Berrien County Historical Foundation (1995-) (Nashville, GA)
Organization
Parallel Names
- Berrien Historical Society
About
The Berrien Historical Foundation was established in 1995, to preserve the history of Berrien County and its families. The Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit organization that meets quarterly on the 3rd Thursday of these months: January, April, July, and October. Meetings are held at the Perry Memorial Library, in Nashville, at 7:00 p.m. Visitors are always welcome.
The Berrien County Historical Museum and Archive is often referred to as “The Best Little Museum in Georgia” by most of our visitors. The Museum has been the recipient of two Smithsonian Main Street awards for the quality of its exhibits and its local presentations.
The museum is under the direction of the Berrien Historical Foundation, and houses and maintains the county’s historical artifacts. Its 16,000 photo collection is one of the largest of any county in the state of Georgia on one website: berriencounty.smugmug.com Basic genealogical assistance is also available free of charge.
Found in 77 Collections and/or Records:
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 5, Number 2 (Summer 2023): “The Nashville Bottling Works”, Spring 2023
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-009
Description
This issue traces the history of the Nashville Bottling Works, beginning with its origins in 1905 when Homer J. Hall and Jackson Whitehurst established a small bottling operation in Sparks and began selling soda to customers in Nashville. By 1906 the plant moved permanently to Nashville under Joel I. Norwood, whose popular “High Life Ginger Ale” became a regional favorite. Ownership transitioned several times before Benjamin A. Deal Jr. took over in 1912 and expanded the business with...
Dates:
Spring 2023
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 5, Number 3 (Fall 2023): “Sheboggy and Shebargie”, Summer 2023
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-010
Description
This issue explores the history of two well-known Berrien County country stores—Shebargie in the New Lois community and Sheboggy near Alapaha—both of which served as important rural gathering places for several decades. Shebargie, originally known as Whispering Pines and built in the late 1920s by Otto E. Summerlin, operated as a store, grist mill, and local social center featuring the community’s first radio. Through a succession of owners including Bernys Peters, K.M. Miller, Edwin Smith,...
Dates:
Summer 2023
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 5, Number 4 (Winter 2023): “Snakes!”, Fall 2023
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-011
Description
This issue compiles historical newspaper accounts and oral traditions documenting the persistent danger of snakes in Berrien County from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. Drawing extensively from the Nashville Herald, Lanier County News, and Adel News, the article recounts encounters with rattlesnakes, moccasins, and other venomous species across farms, homes, sawmills, churches, and rural roads. Reports include near-misses, dramatic killings, and deadly strikes—such as the...
Dates:
Fall 2023
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 6, Number 1 (Spring 2024): “Nashville’s Grand Avenue”, Winter 2024
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-012
Description
This issue examines the planned development and eventual decline of Nashville’s “Grand Avenue,” the ambitious civic vision laid out in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Centered on West Avenue and anchored by the 1898 brick Berrien County Courthouse, the newsletter traces how early city planners intended a broad, impressive boulevard lined with banks, public buildings, and the Nashville Public School (completed in 1904). The issue charts the rise of significant structures along the...
Dates:
Winter 2024
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 6, Number 2 (Summer 2024): “Our Land Heritage”, Summer 2024
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-013
Description
This issue presents an overview of Georgia’s early land history and the processes that shaped the territory that would become Berrien County. It begins with the vast western land claims of pre-1795 Georgia and the infamous 1795 Yazoo land fraud, where millions of acres were illegally sold to land companies before the act was repealed under Senator James Jackson. The article then traces how federal intervention and the 1802 cession of western lands led to the formation of Alabama and...
Dates:
Summer 2024
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 6, Number 3 (Fall 2024): “Cash Crop”, Fall 2024
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-014
Scope and Contents
This issue examines the evolution of agriculture and cash-crop production in Berrien County from the 1800s through the late 20th century. It begins with early subsistence farms carved from the former Indian Territory, where families grew only what they needed and bartered small surpluses. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become the dominant cash crop, with both white and Black families contributing to its cultivation.After the Civil War, cotton production expanded rapidly but...
Dates:
Fall 2024
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 6, Number 4 (Winter 2024): “Honoring the Confederate Veteran”, Fall 2024
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-015
Scope and Contents
This issue provides historical context for the honoring of Confederate soldiers from Berrien County, Georgia. It opens with a discussion of the author’s concerns about recent acts of vandalism toward monuments and outlines the intended purpose of these memorials as commemorations of military service rather than symbols of enslavement. Drawing on census and tax records, the newsletter notes that most Berrien County residents in 1860 did not own enslaved people, though slavery was a central...
Dates:
Fall 2024
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 1 (Spring 2025): “The Night the Stars Fell”, Spring 2025
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-016
Scope and Contents
This issue provides an in-depth historical account of the Leonid meteor storm of November 13, 1833, a spectacular astronomical event witnessed across the Deep South, including the area that would later become Berrien County, Georgia. Drawing on scientific studies, regional historical accounts, and 19th-century eyewitness descriptions, the newsletter discusses the nature of meteor showers and explains how Earth’s orbit intersected with debris from the Tempel-Tuttle comet, producing thousands...
