Barrow County: Photographs from the Stell-Kilgore Collection

The photograph files of Stell Photo Service are a treasure trove of Barrow County history. Beginning in 1946 and until his retirement in 1987, Pierson Stell, along with partner Ray Kilgore, photographed events big and small in Winder and surrounding communities. The photographs are remarkable for their quality and diversity, and stand today as one of the county's most valuable historical resources.
Like all professional photographers of their time, Stell and Kilgore did portrait work, weddings, and commercial photography; however, they took their art several steps beyond the usual. In a time when most families did not own a camera, the two men photographed children's birthday parties, Easter egg hunts, and family reunions. Rather than spending Christmas morning with their own families, they spent that time going to the homes of families throughout the community, gathered around the Christmas tree opening gifts. Perhaps even more important from a historical standpoint was their coverage of breaking news events. Their files contain hundreds of photos of automobile accidents and train wrecks, many taken for the local newspaper and others for various insurance companies and lawyers. Stell and Kilgore also served as the forensic photographers for local law enforcement agencies, and photographed in great detail the crime scene of murders in Barrow County for decades.