Room 118 is home to a renaissance man of many trades: a teacher and advisor at Athens State, a history instructor in these halls, a consultant and the new owner of The Elkmont Market.
Christopher Paysinger bought two plots of land with an old, rickety building between them a year ago and has been renovating it ever since. Partially concrete and partially grass, many people approach the history teacher with the intent of renting a space to sell their own wares.
“Last year, about this time, we bought the property up there and spent all of last summer renovating this horrible, ugly, disgusting building. Forty gallons of paint and tons of work later it [became] really cool space,” Paysinger said.
The Elkmont Market opens bright and early Saturday mornings and closes when the sun is high: eight o’clock to twelve o’clock. The market is about 50 feet wide and 90 feet deep enabling sellers to utilize its space well.
“It’s an open air market which means it’s outside and weather permitting. People are renting booth space to display and sell their projects. It’s pretty fun,” Paysinger said.
A few weeks later, business is booming. The market is bringing a variety of people to its gates when the sun is out. The sellers bring an assortment of items to their booths giving the market hodgepodge feeling.
“I love history and southern culture. History can only live in the confines of room 118 at Sparkman High School if you let it. The beauty of what I’m doing now is that it’s a different spin on history,” Paysinger said. “I love writing up descriptions of stuff I find; I love attaching meaning to them. So it’s a different way to experience something that I already like.”