Established in 1954, a liquor store also operated on the Riverside Motel premises. When I-95 opened, this place began to lose business as traffic diverted to the new limited access (and egress) highway. The Riverside Motel was owned by Knud Olfort and Nellie Vanzant Olfort, a married couple.
In 1993, Nellie went missing, and no clues to her whereabouts were found. A dark cloud followed Mr. Olfort for the rest of his days after he refused to assist authorities in searching for his wife. Two years after Knud died in 1997, Nellie’s remains were discovered in her car submerged in the St. Mary’s River, a half mile from this place near the Georgia/Florida state line. The sun almost obliterated the lettering on the sign leaving it unreadable. True southern gothic.
Excerpt from Ghostland America
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(All photos by James Calemine)