Bennett's Syrup House

This rustic barn is the site of one of Baker County's indigenous traditions - grinding sugar cane to boil the sweet juice into syrup.  During the fall and spring Heritage Days Festival, Baker County native Bennie Joe Bennett, who helped sponsor and construct the exhibit, including donation of an 80 gallon syrup boiler, treats visitors to syrup boiling demonstrations.  Those attending get a taste of the freshly pressed cane juice before skilled workers transform it into the dark amber syrup that was a common sweetener and food source for the county's early residents. Back in the day, local moonshiners relied on availability of syrup as an ingredient in their brew when white granulated sugar was scarce or too expensive. Inside the syrup house can also be seen the 200 year old hand-hewn wash log used for generations by the Isaiah and Bertha Mae Harris family for doing laundry.