VALLEY LIVING: Club Blanton: From moonshine still to riverfront venue
Published 11:00 am Thursday, October 3, 2024
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Editor’s note: This article appeared in the August edition of the VTN magazine, Valley Living.
Tucked away on the Chattahoochee is a collection of buildings overlooking the river. While the picturesque spot is now an events venue called The River at Club Blanton, it has a long history of being a different sort of gathering place.
Club Blanton:
According to research done by Chamber’s County archivist, Robin Watson, Chambers County voted to be a dry county in 1937. Lee and Russell counties capitalized on the opening of the New Club Blanton on June 24, 1938.
The club was opened by a W.R. Goggans and was managed by James “Juicy” Wood, and his wife (who was not named) and at another time, Gehue and Etta Hollon, according to an article from the Chambers County newspaper from 1939.
The name perhaps comes from the Blanton Ferry, which would transport soldiers from Fort Benning on the Georgia side, to enjoy the night.
While records are sparse on the part dance hall, part restaurant, mentions of the club in articles and books paint a lively picture. In a chapter on mill villages, from Constructing Image, Identity, and Place, it states that in interviews the club was described as a, “‘beer joint’ a ‘honky tonk,’ and a ‘house of ill repute.’ Club Blanton and other roadhouses catered to farmers and soldiers as well as mill workers.”
All that is known about the Club was that it offered swing music, had an 1800 square foot dance floor and offered chicken and fish dinners made by “Hotsy” Fuller. While it’s unclear how long Club Blanton lasted as the party central, its service of liquor to the community extended beyond the existence of Club Blanton.
The Fish Camp:
On a sunny July morning, the McCord family gathered at what was their “Uncle Gehue’s place,” off of Lee Road in Valley straddling the border of Chambers but just inside Lee County. The family, and the new owners, Carol Northrup and Leslie Robertson, filled the main building of the now wedding and event venue.
As family members excitedly talked to each other after years apart, memories of the hall they stood in came back. Matt McCord, one of the organizers of the reunion, painted a colorful picture of his Great-Uncle Gehue. The Hollons had seemingly run the club after it was no longer Club Blanton.
McCord said his uncle was a no-nonsense but beloved figure in the family. He could only recall seeing Gehue wearing a shirt at his 50th wedding anniversary to his beloved wife Etta. He wore a small sailor’s hat and shorts with suspenders, despite the previously mentioned lack of a shirt. McCord and the other young kids at the time would spend part of the summer at the aunt and uncle’s house.
They called the area a “fish camp,” although the same dancing and imbibing certainly took place. There were small cabins where people could come stay on the Hollon’s land, and enjoy the fish dinners in the camp.
Gehue was the proprietor of the establishment, but people came for reasons other than dancing. Moonshine was the real business of the fish camp.
The family members recalled Gehue and the other men who worked at the camp, known as Roundman and Driver, “going fishing.” Which means they got in the boat to deliver their homemade moonshine up and down the river.
The family didn’t need to worry about the police much, as Gehue kept the moonshine still out on an island along the river. The craftsman would sell fish in a barrel to locals, but the top of the barrel would also contain some moonshine.
“There was a dirt road, there was no paved road [coming in] and it was because [Gehue] didn’t want a paved road because he was the law and he didn’t mean anybody coming back here and finding his moonshine,” said McCord laughing.
One of the family members recounted the Gehu’s quote, “I went ‘fishing’ every day, but a worm never touched the water.” He added that when the family would ask what was in the jugs that were kept in the boat or back of his truck, Gehue would state with a smile that it was, “that Holland Spring water.”
The adults at the reunion, then the little kids of the family, remember helping their uncle with deliveries, not knowing what they were delivering. All of the memories of summers at Uncle Gehue’s and Aunt Etta’s place were shared with fondness and love.
McCord said it was emotional for him to walk around the land he spent his summers on, and that he would, “do it again in a heartbeat.”
After Gehue passed, Etta sold the land to Jim Ivy, which at that point was not a rowdy fish camp, but a quiet place for the couple to call home. Ivy and his family had it until 2018 when Northrup and Robinson bought it.
The River at Club Blanton
The new proprietors offer a space that is more family-friendly, while still capturing the history. The business partners, who have known each other since elementary school, wanted a place for their families and others to enjoy on the river.
The friends have transformed what were the old rundown buildings and open land into a sought-after wedding venue. However, the venue offers spaces for events like the McCord family reunion, corporate gatherings, and any other celebration.
The former fish camp, now called Careless Joe’s (a combo of the new owner’s names Carol, Leslie and Joe) where the McCord family reunion and other smaller events are held, is a rustic hall with antique pieces balancing the lively dance hall vibe of old and a modern feel, all while overlooking the Chattahoochee.
A lawn out front offers smaller ceremony space, and separates Careless Joe’s from the “Ivy Treehouse,” where people renting the venue, or couples getting married can stay.
A short golf cart ride away is a large greenspace, where most of the venue’s weddings are held. Two large iron gates led visitors into an open area, with views of the river. There is a separate open reception lawn next to the ceremony space.
Northrup and Robinson have tried to dig up as much of the history of Club Blanton and all the establishments and owners over the years. The pair seem committed to having the venue be a continuum of all that came before, rather than simply a pretty spot on the river.
Regardless of ownership, or the legality or illegality of the activities at what was once called Club Blanton, the space has always been and remains somewhere that brings joy to those in it.
