Local Find: Oyster Creek Trading’s joggling board

A Peachtree Hills couple bring a coastal tradition from the Lowcountry to Atlanta
1697
Oyster Creek Trading joggling board
Photograph by Kathryn McCrary

As Matt Barnett waited to propose to his UGA sweetheart, Mary Nelson Goodgame, he sat on the joggling board behind her family’s house in Savannah. Hold on—what’s a joggling board? A long wooden board supported by a frame on each end, the joggling board is a traditional porch-sittin’ perch in the Lowcountry. When you sit, it gives a little. It jiggles, sending sitters toward each other. The now-married Barnetts, who live in Peachtree Hills, decided to bring the coastal tradition to Atlanta. So they designed a board (Mary Nelson is an interior designer) and found a craftsman in South Carolina who uses an authentic technique. “It’s a place to have a cocktail, to take a nap,” says Matt. Or to just sit with your honey. “You’re moving together,” says Matt. “You have to be conscious of each other.” No wonder another name for it is a “courting board.”$499 to $649, oystercreektrading.com

Advertisement