courtesy of Orange United Methodist Women). LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 12) Figure 7: Lathem Brothers at Holbrook Camp, ca. (Image Courtesy of Orange United Methodist Women). LATHEMTOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT, W.A. LATHEM AND SONS STORE HABS No. GA-2445-O (Page 13) Figure 8: W.A. and Arizona (Zonie) Lathem. Date unknown. (Image Courtesy of Orange United Methodist Women).