The birthplace of Joel Chandler Harris and Alice Walker, Eatonton is the perfect location for a state writers’ museum. The Georgia Writers Museum is presently open Friday-Sunday in a small storefront on Main Street, the museum plans to relocate to the historic Eatonton Hotel in the future.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Situated on one of the largest town squares in Georgia, Putnam County’s Neoclassical Revival courthouse was designed by J. W. Golucke.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This statue of Brer Rabbit on the courthouse lawn is one of two in Eatonton, the other being located at the nearby Uncle Remus Museum. It’s one of the most colorful and unique monuments in Georgia. The community embraces Joel Chandler Harris but to its credit equally promotes Alice Walker. I think they’re just proud to claim two world famous authors, no matter how far apart they are on the spectrum.
The whimsical statue stands atop a granite pillar, with the epigram: Brer Rabbit – Born and Bred in the Briar Patch – He Survives Forever by His Wit, His Courage and His Cunning.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
From the historical marker: Andrew & Mary Ann Clopton Reid’s 1852 National Register Greek Revival Mansion’s origins reach back to the 1816 “Eagle Tavern Inn.” Rising Star Masonic Lodge F & AM Lodge #39 minutes record its first Feast of St. John the Evangelist Festival Day here on December 28, 1818. Thomas T. Napier owned and occupied it by 1820 & by 1822 its tax digest value was $3,500 ~ while most other buildings in town valued at $500 – $600. Eatonton’s famous tavern operator, William Wilkins, Sr., bought it in 1830 and lost it at sheriff’s sale November 3, 1835, to wealthy planter brothers Andrew & Alexander Sydney Reid, who operated it as Reid’s Hotel. By 1846 Andrew Reid (1806-1865) owned it alone and by 1848 began the conversion to his private residence. James M. Broadfield (1815-1899) was the carpenter-architect who turned the earlier Inn into the Greek house. Twelve massive wooden fluted Doric columns, the massive entrance, interior Egyptian-style door, window & mantel molding & the hallway floor’s marbleized squares added sophistication. In 1874, Reid’s administrators sold to Francis Asberry Leverette, CSA (1845-1895), appointed U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Georgia by President Cleveland. Leverette moved to Macon and died there after selling on February 5, 1894 to James M. Rainey, who began renting rooms for $2.00 a day and even housed by 1901 Dr. Hopkins’ dental office. Mr. & Mrs. Emerson Foote Bronson rented it from Rainey in 1911 and bought from him in 1914. Bronson relocated from Tennille, GA, in 1908 as the new Central of GA Railroad Depot Agent. In 1931, his widow Nena Norwood Bronson (1868-1961), converted to a boarding house and then into 7 apartments, including her own. She preserved the property, careful not to remove architectural features. Her daughter Eunice Bronson (Frank P.) Stubbs (1896-1985) inherited, moved in and continued the family preservation tradition. Her six children, in tribute to their grandmother, mother and their preservation interest, sold it on Oct. 10, 1985, to the Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society, Inc. for its headquarters. The Society opened the house on Dec. 14, 1985, for a lavish donors’ reception.
It’s also believed that Joel Chandler Harris and his mother lived in a small cottage on the property for a time.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The history I’ve located on this house so far comes from a current realtor listing. The house is critically endangered and presently listed for sale. Featuring hand-carved Ionic capitals, the house is thought to have been the first headquarters for the United States Marshal Service in Central Georgia and a temporary hospital in the Civil War. It obviously served as a residence thereafter.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
From the Eatonton First United Methodist Church website: Methodism has been a driving influence in Putnam County for over 200 years. Although the earliest days of organized church history in the town of Eatonton will probably forever remain a mystery, we do know that a small group of faithful servants of Christ were active in what was known as the Sabbath in 1820. The community built its first church, old Union Church, in 1819. For the next 39 years, the building was shared by the Methodists, Baptists, Christian and Presbyterian congregations, as well as the Masons. The Methodist church began taking “subscription pledges” in 1855 to construct a building of their own. By the year 1857, a lot was purchased on North Madison Avenue for the establishment of the First United Methodist Church of Eatonton. Later that year, with the appointment of a pastor and the construction of the original church, a beautiful Greek revival “temple form” building, the First United Methodist Church of Eatonton became a reality. The church was dedicated in March of 1858 and cost about $7,600. In the years following, electric lights and stained glass windows were added. Classrooms were assembled in the basement as the church and community continued to grow.
In 1979, disaster struck when an arsonist burned the original sanctuary. Despite this unfortunate act, the congregation rallied. The sanctuary was rebuilt and reopened in 1981 on Easter Sunday. This is the Historic Sanctuary that you see off Madison Avenue today, sitting on the same lot as the original.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house is thought to have been built by Lewis P. Harwell for William Thomas, who left Eatonton for Alabama in 1838. The family of Dr. Reuben Nisbet of Macon owned the house for over sixty years. Since the death of Mrs. Taliafero [its last private owner] in 1952, it has served as the parsonage for the Methodist church.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Also known by the names of other owners (Reid-Green-Edison-Lawrence House), this landmark of the Greek Revival style is one of Eatonton’s most impressive homes, especially in its setting at the end of Wayne Street. Legend holds that Alexander Sidney Reid spent ten years gathering materials and three years building it.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This house appears to have originated in the Federal style, but was later modified with Victorian elements. I’ve seen sources that date it as early as 183os but have seen no other history yet.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places