08/15/2026
The Blackburn Building — A Century of Chipley History
If these walls could talk, they would have more than 100 years of stories to tell.
Standing at 1265 Church Avenue in downtown Chipley, the Blackburn Building has been part of this community since the early 1920s. Built around 1922–1923, the building was originally home to the Blackburn Funeral Home, operated by J.O. Blackburn.
But this wasn't simply a place of business.
The Blackburn family actually lived upstairs above the funeral home, making this building both their livelihood and their home. For decades, Blackburn Funeral Home served families throughout Chipley, Vernon, Wausau, and surrounding communities during some of the most difficult and meaningful moments of their lives.
By the 1970s, the business became known as Blackburn-Wachob Funeral Home, continuing a name that had already become deeply connected to Washington County.
And somehow, through more than a century of Florida weather, changing businesses, generations of families, and even Hurricane Michael, the bones of this building held on.
But time was beginning to catch up with it.
By the time Michael and Jennifer Corbitt stepped in, the building was deteriorating and desperately needed someone willing to see what it still could be.
Through M.Corb Design, they took on the task of bringing life back into one of downtown Chipley's historic buildings.
Rather than covering up everything old, Michael and Jennifer chose to let the building tell its own story.
Sections of the original brick walls were intentionally left partially exposed. The imperfections, textures, and marks left behind by more than a century of use became part of the design instead of something to hide.
Those walls remind us that this isn't a new building made to look old.
It is old. And it earned every mark.
Thankfully, the structure itself had stood the test of time. The restoration allowed the building's history to remain visible while giving it a completely new chapter.
Today, M.Corb Design calls 1265 Church Avenue home, while neighboring Corbie & Co. brings another layer of business, creativity, and community activity to the property.
And upstairs, where the Blackburn family once lived nearly a century ago, people can once again stay within these historic walls through what is now fittingly called The Blackburn Inn.
There is something special about that.
A building that once helped serve the families of this community is once again filled with people, conversations, ideas, businesses, and life.
The Blackburn name represents the history that came before.
The M.Corb name represents a new chapter.
And together, both names are helping bring life into downtown Chipley through the very same building.
Sometimes historic preservation isn't about making something look brand new.
Sometimes it's about saving enough of the old so the next generation can still see the story.
And at 1265 Church Avenue, that story is still being written. ❤️
