Twin City Centennial: Turner on changes over time

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In honor of the City of Twin City celebrating its 100th year of existence, The Blade will be highlighting some of the city’s residents who have been around to see it all - or at least a good part of it. This week’s feature is Mr. John William Turner, son of the late Ivey and Ida Mae Turner.

Turner currently resides at an address on 1st Street. However, prior to his move to Twin City, Turner was raised at his parent’s old homeplace in Garfield, which still stands today and serves as the family’s host place for family gatherings. At the young age of 16, Turner was the last class of the old Garfield school to graduate with only 11 grades. During his years in school and growing up on his family’s farm, Turner was raised up the good ole’ country way.

“We didn’t have any electric lights then. Mama cooked on a wood stove. She’d make two bakers of biscuits every day. My brother, sister and I, our after-school treat was a biscuit that we stuck our thumbs through and filled with homemade cane syrup,” Turner recalled. “We raised our cane and made our own syrup. We went through about a gallon to gallon and a half syrup per week. Daddy would take our corn to the mill to be made into grits and cornbread for meals. We cured our own meat, and mama would make lard from the hogs to cook with. And she’d keep our milk in a safe.
When the clubber (cream) would rise on the milk, she’d scrape it off the top and churn it to make butter. Now, that, was real butter. Before the school bus came in the mornings, me and my brother had one job each: split wood for mama to use for the stove during the day and fireplace in the evenings; and milk the cows and separate the calves. These two things had to be done every morning before school and come that afternoon, we had to hit the fields,” Turner said.

As time progressed, Turner met and married his wife, Betty. The couple resided in Garfield together, before moving to Twin City, in a small house purchased by Turner’s father. They stayed in this location until their house on 1st Street, which was built by Turner’s father for Ed Wommack, became available. The couple was blessed with two sons, Randy and Ricky, and one daughter, Marilyn. The couple raised their family in the house on 1st Street, where Turner still resides today, and Turner made renovations himself to occupy the needs of his family.

Having an extensive background in construction, and thanks to his hard-working father who aided in his knowledge, Turner has performed renovation work throughout the county to help meet the needs of the community. According to Turner, he has assisted with the remodeling of Twin City Baptist Church, and building classrooms and the old gymnasiums of Twin City and Gumlog Road in Swainsboro, as well as the old Adrian School gymnasium and various other locations throughout Twin City and Emanuel County.

“Back then, there wasn’t backhoes to dig the foundation with. We had to dig it by hand with a pick and shovel. We didn’t have breaks back then, either. If you missed 15 minutes, you got cut 15 minutes,” he commented.

Having assisted with implementing the many changes throughout the county, Turner has also seen his share in changes made.

“There weren’t no paved streets when I moved to Twin City. There wasn’t any. It was all dirt roads except for the main highway,” Turner reminisced to way back yonder.

Way back yonder
Way back yonder, when Twin City was divided into two cities – Summit and Graymont – there was an abundance of stores to occupy the streets of Twin City. In fact, there were approximately 10 merchant locations. Just to name a few, there were Bishop Stards, E.W. Wommack, the Brown Brothers, BL Brown, Albert Parham, and OA Hall Store in Summit and Watson Story Bo and Philip, the Dixon, and Morgan’s Department Store in Graymont. In fact, the mentioned stores (except Morgan’s Department Store) were present during the “railroad days” of Twin City. It wasn’t until after the railroads were gone that Morgan’s Department Store was established.

Speaking of railroad days – did you know that the current resting spot of the old railroad depot isn’t where it used to be way back yonder? It’s true! In fact, when speaking to Turner, he recalled that the original setting of the depot is where Holden’s Station now stands.

Behind the stores uptown, there were hitching rails for when folks came to town to shop on Saturdays. They could hitch their mules and carts to the rails when shopping. There were also two sawmills, and across from the current setting of where Twin City’s mouthwatering Lew’s BBQ restaurant stands was the old loading dock for the railroad.

“They loaded lumber, mostly, and pulpwood. You had to be a man to handle that job. There used to be two sawmills. One of them was out on the edge of town. Of course, you can’t tell where it was now, but I know the exact spot on where it once sat, as well as the one that used to stand where Twin View Health and Rehab is today,” Turner said.

Turner also had the pleasure of having the opportunity to see the old city jail function under the works of city clerk B. Wheatley, as well as where the old fire department was housed. According to Turner, the old city jail is where they not only held the local prisoners, but it also served as the host spot for small-town trials.

Turner’s call to serve
Having played a large role in local development and keeper of Twin City’s history, Turner has also dedicated his time to the community as well. Turner served on the Twin City Fire Department for 47 years, serving half of that time as chief and having a hand in the establishment of the city’s current fire station. In addition to that, he also served as a charter member for the Twin City Lyons Club.
“Me and Lloyd D. Cowart are the only charter members left in the club, and I’m the only charter member to have never missed a meeting. I’ve been there ever since 1964, and I’ve never missed a meeting,” Turner recalled.

The Lyons clubhouse used to be where the old tennis courts were. Prior to being made into the Lyon’s meeting place, it once served as Twin City’s school home economics building.

“My daddy was instrumental in getting the building. It was actually moved to its current location. I’m the one who put the foundation down and done the renovation work. Just recently, we redone the kitchen and laid down new floors and have been working to give it a new look,” Turner further stated.

Lyons Club incite: The Twin City Lyons Club meets the first and third Thursdays of each month. The club supports the community through donations, school scholarships, assists with purchase of eyeglasses for those in need, as well as supports a location in Waycross Georgia for children with vision impairments, plus much more!

Lyons Club International President and founder Melvin Jones awarded Turner with two plaques for dedication given to the club, both of which still hang on Turner’s living room wall.
In addition to serving the Twin City fire department and Lyons Club, Turner also served on the county school board for 10 years and the Twin City City Council for 12 years, and has helped make city and county improvements throughout time.

Twin City, Now
When speaking to Turner on the changes then and now, he’s just as proud of his hometown now as he was then.

“I’m proud to have the nursing home here. The Dollar General has contributed great to the town and has been a blessing, as well as Del Brown’s Piggly Wiggly. When Twin City Grocery closed its doors, that was the first time in my lifetime that there wasn’t a grocery store in Twin City. Have you seen what Del Brown has done to the inside of the new grocery store? It is nice! He done a wonderful job and keeps everything as neat as a pin,” Turner further spoke.

Having seen what used to be and what has come, all in all, it’s clear Twin City has seen its share of changes throughout time, and we cannot wait to highlight these changes through local features in upcoming editions of The Blade. Stay tuned!