Though the post office across busy U. S. Highway 301 is designated as Dover, this is actually Cooperville.  The old Paradise Restaurant and Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge were among numerous businesses that took advantage of the busy automobile traffic on U. S. Highway 301, a primary route for tourists along the Atlantic seaboard in the days before interstates.

This sign is among the most-photographed landmarks remaining in the area.

Cooperville was a center of religious educational and social activity in the antebellum era. It was established by William Cooper about 1790 when he acquired the 1100 acres originally granted to Noble Jones. His home, later added to by his brother, George Cooper, stood about 1/2 mile west of this marker. The village was the home of Wilson C. Cooper, the educator who established nearby Cooper College; George Cooper II, inventor of the “Cooper plow” also lived in the area…

http://www.gpb.org/news/2010/08/20/lazy-little-us301-towns-boomed-before-i-95

The orange-and-blue color scheme suggests that this was once a Howard Johnson’s.

This now serves as the local community house.

Hiltonia is located on Georgia Highway 24, between Sylvania and Sardis.

I had a nice visit with Wade Ward yesterday, who has purchased this old store in an effort to save it. Wade has no immediate plans for the building, but has an interest in old buildings and the preservation of our smallest towns.