ADEL-COOK COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING Also known as the Del-Cook/SOWEGA Building The Del-Cook Building, a landmark in downtown Adel since 1930, became the property of Cook County Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, October 1, 1987 during a special ceremony. The owners of Del-Cook Lumber Company, P. W. Bryan and Mack P. Robinson, presented the deed. The membership was told on August 25th of the proposal by the owners of Del-Cook to donate to the Chamber the building which housed the corporate offices of the company until 1986. The Chamber members voted to accept the offer. Bryan and Robinson asked that the building be named in honor of Jim Paulk, the former owner and founder of Del-Cook Lumber Company. Mr. Paulk purchased the building April 6, 1960 and used the third floor for the corporate offices of the company. Mr. Paulk asked that the building also retain the title of SOWEGA as it was dedicated in 1930. In the book Empire Georgia Today in Picture and Paragraph copyrighted in 1936, the authors wrote that the three-story building was originally the home office of Southwest Georgia Melon Growers Association (SOWEGA) which was started in 1920 as the only cooperative association for marketing watermelons in the world. This explains why the building now carries the name Jim Paulk/SOWEGA. J. J. Parrish of Adel was one of the founders of the organization and served as secretary and manager. In 1930, the group had 3500 members, representing 40 countries selling melons in 721 markets in 38 states. Adel historian Miss Minnie Shaw also wrote in the early 1930’s in her book History of Cook County about the SOWEGA building: “On the ground floor are the Western Union office, Adel Post Office, and C. J. Adkins’ Drug Store. The second floor is used for offices which are occupied by Colonel McCall, Colonel Jackson, Dr. Austin, J. J. and R. E. Parrish, and others. The third floor is used by the SOWEGA group.” She also wrote, “There is a lovely roof garden with an adjacent cooking area on the top of the building. Here some of the most brilliant social events of our time have been held. The building is lighted, modernly equipped, steam heated and in it is installed the first electric elevator in our little town”. On December 19, 1987, the official name of the name of Cook County Chamber of Commerce was changed to Adel-Cook County Chamber of Commerce.
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.