This Building Has Roots

This building in downtown Marietta was built as the annex of the First Methodist Church annex. It was built about 1945.

It was just around the corner from the Clay Homes housing project, where I lived from age 1 to age 7, We played in it after hours when the workmen went home. I remember the hollowed echo sound down the unfinished hallways and the smell of cement and wood.

A friend fell through an opening that would probably become a stairwell and land the next level down on a spike which went through his foot. He was afraid to tell his parents, knowing they would not be happy about him playing in the building. They told him to stay out of there. I’m not sure they told him to stay out because he might get hurt, which he did, or because they were very strict Catholics.

He went to the neighborhood witch doctor, my father, who removed the spike and poured kerosene on the wound. His parents never found out.

I remember one time after the annexed opened I went up to see a magician performed for young people. He was tricky and had a slight of hand.

Another tricky man with the slight of hand was a man who came to town to set up a young pre-teen organization to keep the youth out of trouble. He and the boys had their meetings in the annex. The man convinced the local civic leaders to convince their churches and civic organizations to contribute money for the boys to go on educational trips and such. I remember the hard metal badge, that looked like a U.S. Marshall’s badge. I was proud to wear mine.

The man got several thousand dollars from the community and then skipped town. That was a lesson in itself to the young boys… never trust anybody.

The beautiful gothic steeple First Methodist Church moved to a more modern looking block shaped building and the church was torn down. However, the annex remained. It was a nice size building with plenty of rooms that was Sunday school class rooms, that could be offices.

Office Sales and Service took it over.. The few times I went there to buy something special it just seemed too big and complicated to find the right room to buy something simple like a ball point pen or a back of Blue Horse notebook paper.

Blue Horse notebook paper was the kind to buy. You could send off the blue wrappers and get prizes.

In time with Office Depot, Office Max, and whatever else selling office supplies cheaper Office Sales and Service closed down.

I don’t know what was in it for the next several years but now it is the ex-Governor Roy Barns’ law offices. Here is the other front. The same town that has this also has the Big Chicken. How more classy than you get?


Time marches on.