T.J. Word Artist

Johnson’s Sweet Potato Shack "
by T.J. Word

"Johnson’s Sweet Potato Shack” is part of the “Americana” series by T.J. Word featuring the Sweet Potato Storage House located at U.S. Hwy 27 S. and Ringer Road. Built by W.E. Johnson near the town of Roopville, this produce storage house with its brightly painted Coca-Cola advertisement is one of the most photographed landmarks in Georgia. The storage building’s slated floor regulates airflow to cure sweet potatoes so they will last through the winter cold. In recent years, yellow sunflowers have been planted in the fields next to this site.

This series of paintings by T.J. Word intended to take the viewer back to an Americana that existed when honor, integrity and hard work were the corner stone of what it meant to be an American. This generation is referred to as “The Greatest Generation” because at a time of great personal suffering in economic crises, they rose to the occasion and made the sacrifices necessary to restore the freedoms we enjoy today.

This Limited Edition of 125 Giclee prints on 16 x 20 canvas is made from the original oil on canvas board painting and comes individually signed & numbered by the artist along with a certificate of authenticity, framed in a barn wood frame. Only $250.00 (while supplies last) plus shipping and any applicable sales tax. The framed print will ship within 5 days of your order via UPS ground.

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Artist T.J. Word announces the release of the first Limited Edition Giclee print in his "Americana series" This edition is from his original 16 x 20 oil on canvas painting of a Hall's Place Grocery in rural Alabama in the 1930's.

This is the 1st of a series of paintings by T.J. Word intended to take the viewer back to an Americana that existed when honor, integrity and hard work were the corner stone of what it meant to be an American. This generation is referred to as "The Greatest Generation" because at a time of great personal suffering in economic & political crises, they rose to the occasion and made the sacrifices necessary to provide much of the world the freedom they enjoy today.

“Staat’s Mill Covered Bridge”
by T.J. Word

Built in 1887, the Staats Mill Covered Bridge originally crossed the Tug Fork of Big Mill Creek and was named for Enoch Staats’ water-powered mill.   The Staats family were early settlers to the area, arriving around 1750.   The bridge was built adjacent to Enoch Staats mill and store and played an important role in the history and development of Jackson County. Construction of the bridge was handled by the Jackson County Court, which paid a total of $1,788.35 to local craftspeople for completion of the structure. 

Nearly 100 feet long, the Staats Mill Covered Bridge was constructed using the Long system, patented by Stephen Long in 1830.  The distinctive feature of Long trusses are the “X”-braced diagonals in each of the panels.  This bridge has 11 such panels, each eight feet seven inches long and 14 feet, three inches deep. The bridge is an impressive and historically significant example of a late nineteenth century timber-covered bridge building. 

In 1983, the old bridge was moved to the FFA-FHA State Camp at Cedar Lakes, three miles from the original site and reconstructed across a pond at a cost of $104,000.  It is in excellent condition and open to pedestrian traffic only.


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“McCormick Mill” by T.J. Word

McCormick family grist mill is where Cyrus Hall McCormick invented the first successful reaper and founded the harvesting machine industry. Cyrus Hall McCormick (1809-1884) conceived plans for his reaper, built and tested it, and then remodeled it for public trial, all within six weeks time. McCormick worked far into the night to complete the world's first reaper for the harvest of 1831. McCormick had always been a keen inventor. In 1824, at age 15, Cyrus invented a lightweight cradle for harvesting grain. Cyrus' father, Robert, had worked in the farm's blacksmith shop intermittently since about 1815 on a horse-drawn reaper, but was never successful in perfecting it. He finally abandoned the project at the beginning of the 1831 harvest. Cyrus picked up where his father had left off and added several key features to his father's design. By the end of the same 1831 harvest, Cyrus had the first successful demonstration of his reaper. Cyrus further refined his reaper, and finally took out a patent in 1834.

    
McCormick's reaper spread - slowly at first, but then at a pace that quickly outstripped his ability to produce the machines at the Walnut Grove blacksmith shop. In 1847, he moved to Chicago to serve the vast prairie grain fields of the Midwest. Shortly thereafter he sent for his brothers William and Leander, who became partners with Cyrus. By 1856, Cyrus was famous the world over. McCormick's "Virginia Reaper" hastened the westward expansion of the United States, and this expansion produced new markets for the reaper. In 1851, the reaper won the highest award of the day, the Gold Medal at London's Crystal Palace Exhibition, and Cyrus McCormick became a world celebrity.

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