With growth, comes change. Sometimes that includes “out with the old, in with the new.” Recently, part of a historic building at the corner of Broad St. and Midland was torn down to make way for a parking lot.
While it’s always a bit painful to destroy parts of a town’s history, it’s often necessary for growth and sometimes it even reveals interesting new discoveries. In this case, a ghost sign from Benson’s Bread was found on what was originally an exterior wall near the old Midland Railroad Station.
Benson’s Bread is still in operation today and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018. According to their website, Benson’s Bread was “founded by W. Howard Benson in the picturesque foothills of Northeast Georgia…and has been a supplier of of quality bakery products since 1918.”
Jennifer Faulk, owner of Yesteryear Restorations, resident of Old Town Winder, and member of the Barrow Preservation Society, headed up the project of preserving the delicate remnants of the sign. After the sign was exposed post-demolition, Barrow Preservation Society took charge of the project and was solely responsible for collecting the privately donated funds required to preserve the landmark sign.
“While we would have loved to leave it as a more vintage-looking ghost sign, it was just not feasible due to the age and condition of the painting,” Faulk stated. The initial plan was to just put a clear coat over the surface of the image, but the paint was flaking off and made it nearly impossible to preserve in its original condition. Therefore, the image would have to be touched up with new paint.
Barrow Preservation Society hired two local contractors to execute the task of preserving and restoring the sign. Paul Innecken, long-time Winder resident and local business owner at The Sign Shop, applied the new paint after the area was thoroughly prepped and cleaned. “Paul is well-known around town for his impeccable talent, so we knew he had to be the one to paint the sign. He and his wife Joy have always been very involved in the community. They have a vested interest in preserving antique vintage charm, so Paul was happy to jump on board with the project,” Faulk stated.
“Johnny Cable did a great job preparing the fragile signage, removing tar and gunk, and applying the clear coat to the sign so that it could be touched up by Paul,” Faulk said. “Johnny also grew up in Winder and is very interested in preserving the vintage charm of the town. He does invaluable work helping me to restore and preserve historic homes in Old Town Winder,” Faulk added.
Follow the Barrow Preservation Society on Facebook to donate, join, or obtain information about current and future preservation and restoration projects around Winder. It’s not too late to donate funds to this project, and the team still needs scaffolding to complete the project and finish restoring the top part of the sign. Donations of money or equipment are a tax write-off, according to Gwen Hill, treasurer of BPS.
