Deep in the heart of White, Georgia, lies a 34-acre paradox. To the casual observer, it might look like a massive automotive graveyard—a final resting place for over 4,000 American-made steel giants. But to Dean Lewis, the man who has curated this forest for decades, it is something entirely different.
It is a gallery. It is a classroom. It is a testament to the beautiful, inevitable collision between man-made engineering and the relentless spirit of Mother Nature.
Not a Graveyard, but a Preservation Project
Most junkyards are places of destruction. They are transition zones where cars are stripped of their dignity and crushed for scrap. Old Car City USA defies that cycle. Since the Lewis family started the business as a general store and scrap yard in 1931, the mission has shifted from liquidation to preservation.
Walking the six miles of trails, you realize these cars aren’t “rotting”—they are being reclaimed. Dean Lewis views the oxidation of a 1940s Ford or the way a Georgia Pine grows directly through the floorboards of a Cadillac as a deliberate artistic process. By stopping the crushers and letting the forest move in, Lewis has created a “Living Museum.” Here, the rust isn’t damage; it’s a patina. The moss isn’t a mess; it’s a velvet upholstery provided by the earth.
The Photographer’s Paradise: Mastering the Textures
For a photographer, Old Car City is an exercise in sensory overload. The lighting is filtered through a thick canopy of pines and hardwoods, creating a soft, ethereal glow that dances off chrome bumpers and cracked windshields.
Your eye is constantly pulled between two worlds:
- The Industrial: The sharp lines of a 1950s tailfin and the intricate grill-work of a bygone era.
- The Organic: The neon-green moss blankets and the orange-red rust that bleeds into the brown fallen leaves.
This is where the hand-painted signs—like the one leaning against the rusted truck in my photo—become so significant. “ART, NATURE, HISTORY” isn’t just a decoration; it’s the thesis statement of the property. It reminds us that we aren’t looking at “junk”; we are looking at a multi-decade collaboration between human designers and the natural world.
The Tree of Knowledge and the “Mayor” of Old Car City
As you wander the trails, you’ll eventually find the Tree of Knowledge. It serves as a spiritual center for the property, adorned with Dean’s hand-painted wooden signs that offer “Dean-isms”—bits of Southern wit, philosophy, and humor.
Dean, often called the “Mayor” of Old Car City, is as much a part of the attraction as the cars themselves. His philosophy is simple: Nature is the ultimate artist. He believes that the way a vine wraps around a steering wheel or how the sun bleaches paint is more beautiful than anything a human could manufacture. To him, the “art” is the progress of time itself.
The Upstairs Gallery: A Hidden Treasure Trove
While the cars are the stars of the outdoors, a visit isn’t complete without heading upstairs to the main building’s art gallery. This is where Dean keeps his most delicate masterpieces: the Styrofoam cups. Protected from the elements, hundreds of these cups—each intricately hand-painted with doodles and portraits—sit alongside a massive collection of his other folk-art signs. It’s a wonderful contrast to see the massive, heavy trucks outside and the light, fragile cups inside, both bearing the same artistic DNA.
A Six-Mile Hike Through Time
The scale of the history here is staggering. As you hike the trails, you are walking through the evolution of the American Dream:
- The 1930s & 40s: Rounded fenders and “suicide doors” half-buried in the red Georgia clay.
- The 1950s: The chrome era, where “Space Age” fins still catch the light under layers of pine needles.
- The 1960s & 70s: Muscle cars and heavy steel, now serving as planters for local ferns and wildflowers.
There is a profound silence in these woods. Unlike a modern city, where the sound of an engine signifies haste, the engines here are silent. It forces the visitor to slow down and acknowledge that everything eventually returns to the soil.
A Decade Through the Lens
This article is just the beginning of a deeper look into this Georgia landmark. I have spent the last 10 years visiting Old Car City, returning season after season to document how the “art” changes as the forest grows. In my upcoming articles, I’ll be sharing my personal experiences from behind the lens, including specific photography techniques for capturing the “hidden” details of the trails and stories from my decade of wandering these 34 acres of rusted steel and Southern pine.
Plan Your Visit
- Official Website: oldcarcityusa.com
- Location: 3098 Hwy 411, White, GA 30184
- Hours: Typically Wednesday–Saturday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
- Pro Tip: This is a strictly cash-only business. Ensure you have cash on hand for admission before you arrive.