Liberty Hall, Circa 1875, Isle of Hope

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A charming two-story house with a metal roof, featuring a front porch with white railings, surrounded by green shrubs and trees.

The Isle of Hope Historical Association notes that this property, on the site of an old horse car station, was purchased by Alexander Perry Solomon (1857-1933) in 1875 from Dr. Stephen F. Dupon (1822-1893). When Solomon built the house he named it Liberty Hall. The Solomon family were prominent Jewish merchants and wholesale grocers in Savannah. Alexander was a director of Liberty National Bank and Trust Company, and helped organize the Metropolitan Savings and Loan Company, which later merged with Citizens Loan Company to become Citizens Bank. He was also the president of the Tybee Artesian Water, Ice, and Lighting Company.

The original facade of the house featured a projected second floor porch. Later owners added the front steps, reconfigured the porch, and added the dormers.

Note: This replaces and updates a post originally made on 13 March 2019.

Isle of Hope Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Barbee House, Circa 1900, Isle of Hope

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Barbee House at Isle of Hope in Savannah, Georgia.

This Italianate-inspired Victorian is located across from the Isle of Hope Marina. It was once owned by Alexander M. Barbee, of Barbee’s Pavilion fame, and later by his daughter, Gertrude Barbee Brady and her husband, Bill Brady. Mr. Brady owned Brady’s Boat Works, which eventually became the Isle of Hope Marina.

Isle of Hope Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Lax Holiness Church, Irwin County

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Lax Holiness Church in Irwin County, Georgia, featuring two wreaths on the double doors and surrounded by greenery and shrubs.

Lax Holiness Church, as it is known today, dates to the mid-1890s, contemporary to the establishment of Lax and the growth of the Holiness Baptist movement. The cemetery suggests the congregation is older, however. It was in use as early as the 1840s and saw a slow but steady number of burials in the decades between the 1840s and 1890s. Most of these early burials were connected to the Harper family, and the earliest burial I could identify was Leonard Harper (1788-1845). He and his wife, Susanna Brothers Harper (1792-1870), were pioneers of the area and their nine children were central to its growth. Leonard, a native of Liberty County, married Susanna, from South Carolina, in 1804, and they established their family in McIntosh County before relocating to the area of present-day Lax in the 1820s. Unless the cemetery began as a plantation or family cemetery, it was likely associated with a church, and that church eventually became Lax Holiness.

Interior view of a church, featuring wooden pews and a wooden cross on the wall above the altar.

The Holiness Baptists of Georgia were formed by two congregations who were removed from the Little River Baptist Association in Wilcox County over doctrinal divisions.

Wingate Mule Barn, Circa 1940, Lax

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Interior of an abandoned wooden barn, featuring exposed beams, a wooden floor with some decay, and an open doorway leading to a view of greenery outside.

This long-abandoned barn is part of a group of tin-sided structures in “downtown” Lax that were part of the Wingate family’s turpentine and farming operations in the 20th century. This particular structure served as the mule barn, and as this view of the loft would indicate, is in its final days. Thanks to Quint Wingate for the historical background and to Jerry Youghn for suggesting I document it. I’ll share more of these structures soon.

An old, weathered barn at Lax, Georgia, made of corrugated metal and wood, with partially open sides, surrounded by green grass and trees under a partly cloudy blue sky.

Howell-Wingate House, 1890s + 1919, Lax

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A charming white house with a gray metal roof, featuring a front porch with black rocking chairs, surrounded by a green lawn and bushes. An American flag is displayed on the porch.

This farmhouse in the crossroads settlement of Lax is the most significant residential landmark remaining in the community. It appears to have originated as a Georgian Cottage but was expanded and remodeled in the popular Craftsman style in 1919. Quint Wingate has graciously shared the history of the settlement, meticulously researched for his masters thesis. He notes that the house was built during the 1890s by Alfred Thomas Howell (1856-1909), a native of Reynoldson, North Carolina, who married an Irwin County native, Mary Ellen Paulk (1868-1956), in 1892. William Ottis Wingate (1885-1934) and brother Walter Lee “W. L.” Wingate purchased the property from Mrs. Howell in 1919, at which time it was remodeled and became William’s home. It remains in the family today and is well maintained.

Ardis-Abbott House, Circa 1845, Marietta

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A large, white Southern-style antebellum house with two stories, featuring a wide front porch supported by columns, black shutters, and manicured shrubs in the garden.

David Ardis (1804-1872) and Eliza C. Gray Ardis (1804-1867) are the earliest known owners of this home, one of the few antebellum residences in Marietta to survive the Civil War. They regularly came to Marietta as a retreat from the hot summers of their native Edgefield, South Carolina, and moved here permanently circa 1850. Ardis Street in Marietta is named for this family. The house is now home to the Little & Smith Insurance Company.

Northwest Marietta Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Cortelyou-Pressley House, Circa 1890, Marietta

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A two-story light-colored house with black shutters and white trim, featuring a front porch with columns, surrounded by green shrubs and trees.

This home, which originated as a Victorian cottage in 1893, was purchased by Dr. Peter Rouse Cortelyou (1843-1902) for his son, Adrian Voorhees Cortelyou (1876-1956) circa 1901. After a fire in the 1920s, it was remodeled to its present two-story Colonial Revival/Georgian appearance. Dr. Cortelyou came to Georgia from Brooklyn, New York, in 1879 to treat a lung condition and became one of the most renowned physicians of his time in the Southeast. Adrian Cortelyou was best known as the vice-president of the Georgia Marble Company. The house remains in the family to this day.

Church Street-Cherokee Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Eclectic Cottage, 1908, Marietta

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A charming white house with a front porch, featuring large pillars, potted plants, and a welcoming front door adorned with a wreath. The landscaped yard includes neatly trimmed shrubs and a stone walkway leading to the entrance.

Eclectic architecture runs the gamut of styles, and this is a good example. It has Victorian and Classical elements but overall is reminiscent of the New South Cottage type, as identified by the Georgia Historic Preservation Division in their definitive 1991 handbook, Georgia’s Living Places: Historic Houses in Their Landscaped Settings.

Whitlock Avenue Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Georgian House, 1934, Marietta

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A two-story red brick house with white shutters and a green door, surrounded by neatly trimmed shrubs and a brick pathway, framed by trees in a lush green landscape.

I wasn’t able to locate a history for this house, but I love the Georgian style and couldn’t resist making a photograph. Georgian, of course, refers not to our state, but to the four British monarchs of the House of Hanover named George. And it’s also not the same as the Georgian cottage style so common in the state.

Whitlock Avenue Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

The Rock Cottage, Circa 1930, Marietta

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Front view of a stone house with a green door and white windows, surrounded by greenery.

According to the Old Marietta group, this charming home, also known as the Anderson-Huffman House, was built by Edgar Anderson (1886-1959) using rocks cleared from the Anderson farm on Burnt Hickory Road. Richardson owned a motel known as the Stonewall Court and a liquor store in Smyrna.