Significant building in downtown Macon has had ‘many lives,’ served the LGBTQ+ community

From selling furniture and stationery items to serving homestyle cooking and fan-favorite alcoholic beverages, the walls located at 425 Cherry St. have seen it all.

This downtown historic building has housed more than a dozen different businesses and served Bibb County citizens for nearly 120 years, according to Telegraph archives, historical city directories, and 20th-century Macon-Bibb Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.

“It is a good example of the many lives one building can have,” Nathan Lott, Historic Macon Foundation executive director, said in an email.

Despite its local and cultural significance, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and National Park Service determined in 1986 that the Cherry Street property itself was “not a contributing building to the Macon Historic District,” according to files recently provided by the Historic Macon Foundation.

Some of the establishments included Southern comfort food distributor S&S Cafeteria, Theatre Macon and The Thirsty Turtle.

The building, which was formerly addressed as 415 Cherry St., was built in the late 1890s, The Middle Georgia Times reported in 2023.

Why the building doesn’t have historic status

Macon is home to 15 historic districts containing over 6,000 historic buildings, according to the Macon Historic Foundation website. To be considered for inclusion in the Historic District, proof of architectural and historical merit must be presented to the National Register.

On Sept. 19, 1985, Mr. T. Z. Standard submitted a Historic Preservation Certification Application to the U.S. National Park Service on behalf of the building.

The agencies responded in an evaluation, which said that 425 Cherry St. “(did) not contribute to the historic significance of this district in design, materials, workmanship or feeling and association” in 1986.

According to the agencies, the building had been so significantly altered that there was no longer evidence of its original craftsmanship – highlighting changes, such as a large neon sign, stairs construction and other interior designs.

“With the removal of the decorative metal storefront in the 1930s, the removal of the remaining decorative metal on the facade in the 1950s, and the subsequent rehabilitation of the facade in 1984, the building no longer retains any of its original character or architectural features,” the evaluation continued.

To be considered “historic,” a property must have three essential attributes: sufficient age, a high degree of physical integrity and historical significance, Lott said.

Because there are various ways to be recognized as a historic structure, Lott speculated that the agencies may rule the property differently — nearly 40 years after the property’s initial application was submitted — if its current owner were to file again with a different strategy.

“They were really looking through a very narrow lens, like does the front of this building from the street resemble the way it did before a particular age period,” Lott said over the phone.

Socially significant events could help make the case on a property if it had historical significance based on what it meant to a community or some sort of cultural phenomenon, he added.

425 Cherry’s significance for Macon’s LGBTQ community

Some Macon residents identify the structure as culturally significant, especially for the city’s LGBTQ+ community in the early 2000s. Club Synergy and The Mill, Macon’s last two known downtown LGBTQ+ nightclubs, were housed there.

Brandon Lawler, owner of the cocktail lounge and live music venue JBA, moved into the building in 2023 and said he is constantly learning about the building’s prominent history.

As an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, Lawler told The Telegraph in May that he felt compelled to preserve the building’s drag tradition and fulfill a community desire by hosting drag show events.

Lawler said he wants to focus on the longevity of the business, which operates out of 425 Cherry St.

“We’ve gone through year one, [and] we have many years to go. I would like to stay here for a long time,” Lawler said over the phone in May. “We’re here now, and I don’t want to leave anytime soon because (this building) has been a bunch of things ... even the first S&S in Macon. This building alone got a lot of cool history.”

Timeline of former, current occupants

• 1905-1907 - Patrick Salvin: Sold high-grade polished oak furniture, pictures, clocks, etc.
• 1907 - Moerlin’s
• 1907-1914 - George F. Wing Co: Print and stationery company
• 1918 - Union Cafenet: “The Best Place to Eat - Our Annex for Good Drinks, Smokes and Eats”
• 1919-1922 - Quality Fount Cafe: “Best Home Cooking for 50 and 60cent meals”
• 1922 - McEvoy Book & Stationery Company: Books, Stationery and Office Supplies
• 1923-1940 - Macon Cafeteria: Home cooking
• 1940-1983 - S&S Cafeteria (Address changes between 1949 and 1950 from 415 Cherry Street to 425 Cherry Street)
• 1985 - Break-In
• 1987-1994 - Theatre Macon: Films/Entertainment
• 1996-1999 - Cherry Street Pub: Nightclub
• 2000-2002 - Reaction: LGBTQ-inclusive nightclub
• 2003-2010 - Club Synergy: LGBTQ nightclub
• 2011-2014 - Element Nightclub/Club Element: All-inclusive/non-LGBTQ nightclub
• 2015-2017 - The Mill: Macon’s last gay bar in the downtown area
• 2017-2021 - The Thirsty Turtle
• 2023-present - JBA: Live music venue and cocktail lounge