Johnny Vardeman: Once, jewelry stores thrived downtown - Gainesville Times
When Gem Jewelry closes at the end of the year, downtown Gainesville will be without a pure jewelry store for the first time in more than a century.
The store at 111 Bradford St. on the square has been run by the Eplan and Orenstein families since 1936 when Mose Eplan opened it. Marvin Orenstein ran it with his daughters Linda and Temme until he died, and the sisters have operated it since.
At one time, in the 1950s, there were six jewelry stores in downtown Gainesville:
Gem, then at 113 W. Spring St., Jay at 128 N. Bradford, J.Wendell Lancaster at 212 S. Main St., Mintz at 115 W. Spring, and R.L. Courtenay, 127 E. Washington. Mather-Gainesville at 219 S. Green was known as a furniture store, but it also advertised itself as a jewelry store.
There are other businesses downtown that sell jewelry, but Gem is the last true jewelry store.
Some of the early jewelry stores in downtown Gainesville were W.H. Summer, whose store operated as far back as the 1890s, Mincey and Godwin, who bought him out later, and Clinton R. Stringer, who sold his business to M.C. Roberts in the early 1900s. Summer was somewhat of an entrepreneur, also running a bicycle shop, car dealership and repair business, besides serving on the town council.
In the 1920s, Gainesville Steam Laundry would do shirts for 15 cents, union suits 6 cents, drawers 8 cents, coats 15-20 cents, pants 25-50 cents and skirts 30-75 cents. At one time, the laundry’s main location was at 330 N. Bradford St., but advertised “branches” at 1026 Riverside Drive and 854 E. Spring. W.J. Porter was proprietor. The laundry also offered service into the mountains with agents picking up clothing and delivering it to the Gainesville laundry.
Head’s-Healan’s Mill on Whitehall Road near Lula is in the news these days because its Friends organization and Hall County are working together to restore it, with plans for a park around it. It was in the news, too, in November 1905, as the Gainesville News declared, “The Head Bros. Mill is not running these days. Their wheel shaft is broken.”
In July 1906, the mill’s dam was washed away by a flood on the Oconee River.
In June 1912, the News announced, “Jack Bennett of Jackson County bought the Head old mill place and 58 acres on the Oconee River and will shortly start up the mill, grinding only corn and making the best water-ground meal.”
Lake Rabun in 1921 advertised it as the largest freshwater lake in the South. Various other lakes, including Lanier and Hartwell, have far surpassed it in size. But it continues to be a popular recreation lake and prime spot for vacation or permanent homes.
It is one of several Georgia Power lakes in a chain along the Tallulah River basin that includes Lake Burton, Seed, Tallulah, Tugalo and Yonah.
Burton surpassed Lake Rabun in size when it started backing up in 1919. It is 2,775 acres with a 62-mile shoreline. Rabun covers 835 acres with 25 miles of shoreline.
Lake Rabun’s Mathis Dam was completed in 1915, but the lake itself came about 10 years later because a tunnel had to be built between it and Georgia Power’s generating facilities at Tallulah Falls. At one time, the company’s hydroelectric power supplied a large portion of North Georgia’s electricity, but is only used today to supplement the grid when needed.
Two members of Brenau College’s board of trustees died the same day in April 1912. They were T.J. Pearce, father of H.J. Pearce, onetime owner of the school, and Judge Garland H. Prior, presumed namesake of Gainesville’s Prior Street. Prior was judge of Hall County City Court, predecessor of today’s State Court. A native of Morgan County, he came to Gainesville to practice law.
He left his judgeship after suffering a stroke and became cashier of Gainesville National Bank, with whom he had been associated since its founding. Judge Prior also was on the bank’s board.
Besides serving on Brenau’s board, he also was on Gainesville’s school board and a deacon in the Baptist Church. He died at the age of 62 and is buried in Alta Vista Cemetery.
n n n
Where is Cobell? The community once existed, perhaps still does, in South Hall County. Anybody remember it?
Johnny Vardeman is retired editor of The Times whose column appears Sundays. He can be reached at 2183 Pine Tree Circle NE, Gainesville, GA 30501; phone, 770-532-2326; e-mail vardeman1956@att.net.
