Here’s a recently released oral history from Southern Foodways of the Jackson, GA barbecue joint Fresh Air Bar-B-Que.

Dr. Joel Watkins, a veterinarian, opened Fresh Air Bar-B-Que in 1929 to serve the rabbits and goats he raised and barbecued on the weekends. Dr. Watkins never cooked pork. George “Toots” Caston, a fifth-generation native of Jackson, introduced pork when he bought the place in 1952. His grandchildren remember how his barbecue business “permeated every part of his being.”

Today, the third generation of the Caston family is at the helm.

–Monk