Category Archives: –COWETA COUNTY GA–

Dr. J. T. Reese House, Circa 1856, Newnan

This fine Greek Revival townhouse is one of the architectural highlights of Greenville Street, in one of the oldest residential historic districts in Newnan. It was built by Dr. J. T. Reese, an early druggist in the community. Newnan was known as a hospital town during the Civil War, and this was one of the houses where injured soldiers were taken for care.

The house is also associated with the Umberger family and known as the Reese-Umberger House. The colonnade was likely added in the early 1900s when the Neoclassical movement was in full swing.

Greenville Street-LaGrange Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Hand House, 1889, Newnan

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This is one of several large Neoclassical Revival mansions in the Greenville-LaGrange Street historic district. Considering the construction date of 1889, the columns were likely added a few years later. It was seriously damaged during the EF-4 tornado that struck downtown Newnan on 26 March 2021, with columns toppled, and is now being restored.

Greenville Street-LaGrange Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Governor Ellis & Mildred Arnall House, 1935, Newnan

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Ellis Gibbs Arnall (1907-1992) received his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1931 and returned to Newnan to practice law. He married Mildred Delaney Slemons (1908-1980) and built this house in 1935, in the same neighborhood where his parents once lived. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1932-1938 and as attorney general from 1939-1943. He was elected governor in 1943 and served four years. His record still stands as one of the most progressive in the state’s modern history.

Platinum Point Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

McDonald-McMichael House, 1941, Newnan

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The McDonald-McMichael House was among the last to be built in the Platinum Point neighborhood, just north of downtown Newnan on US 29. Characterized by large lots with set-back houses, Platinum Point was one of the earliest residential expansions of Newnan, and represented several early-20th-century revival styles popular throughout the country at the time. This Colonial Revival example, completed in 1941, looks like something you’d see in Beverly Hills on a tour of star’s homes during Hollywood’s Golden Era.

Platinum Point Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Parrott-Camp-Soucy House, 1842 & 1885, Newnan

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The grand appearance of this home belies its simple beginnings circa 1842. Within a few years of its construction, a second floor was added and the house given a Greek Revival treatment. In 1885, Judge John S. Bigby bought the home as a wedding gift for his daughter, Callie Bigby Parrott. Around this time, the house was converted to its present Stick Style Victorian appearance. Some might think it looks like The Addams Family house from television, and stylistically, it’s quite similar. But the similarities end there. This house is well-maintained and while it too has been called into service by Hollywood as a haunted house, it’s one of the most iconic addresses in Newnan.

In 1936 the house was bought by the Camp family who sold it to Chuck and Doris Soucy in 1984. The Soucys completely renovated the house and grounds and operated it as a nationally known bed and breakfast for many years.

When I made this photograph in 2017, the house had been repainted for its use as a set location in the movie The House with a Clock in its Walls. It was also a set location in The Odd Life of Timothy Green. It is generally painted a lighter color.

Greenville Street-LaGrange Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Willcoxon House, Circa 1860, Sargent

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Colonel John B. Willcoxon built this house around the time he opened a grist mill near Wahoo Creek in the Lodi community. The grist mill opened in 1861 and remained in operation for five years. In 1866, with partners H. J. and George Sargent of Massachusetts, Colonel Willcoxon established the Willcoxon Manufacturing Company to produce cotton rope. The large four-story factory attracted many rural families to the area and primarily employed women and children. This was long before child labor laws prohibited such employment.

In 1888, H. C. Arnall, Sr., and T. G. Farmer purchased the enterprise and renamed it the Wahoo Manufacturing Company. The name of the town was officially changed to Sargent in 1892.

Sargent Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Old Post Office, 1892, Sargent

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This served as the post office until 1982.

Sargent Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Historic Storefronts, Senoia

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Many of the storefronts in downtown Senoia are reconstructions of earlier structures but some of the older commercial architecture, as seen above, survives.

Senoia Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Mann-Whatley House, 1910, Senoia

Freeman-Fiorini House, 1924, Senoia

Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown

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Category Archives: –COWETA COUNTY GA–

Dr. J. T. Reese House, Circa 1856, Newnan

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Hand House, 1889, Newnan

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Governor Ellis & Mildred Arnall House, 1935, Newnan

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McDonald-McMichael House, 1941, Newnan

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Parrott-Camp-Soucy House, 1842 & 1885, Newnan

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Willcoxon House, Circa 1860, Sargent

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Old Post Office, 1892, Sargent

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Historic Storefronts, Senoia

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Mann-Whatley House, 1910, Senoia

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Freeman-Fiorini House, 1924, Senoia

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