Macon Magazine

February/March 2025 | maconmagazine.com 49 C O T T O N A V E N U E N A M E S T O K N O W • D.T. Walton Sr. A Howard University trained dentist who practiced in the building that he bought for 43 years, Walton was also a Civil Rights activist. A block of Cotton Avenue was named after him. Many Black-owned businesses flourished there, from an art supply store to a radio service, but it's currently considered one of Historic Macon Foundation's Fading Five places in peril. • Charles H. Douglass The son of a former slave, Douglass was born in 1870. He started out by repairing bicycles and started many businesses. His home was right off of Cotton Avenue. He also directed a savings and loan bank and worked as a vaudeville booker, through which he founded the Douglass Theatre in Downtown Macon. The legendary movie theatre and entertainment venue where many historic entertainers including Ma Rainey, James Brown and Macon's own Little Richard and Otis Redding appeared. • Albert Billingslea He started and owned Billingslea Construction Company, first building residential properties and advanced to doing commercial real estate. Billingslea's company built several churches in Macon, including St. Luke Baptist Church, Bellevue Baptist Church, Mount Moriah Baptist Church and Allen Chapel AME Church. He also started Ebony Bonding. For years, the building was mostly vacant, until a partnership between Brian Adams and Vergil Adams (no relation) created Billingslea Commons, a mixed development named for the building's heritage, with a new mural of Albert Billingslea gracing a a wall. • William "Daddy Bill" Randall He owned Randall Memorial Mortuary. He led the boycott of the segregated busses in 1961, setting up the office for SCOPE, a program of MLK Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) on Cotton Avenue. He was the first Black member of the Bibb County Board of Commissioners. Flip to page 51 for our map of the Cotton Ave. Black Business District, as informed by Mr. Habersham. book lists African-American owned and operated businesses in the Macon and Central Georgia area, and has grown to over 250 pages and a lively email list. Habersham continues a long line of Black business professionals in Macon who have not only survived but prospered. Many awards and accolades line the wall of his office on D.T. Walton Way, on what would have once been considered Cotton Avenue. In 2020 Habersham was named Citizen of the Year by the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce. A leader and community icon in his own right, Habersham feels a hero is someone who is "a person who is genuinely concerned about the development and upli ing of the community across the board, regardless of economic, political, spiritual, or academic status. Everyone needs to improve the community in all areas." Habersham recalls that before segregation ended, black businesses flourished throughout Macon. "Cotton Avenue was a mecca for Black business. You couldn't walk down Broadway or Poplar Street," without seeing many businesses owned by African- Americans, Habersham said. He believed that when segregation ended, it actually caused a decline in many Black-owned businesses, because people were no longer restricted from shopping in stores owned by whites. But the legacy of African-American business owners in Macon is long, and many still remain. In the area were banks, barber shops, and insurance companies, alongside entertainment, food, and hospitality. Like Hutchings Funeral Home, which is still doing business on New Street a er generations of family ownership stretching back to 1895. Among the pioneers who helped Cotton Avenue and adjacent Macon areas stay successful were a few notables who have since passed. These African-American men, along with the leadership of Alex Habersham, are the epitome of standing on business in Macon. activities that provided a safe place for the community." Cotton Avenue in its present form is significantly shorter than it was during the late 1800s. It is now referred to as the Cotton Avenue Black Business District, which includes the recent Cotton Avenue Plaza at the end of the street. It once stretched up to what is now called Forsyth Street. Habersham, who grew up in Tindall Heights, didn't become a businessman immediately following graduation from Savannah State University. "I was a school teacher," he said. "A er I graduated, I was teaching in Savannah at Tompkins High School, and my old principal, Dr. R.G. Martin at Ballard Hudson, got in touch with me and told me, 'We need you, come on home.'" Habersham began teaching at Lanier High when Macon schools were first being integrated. He taught at his alma mater, Ballard Hudson in 1968-69. The integration of the schools began with staff members first, and the integration of students began during the 1971-72 school year. His first official business began by playing music. Also known as A.C. by friends, he had a reel-to-reel recorder and would make 8-track tapes, He started receiving so many requests that he opened up a record shop, Habersham Records, which exists to this day on Napier Avenue. A er obtaining a loan from C&S Bank, Habersham owned the Macon Courier a couple of years a er opening the record store because, "We needed a black voice in the community." Among other endeavors, he started a program, Adopt a Role Model, in the early 1990s to connect young men with mentors of successful men in the community. The program still exists and is run by Tina Dennard. Habersham also hosts a talk show, "Call to Action"" which is broadcast on Bounce TV. He also started the Macon-Middle Georgia Black Pages, which has published for more than two decades. The annual "I remember the pride and the unity that it generated in the African-American community... Cotton Avenue encompassed a variety of businesses and activities that provided a safe place for the community."

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