Tifton in Tift County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

Love Avenue: Tifton's Silk Stocking Row

— Historic Downtown Tifton —

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 19, 2022

1. Love Avenue: Tifton's Silk Stocking Row Marker

Inscription.
“In the 1890s and early 1900s, broad, tree-shaded Love Avenue was the center of Tifton's social life. Named after Tifton's first mayor, William Hershel Love, the street was lined with elegant and spacious Victorian-style homes.”

Despite its rural roots, the little town was very cosmopolitan. People from many states moved to Tifton and built grand homes alongside those of flourishing Tiftonites, and on many afternoons and evenings, Love Avenue over-flowed with fun and finery.

Fashionably dressed ladies and gentlemen could often be seen strolling or driving along the Avenue on their way to a whist party, tea, dance, kimono or supper party.

Love Avenue was also the site of the Bowen Opera House, frequent host to New York stars and nationally known singers, pianists, violinists, and lecturers. Here too, ladies dressed in elegant clothes, even daring décolleté gowns.

Over the years, most of the mansions on Love Avenue were renovated or replaced by banks, churches and various businesses, while the Opera House succumbed to fire. However, one of the original homes continues today Love Avenue's southern hospitality traditions.

In

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1934, the home of John Pope, circa 1892, was purchased by the Lankford family and renovated as The Lankford Manor, an inn and restaurant that served both travelers and Tiftonites. For 65 years, the Manor's dining room overflowed every Sunday with church goers, eager for delicious Sunday dinners, while hundreds of South Georgia ladies savor sweet memories of delectable specialties served there during their bridal luncheons, showers and soirees.

Vacated by the Lankfords, the Manor fell into disrepair, but was rescued from demolition and renovated as “The Three Graces at Lankford Manor.” A beautiful Victorian Bed and Breakfast Inn, it regained its popularity as the place for delightful local social occasions and memorable overnights for visitors.

[image captions]
• Elegant fashions were worn to soirees and parties on Love Avenue.
• Love Avenue in the late 1800s was the center of Tifton’s social life.
• Typical Victorian interior circa 1895.
• An early auto weaves its way down Love Avenue with Judge Harry Kent at the wheel.
• 1905 Buck House, now Bowen Donaldson Home for Funerals, Tifton’s oldest business.
• A Love Avenue showplace, the

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 19, 2022

2. Love Avenue: Tifton's Silk Stocking Row Marker

Looking northeast. Lankford Manor, today known as “The Local at the Lankford,” is in the background.

E.H. Tift House, later the Frank Corry home.
• W.O. Tift House 1896 was one of many elegant mansions on Love Avenue.
• For 65 years, Lankford Manor was the ultimate place for bridal luncheons and Sunday dinners.
• The Three Graces at Lankford Manor, restored in 2007.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Entertainment • Industry & Commerce • Roads & Vehicles.

Location. 31° 27.37′ N, 83° 30.499′ W. Marker is in Tifton, Georgia, in Tift County. It is at the intersection of Love Avenue (US Highway 41) (Georgia Route 125) and East 4th Street, on the left when traveling south on Love Avenue (US Highway 41). The marker is near the sidewalk at the northeast corner of the intersection. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 401 Love Avenue, Tifton GA 31794, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Wiregrass.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 19, 2022

3. Buck House

Today it houses the Bowen Donaldson Home for Funerals.

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Susan Lane Tillman Moore (within shouting distance of this marker); Guns, Churches and a Museum (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Who Are We and Where Did We Come From? (about 800 feet away); Tift County (about 800 feet away); Tift-Lee Building (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Olympic Torch Paused at this Site (approx. ¼ mile away); From Mystic to Wiregrass (approx. ¼ mile away); Purple Heart Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tifton.

Edmund Harding Tift House image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 19, 2022

4. Edmund Harding Tift House

Lankford Manor (<i>northwest elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 19, 2022

5. Lankford Manor (northwest elevation)

Vacated by the Lankfords, the Manor fell into disrepair, but was rescued from demolition and renovated as “The Three Graces at Lankford Manor.”

Lankford Manor (<i>west/front elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, April 19, 2022

6. Lankford Manor (west/front elevation)

Today it is known as “The Local at the Lankford.”

Credits. This page was last revised on October 15, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 13, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 12 times since then. Photos: 1. submitted on October 14, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on October 15, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.