This Plantation Plain house is likely unique in Evans County. With its front porch closed in for additional rooms, it represents a utilitarian variation for this common style. It was the home of Simon Johnson Brewton (1819-1865). Brewton was a prominent citizen of the area who died of smallpox.
Judge Thomas Alfred Durrence (1831-1893) was a pioneer of this section of Georgia and an early settler of what would later become Evans County. He was a state representative, served on the board of the Georgia Academy for the Blind, and served on the board of Brewton’s Methodist Church. His antebellum Plantation Plain-style farmhouse, south of Claxton, is in good condition and a nice example of 19th century rural Southern architecture.
Claxton’s historic downtown area retains several significant structures.
Claxton’s small downtown is divided by railroad tracks and US Highway 280.
Hot boiled peanuts really are a sort of Southern caviar. If you don’t understand, you probably never will. But as any Southerner will tell you, we love ’em down here! Georgia leads the nation in peanut production, so there are plenty to go around. Roadside vendors like this one are a link to the past and no small town in South Georgia is worth its salt if it doesn’t have at least one. Amanda Jones Little says this seller “has the best in town” and nice produce, as well.
This utilitarian structure was expanded by the addition of a preacher’s room. The front chimney is a bit unusual.
Update: As of 2021, this house is gone.
In his book Houses of Heart Pine: A Survey of the Antebellum Architecture of Evans County, Georgia (2001) Pharris DeLoach Johnson notes that this house was already built when purchased by Uriah Rogers in 1856. Rogers gave the house to his son James, who then sold it to his brother, John “Duffy” Rogers, Evans County’s longest-surviving Confederate veteran. Thirteen of his twenty children were born here to his first two wives, Laura Blitch of Blitchton who died here during childbirth in 1883, and Melvina Hearn. John Rogers lived here until 1891, when he built the large home seen in the next post. It is in immediate danger as the back roof is collapsing and this important house will soon be lost if not stabilized.
John “Duffy” Rogers (1847-1941) was the last surviving Confederate veteran of Evans County. He helped establish Bull Creek Baptist Church in 1870 and was a well-known citizen of the area throughout his life.
This was identified on our social media pages as the Leon DeLoach home. If anyone knows any more, please reach out.