Dates:
Spring 2025
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 2 (Summer 2025): “Dirt Track Racers”, Summer 2025
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-017
Scope and Contents
This issue documents the history and cultural importance of dirt track racing in Berrien County and the surrounding South Georgia region, focusing on the rise of “Jalopy” and early stock-car racing from the 1940s through the 1960s. Much of the narrative centers on Thunderbowl Speedway in North Valdosta, a 3/8-mile oval dirt track that became a major weekend destination for racing fans from the 1950s through its final closure in 1999.Through interviews, photographs, and personal...
Dates:
Summer 2025
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 3 (Fall 2025): “History in Postcards”, Fall 2025
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-018
Scope and Contents
This Fall 2025 issue of the Old Berrien Newsletter focuses on the history of early Berrien County through the lens of postcards dating from the late nineteenth century through the post–World War II era. Articles discuss the earliest known street scenes of Nashville, the development of downtown architecture, the impact of the naval stores industry, and the rise of postcard culture following the 1898 postal regulation changes.
Topics covered include the 1909 view of Davis Street, the 1910...
Dates:
Fall 2025
Old Berrien Newsletter, Volume 7, Number 4 (Winter 2025): “Our Oral History”, Winter 2025
File
Collection number: ca-012-002-019
Scope and Contents
This issue centers on oral history as a vital method for preserving Berrien County heritage. It recounts the editor’s earliest interview experience and shares narratives drawn from family memories, rural life, and local traditions. The newsletter highlights interviews conducted with long-time residents, including recollections of education, farm work, and community events. It also provides practical guidance and tips for planning and conducting oral history interviews. Additional sections...
Dates:
Winter 2025
Shaw Family Newsletters, 1993 - 2019
Series
Collection number: CA-012-001
Scope and Contents
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw is a non-profit newsletter published semi-annually, or more frequently, for the benefit of the descendants of Francis Marion Shaw and his wife, Rachel Moore Allen Shaw. These are the newsletters published for the Family of Francis Marion Shaw and Rachel Moore Allen. The first newsletter was published in 1993 and have been published semi-annually each year since. ...
Dates:
1993 - 2019
"Spirit of American Doughboy" Georgia Historcal Marker Unveiling, May 4, 2021
Item
Collection number: ca-012-006-017
Scope and Contents
Unveiling ceremony of the Georgia Historcal Society Historical Marker, "Spirit of American Doughboy," conducted in conjunction with the Berrien Historical Foundation, in Nashville, Georgia, May 1, 2021. (downsized video; no titles)
Dates:
May 4, 2021
Stories from the Best Little Museum in Georgia (Episode 1), May 22, 2024
Item
Collection number: ca-012-006-033
Scope and Contents
Episode 1 of Stories from the Best Little Museum in Georgia, located at the Old Berrien County, Georgia, Courthouse, Nashville, GA.
Dates:
May 22, 2024
The Excursions, November 12, 2022
Item
Collection number: ca-012-006-028
Scope and Contents
N/A
Dates:
November 12, 2022
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw Special Civil War Edition, May 1993
Item
Collection number: CA-012-001-002
Scope and Contents
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw Newsletter, Special Civil War Edition, May 1993. From the Berrien County Historical Society Collection at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections.This issue of the newsletter recounts the military service of Francis Marion Shaw, who was conscripted into the Confederate Army in 1864 at the age of eighteen. Serving in the Florida Reserves, Shaw was wounded during a skirmish at Cedar Key, Florida, where a minie-ball shattered his...
Dates:
May 1993
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw Volume 1, Number 1, January 1993
File
Collection number: CA-012-001-001
Scope and Contents
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw Newsletter, Volume 1 Number 1, January 1993. From the Berrien County Historical Society Collection at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections.The issue honors the life of Francis Marion Shaw, a Confederate soldier who lost his right arm in the Civil War, and his wife Rachel Moore Allen Shaw, highlighting their resilience, compassion, and legacy. The newsletter includes family group sheets, biographical sketches of descendants,...
Dates:
January 1993
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw, Volume 1 Number 2, July 1993
Item
Collection number: CA-012-01-003
Scope and Contents
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw, Volume 1 Number 2, May 1993. From the Berrien County Historical Society Collection at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections.This issue focuses on the life of Jesse Shelby “Dock” Shaw, the son of Francis Marion and Rachel Moore Shaw. Raised on the family farm in Ray City, Georgia, Dock married Susie Bullard and together they raised eight children while managing a 200-acre farm. Known for his humor, kindness, and dedication,...
Dates:
July 1993
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw Volume 2 Number 1, January 1994
Item
Collection number: CA-012-001-004
Scope and Contents
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw, Volume 2 Number 1, January 1994. From the Berrien County Historical Society Collection at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections.This issue focuses on the life of Francis Arthur Shaw, the eldest son of Francis Marion and Rachel Moore Allen Shaw. Arthur married Martha Victoria Giddens, whose life was marked by the social stigma of her illegitimate birth, and together they had two sons before Victoria's untimely death in 1889....
Dates:
January 1994
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw Volume 2 Number 2, April 1994
Item
Collection number: CA-012-001-005
Scope and Contents
The Family of Francis Marion Shaw, Volume 2 Number 2, January 1994. From the Berrien County Historical Foundation Collection at Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections.This issue centers on the preserved love letters of Chester D. Shaw, the youngest son of Francis Marion and Rachel Moore Allen Shaw. In 1895, Chester left his home in Ray City, Georgia, and traveled to Louisiana, where he wrote heartfelt letters to family and especially to Louannie Webb, the...
Dates:
April 1994