2023 24 Black Pages FINAL 2 - Flipbook - Page 123
A family biography reveals that Conrad is a well-known barber in the Middle Georgia area.
Earnest has operated a commercial floor striping business for many years. Freeman is the owner of
Metro Realty which has served the community since 1985. Looking backwards in time finds Robert
harvesting pine trees in the early 1900’s, becoming so proficient and progressive in his craft that he
has been compared to George Washington Carver and his works with peanuts. His resourcefulness
was evident. Robert made turpentine from pine tree sap. He sold pine straw and pine bark for flower
beds. He painted and decorated pinecones, selling them as Christmas tree ornaments. Robert also
turned pine trees into logs, firewood, and building materials. Ernest and Felton eventually operated a
sawmill in Gray, GA and employed others. A community known as Sawmill quarters developed around
the mill. The brothers moved to Macon in the 1950’s and established several other businesses
including an entertainment complex next door to the historic Douglass Theatre they dubbed The
Broadway Beer Parlor.
The Lesters would later add the Skyline Grill and Hotel to their list of Black owned family businesses.
Up the road from Adam’s Lounge – which was owned by their sister – it's described as Macon’s first
upscale Black owned restaurant and hotel. Even the menu was next level with T-Bone Steak, shrimp,
and Skyline’s famous fried chicken as choices. All three Lesters (Conrad, Earnest, Freeman) worked
at the establishment as young people. “We remember James Brown coming to the Skyline to have
dinner and sleep,” they collectively recall in the family biography. “Michael Jackson and his brothers,
The Jackson Five, were also visitors to the Skyline for dinner. Them and other famous acts would eat,
sleep, and party there because they were not allowed to at all White establishments.” Other Black
business families of importance include the Reddings, Waltons, and Randalls. R&B sensation Otis
Redding, Jr. became an international singing superstar while maintaining his residency here, his
birthplace. Today his family remains a pillar of the community as the Otis Redding Foundation and
residents.
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