There was a broadening experience on our recent road trip to Rutledge. We weren’t looking for the World’s Largest Painting when we set out, but now we want to know. Where is the World’s Largest Painting? We take road trips all the time and sometimes interesting things happen, and sometimes not. This time, we have some stories to tell. This is one of our favorites, because it involves human effort, which we appreciate.
By the way, we’re practically experts on travel in the southeast US. If you are a visitor from Europe and California, it’s fun to know that there are still places like this. We are proponents of Back Roads Travel and this is an example.
Directions (suitable for biking)
From the end of the driveway, take a left. At the top of the hill, take a left on Wilson road. Go for about a mile to where the railroad tracks are, and take another left. Keep going until you see the stop sign.
The total distance to the middle of Rutledge was 7.4 miles, which included the long driveway. This makes the Road Trip to Rutledge biking distance, but it was hot and no one was in the mood. Maybe this fall.
Alternate, more boring directions:
From the end of the driveway, take a right. In about 5 miles, at the Dollar General, take a right again. This will lead you to the middle of town.
Background Information
We all have this image of the 1860 steam locomotives sailing down the track powerfully. That is true, actually those things were immensely powerful. But, what is also true is that the water capacity of these things was only about 8 miles.
So, when the railroad was built, in the 1850’s, there had to be a lot of water stops. These were put along the road every 8 miles. That’s why all of the interesting little towns in this part of the state are about 8 miles apart. Viewers of 1960’s TV may remember this example:
Naturally the local farmers took advantage of this, if they could, they used it to load up some cargo while the engine refilled. These towns, a lot of which are still little, were called “jerkwater towns” . This has some negative connotations in this day and age. An argument can be made that the Road Trip to Rutledge was to just such a place. Most of the little towns have an old time train station and an old cotton warehouse or two.
History
According to this historical marker, the water tower, depot, and everything else here was burned down on November 19, 1864. In a normal year, the Rutledge Music Festival is held here on a different day so as not to celebrate the event.
Jackson Bailey’s Home and Art Center
Drive past the stop sign, and go a little bit up the hill toward the water tower. You will find the Jackson Bailey Home and Art Center. It is not really open to the public. This is because it looks as though someone lives there. They will give you a tour if you call the local number.
Here is the website.
https://www.jacksonbaileyart.org/Contact_Us.html
They have a facebook page. If you can call for an appointment, they may tour you around. For awhile they were using the place for weddings and other gatherings.
Jackson Bailey
Come to find out, Jackson Bailey was the designing painter of the world’s longest continuous painting. This work of art is 11 feet high, and over 1000 feet long, featuring the Life of Christ. This was started in 1960 after Jackson had a massive heart attack and stroke, and survived. At one point, the painter had a staff of artists working with him,. This was hard, because the artists wanted to paint their own things on the canvas. According to the story, the artists each painted their self portrait into some scene.
He finished the painting in 1971, at which point it was supposed to be presented as a cyclorama painting in a place called “Bible Land” in Orlando.
But, because, that project fell through, it wasn’t. The painting, which is longer than an aircraft carrier, has never actually been seen displayed.
What happened to Jackson Bailey? He was accidentally shot in 1974, and after miraculously recovering from both that and a brain tumor, did art in the local area. He passed away in 2004 having never seen the entire painting himself other than in his vivid imagination.
The Mystery of the Whereabouts of the World’s Largest Painting
The website doesn’t say exactly where it is.
In 1992 this painting was subject of a lawsuit in Florida, and ostensibly stuffed into a warehouse in Osceola county.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-06-02-9206020650-story.html
In 2005 it was announced that the painting would be restored. Five tractor trailer trucks were supposedly required to haul the painting to a gallery in Marietta. It is not that big of a gallery.
As of 2013 it is suggested that the painting was in or near the Art Center
This 2015 reference says that the painting was still going to be “restored” by the Avery Gallery in Marietta, at the cost of multiple millions of dollars:
http://jacksonbaileyart.org/Restoration.html
As of 2016 this reference thinks that the painting was in Marietta.
And this article says that “a portion” of the painting was to be unveiled in Arkansas, having been “gifted” by the Avery Gallery.
Where the rest of the painting is, how the “restoration” is doing, and the exact status of the painting is a bit of a mystery still.
The Definitive Answer: Where is the World’s Largest Painting?
p.s. If you ask Alexa, she thinks it in Rutledge, and she may be right.
There is irony in here somewhere but there is some suggestion that at least the whole thing has now been photographed.
At a length of 1000 feet, because of Math, the cyclorama would have to have a diameter of 315 feet. Therefore if anybody wanted to assemble it again, there is only one building in the state that would hold it.
https://mercedesbenzstadium.com/
Your jaw has to drop at the sheer human effort involved.
