The Frederick Gnann House, standing in a scattered grove of old oaks, is to me one of the most beautiful locations in all of southeastern Georgia, evocative of another time*. It really does look like a movie set and is well maintained and secure.

Since Frederick (1865-1910) was born at the tail end of the Civil War, I wonder if the house wasn’t built by his father, George Bergman Gnann (1824-1890). The Gnann family were very active in the nearby Bethel Lutheran Church and there are many wonderful houses throughout this section of the county that bear their names.

I’ve often read Gnann descendant Susan Exley’s great historical articles in the Effingham Herald, but have somehow missed the full history of this house. I’ll just say that Effingham County is lucky to have someone as passionate and knowledgeable of local history as Mrs. Exley.

*-The general assumption with almost any property of this size, from this era, is that it was built and worked by enslaved persons, but according to Susan Exley, there is no record of any slaves being owned by the Gnann family, in census or family papers. This is quite unusual, as many Lutherans did own slaves but I feel Mrs. Exley, being a family member, has done some serious research.