Identification for Richter studio pictures needed

By Kathryn Purcell
Managing Editor

Madison once had a portrait studio. It was housed on South Main Street, in the middle of the block that currently houses Ye Old Colonial.
Pieces of Madison's history, decades-old pictures from the former studio were bought years ago at a flea market by a man living somewhere in the northwestern United States, maybe Oregon or Washington.
Reading the "Richter Studio, Madison, Georgia" stamp on the back of one of his purchases, the man decided to speak with City of Madison officials, and eventually ended up in contact with local historian Marshall "Woody" Williams. He agreed to ship Williams the pictures.
"He agreed to send me the pictures, let me borrow them, copy them," Williams said. "I thought that was nice because he didn't know me from Adam's housecat."
Williams promptly took the pictures to the University of Georgia, where he copied them, before sending them back north. The pictures stayed in their negative form for years, until Williams' son printed them.
Further, around 1980 the block that formerly house the studio was re-zoned commercial, and the space once occupied by the studio was taken by Fulton Federal Bank, where Clifton Hanes was the manager.
“He and I did an archaeological dig on the house," Williams said. "We found the last plate (the picture of the Richter Studio building) up under the house."
Williams and the Morgan County Archives are asking for any Morgan Countian with information that would help to identify these Richter Studio pictures to contact the Archives, open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at 706.343.6271.