I’ve always documented Georgia’s finest homes alongside its more common dwellings, and this is a great example of the latter. I maintain that the living spaces of the working classes are more important in a broader historical sense than the “grand old ladies” that have always gotten the most coverage from historians and photographers, because they represent the familiar. The simplicity of this pyramidal cottage is what I admire most about it. It probably dates from the 1920s-1940s.
The recent photographs I’ve shared from Griffin were made in 2017. I’ve recently recovered them after thinking they were lost. Griffin is growing but still feels like a small town to me, at least in its historic core neighborhoods. Many of its homes have been converted for various commercial uses. I’ve identified this house as a “Folk Victorian” mainly because it’s been modified beyond what I believe was its original Queen Anne appearance. The ornamentation that remains, in the eaves, suggests it was more elaborate at one time, but it’s still quite substantial.
It took some detective work, but I finally identified this old church. A recent sign indicated it was the New Life United Holy Church, but I knew it was an older church. The mission-inspired belfry led me to believe it was a Catholic church, and it turns out it was Sacred Heart Church.
Their parish history notes that the first Mass took place in Griffin in 1879, with just five people in attendance. From this small group the church grew to the point over the next three decades that a permanent home was needed. This chapel was dedicated on 2 May 1910 to serve that purpose, with Reverend Harry Clark of Saint Joseph Church in Athens serving the congregation on a monthly basis. The Redemptorist Fathers took over the mission in 1942, and Sacred Heart became a parish in 1943, with Reverend John Walsh serving as the first resident pastor.
The congregation outgrew this structure and services were last held here in 1973. After meeting in their parochial school for nearly a decade, Sacred Heart dedicated their present home on MacArthur Drive in 1982.
This is the third permanent courthouse to serve Spalding County, built to replace A. Ten Eyck Brown‘s 1911 courthouse, which was lost to fire in 1981. The firm of Baulding & Spandro were the architects. It’s one of the most visible structures in downtown Griffin today, and at least it has a clock. I’m not a big fan of modern courthouses, and I can’t really get a read on the “Neo-Colonial” architecture of this one, but compared to others built in recent years, it’s a bit more aesthetically interesting. That’s about all I can say about the subject.
The old Spalding County Courthouse is a rare example of the early use of the Italianate Style in public buildings in Georgia and is one of just a few surviving antebellum courthouses in the state. Spalding County was created in 1854 and this was its first official courthouse. It was the work of David Demarest (1811-1879) and Columbus Hughes (c.1825-1871). Demarest was a New Jersey-born builder/architect responsible for the Greene County Courthouse, the Powell Building at the State Lunatic Asylum, and the Old Mercer Chapel at Penfield, among others. He is thought to have been the builder of this courthouse, with Hughes serving as architect. Little is known about Hughes other than the fact that he designed the old Atlanta City Hall, on the site of the present state capitol.
The city likes to point out that famed Western outlaw, John Henry “Doc” Holliday, who was born in Griffin, had business dealings in the old courthouse before his family moved to Valdosta. He may also be buried in the old Oak Hill Cemetery.
After construction of a new courthouse in 1911, the structure became the Spalding County Jail in 1914, furnished by the Pauley Jail Works Company of St. Louis. It was decommissioned as the jail in 1984, when a new facility was built elsewhere.
National Register of Historic Places
I’m happy to report that restoration has begun on this landmark. It was built by Dr. William Prichard on land purchased from Robert Lanier, father of Sidney Lanier. There were several owners between 1872 and 1919 when it was purchased by Lucien P. Goodrich, grandson of Dr. Pritchard. Goodrich was a city and county attorney, city court judge, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Griffin Bar Association and served on the first Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. He died in 1954 and after a brief ownership by his daughter, the home passed from family hands. [Other names associated with the property have been Wadsworth and Jones].
National Register of Historic Places
Though the Craftsman style is well-defined, its execution in this example appears to be a vernacular interpretation, made exotic by the full-length stone posts and eyebrow windows. The porch rails are obviously later additions.
This original section of this house appears to be quite early, perhaps mid-19th-century.
Also known as the Lewis-Mills House, this grand Greek Revival was built for the Lewis family, who came to the South from Massachusetts. Mrs. Emily W. Lewis was living in the house with her granddaughter, Lavonia Hammond, during the Civil War. Lavonia recalled that the house served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers and hosted Alexander H. Stephens, Robert Toombs, and Benjamin Harvey Hill, all good friends of her father. In 1878, Lavonia married John B. Mills and they resided in the house with Lavonia’s grandmother. When Mrs. Lewis died in 1901, John Mills purchased the house from his wife’s siblings. When Lavonia Hammond Mills died in 1936, the house passed out of the family’s hands. It had numerous owners in subsequent years and was eventually subdivided into apartments. After falling into disrepair it was restored and is now the office of a law firm.
National Register of Historic Places
Vanishing Georgia: Photographs by Brian Brown 