The art center itself is guarded by an assortment of Cherubs, Guard Dogs and other little figures. Like it says above, they may let you in if you call. There is a life lesson in here somewhere.
The Town Stop Sign
This, to some people, may also be a bit odd. Rutledge is enough of a town for a stop sign in the middle of town, but not a stop light. The stop light is a few hundred yards further down on 278. The middle of town stop sign is mounted in a 55 gallon drum.
The murals, which are on a couple of buildings in town, are a product of the UGA Dodd Art School students. Therefore we can only say that Jackson Bailey would probably be kind but unimpressed. He may have just let them have their moment.
https://art.uga.edu/news-and-events/school-art-students-create-mural-rutledge-ga
We have already talked about the stopsign in the middle of town being a classic small town artifact. We reiterate the warning not to roll through a small town stop sign. Just don’t.
The Caboose
The Caboose is a 1910 actual caboose, according to the little plaque from the Morgan Historical Society, and the mission at the present time is to sling burgers.
At the moment, you have to tap on the window to get the attention of the wait person. When we did it, she appeared, and called us “hun”. She basically told us we were ordering the Bacon Cheeseburger, which we did.
As experienced travelers, we know that when some wait person knows you are from elsewhere, and tells you to order something, you should order it.
We may have to incorporate this rule into our list of “small town travel rules”. In this case it was right. A couple of giant burgers, the accompanying chips, and a couple of waters will run you $20. To boot, they were much better than city burgers. Unless proven otherwise this is my nomination for Best Burger in Morgan County. They didn’t pay us to say this, although we may accept payment for future endorsements.
There is an inside eating place that has ice cream as well, but that place was closed.
We sat outside the Caboose under an old, overgrown wisteria vine, and watched the traffic. For the most part, the passers by coming back from Hard Labor Creek were respectful of the stop sign. Watching traffic, by the way, is something you do in a little jerkwater town on a hot summer day, because it is there.
This guy…
Was apparently on a mission. It’s not every day that you see some kid driving a riding lawn mower down main street. He was headed right down the middle at one point. At least he went to the side once he saw us taking his photo.
The other restaurant in town, Yesterday Café, was open yesterday but not today.
Road Trip to Rutledge: Old Houses
Because Rutledge is also a little collection of random old houses, the “When was it Built?” game is in full effect. Remember, gingerbread equals Victorian, pyramid pillars equal Craftsman. Some of the other more modest places may have been built earlier. The nicer and older of these line the street that runs along the tracks, as they did in Harlem.
The Prosperous Church and the Less Prosperous Church
We have talked about these classic Little Southern Town elements before. Here they are in Rutledge. The Less Prosperous Church looked like it is between pastors at the moment. This Baptist as well as the Methodist church down the street, are both prosperous enough to fit the mold
This Log Cabin
This is not far from the stop sign. To the extent we can guess, this is a relatively modern reproduction of a log cabin. If we only had an unlimited amount of trees, and 1.99 non-producing acres of land, we might duplicate it. We would need the determination of Jackson Bailey, though, and no one has that. Two out of three isn’t bad. This one is being used as a clubhouse.
We don’t want to get the zoning people on us either.
The Old Railroad Station and Cotton Warehouse
These quintessential elements of the Small Southern Town were right where they should be. Obviously they were rebuilt after the 1864 vandalism incident, and cared for by the locals. I think the cotton warehouse is an antique place at the moment. It is next to the Old City Hall, which has a bit of character.
Attractions
The Farmer’s Market is here on Wednesdays. This is fun because it is so laid back. If you have a few vegetables or eggs that you want to get a dollar or two for, you may just show up with your market basket. No one rents a space.
The snootier Farmer’s Market in Monroe, that we walked through briefly, not too long ago, is on Saturday Morning. That one seemed a bit more organized.
The Rutledge Summer Concert Series
This exists, and in non-Covid times provides some free entertainment some Saturday nights in the summer. Check the city calendar: Your road trip to Rutledge would be musical.
There is an annual BRAG (Bicycle Ride Across Georgia) event that happens. It is usually in the spring, but this year it is likely to be in October. Here’s the link.
Road Trip to Rutledge: Do Over
Would we do this again? Sure. It’s close, and you can make something to do out of nothing, if you have the right frame of mind. How else are you going to have an interesting story to tell around the fire pit?
As so often happens, we started this road trip thinking one thing, and finished it thinking another. In this case, our couple of hours of spare time gave us a lot of entertainment value. Also, we got even more respect for human energy and spirit.
That plus we saw the lawn mower guy. We also had the best burger in Morgan unless someone gives us free burgers to convince us otherwise.
Be there in the square, because it is there.
