Keisha Lance Bottoms’ family history leads back to Crawfordville

CRAWFORDVILLE, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Little remains of a Crawfordville street that once held Black-owned businesses, including a store owned by Sheppard Peek, an ancestor of Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, according to local historian Terry Howard.Howard said many families in the area have had little to help them trace their past. She said Bottoms’ visit to the town has started to change that.Howard, who was born in 1957, said the street was known as Back Street. She said that in the 1960s, white businesses were on the front street and Black businesses were on Back Street.She said Back Street had a barbershop, a grocery store, clothing stores, a restaurant, a Masons’ building and a community funeral home.“In this spot here is where those stores and things used to be,” Howard said.Howard said Peek “owned a store back here.” She said her aunt would go to the store for ice cream when she had 25 cents. She said Peek’s wife, Ella, took over the store.Howard said the only active buildin