THOMAS COUNTY, GA (WTXL) — Dewey City dates back more than a century, to a time when segregation limited where Black families could live. So families built a community of their own — with homes, businesses, churches, and schools. Now, some of those places are gone or look completely different.
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Pamela Jones first moved to Dewey City in 1997.
"In Dewey City, you feel like you have a family…the people in Dewey City care about one another," Jones said.
Spend some time with Jones, and you'll quickly learn she's proud of Dewey City.
Dewey City was the first neighborhood in Thomasville where Black residents were permitted to build their own homes, according to the Historical Marker Database.
Jones has lived in Macon and Atlanta but keeps coming back. Part of that pride comes from knowing who was here before her. When Black families couldn't always go somewhere else for what they needed, Jones says neighbors in Dewey City created opportunities right there.
"She was named Miss Helen. And she delivered a lot of babies, a lot of black babies. A lot of black babies here in Dewey City. We have people here that, you know, had boarding houses. They rented out apartments. People here that did hair. You know, several beauticians came out of Dewey City. We had people that were running stores here in Dewey City. When you couldn't go far in certain areas, Dewey City had several stores on the corner," Jones said.
Those stories go beyond one neighborhood. For decades, 90-year-old local historian Jack Hadley has worked to preserve these stories, including the parts of Black history he says haven't always been fully told.
"We tell the deeper story. We show the Jim Crow era. We show the blacks in slavery. We show the blacks achievers. We show black beautiful women. We show blacks in the government, Barack Obama, all those that made the first," Hadley said.
Hadley spent 20 years sharing that history through his museum — the Jack Hadley Black History Museum.
For Jones, learning that history changes how she sees the neighborhood she lives in now, and what she wants the next generation to know.
"We don't learn stuff just to keep it to ourselves. We learn stuff so we can pass it on from generation to generation," Jones said.
New places to learn more about Dewey City and Thomasville's Black history are on the way. Hadley is working on two smaller Black history museums expected to be ready in 2027. A new main museum is planned for 2028.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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