Georgia Tire Company was created by Joe and Harry Moses in 1946, after both brothers returned home from P.O.W. Prison Camps during World War II. Joe was attached to a medical unit in Poland, where he was captured in 1943. Harry was a B-17 pilot, and was shot down on his 19th mission over Northwest Germany, and spent around 20 months in prison camp. Upon winning the war, the Moses boys were released in 1945, and they made the slow journey home to Vidalia, where their mother was anxiously awaiting their arrival. The two brothers had an idea that they’d like to own a Service/Gas Station. A local businessman named Bragg Thompson had just such an establishment right on the corner of Main and Church Street, right in the middle of town, that he was interested in selling. Mr. Thompson was interested in the farm supply business, as agriculture was increasing as a cornerstone of the Vidalia economy. A deal was struck between Mr. Thompson and the Moses Brothers in one evening, and was sealed with no more than a handshake. That next morning, Joe and Harry opened the service station under a new moniker: Moses Brothers Service Station.

Over the years, the business had a few rough spots, but ultimately began to expand under the sound management of Harry. Joe was somewhat of a free spirit, so he left the business in his younger brother’s capable hands. In addition to service work, Harry began recapping and vulcanizing earthmover and farm tires. Combined with a successful run for a City Council seat, the good word was out about Harry Moses and his crew, at the newly dubbed Georgia Tire Company. Many years of modest, yet solid growth secured Georgia Tire as a hometown staple. In 1972, Harry’s son, Rusty, came home from Georgia Tech, eager to help his father expand the business. He did just that. Along with a partnership with Michelin (their first toe-hold in South Georgia), Rusty and Harry began slowly ramping-up inventory levels and SKUs. By the turn of the decade, Georgia Tire began its foray into the wholesale business. Their no-nonsense approach and hard-working can-do attitude launched them into many lucrative relationships, including many Military and PX contracts. The same ideals and morals have kept Georgia Tire Company standing on solid ground through some of the most tumultuous years in the tire business. Even a third generation has come home to work within the family business. Rusty’s son, Morris, came home in the summer of 2000, after graduating from The University of Georgia. Now he and his father work side by side to continue the same old service one might expect from a hometown tire dealer and service station.

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Back in the 1940s, we were known as Moses Brothers Service Station. Pictured here are our founders, Joe and Harry Moses, posing with their mother Mattie Lou.