This four-over-four house was built for Sam Houser. Later owners were the King sisters and, beginning in 1948, C. C. Chapman, who served for many years as the sheriff of Houston County.
Houser-King-Chapman House, 1903, Perry
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Category Archives: –HOUSTON COUNTY GA–
Dr. Henry Holtzclaw House, 1870s, Perry
Built for Dr. Henry Holtzclaw, the second president of the Houston Female College, this Eclectic Victorian house was purchased in 1925 by the Penn-Dixie Cement Company for use as its employee clubhouse. It later served as the Penn-Dixie superintendent’s house and is today home to Century 21 Real Estate.
Holtzclaw-Riley-Gayle House, Circa 1855, Perry
This Carpenter Italianate house is thought to have been built around 1855 for Judge Henry M. Holtzclaw, though there is some disagreement as to the date of construction. George Riley purchased the house in 1925 and sold it to the Gayle family in 1961. It is presently used as a food pantry.
Craftsman Bungalow, 1910, Perry
William Tyre Swift House, 1857, Perry
Also known as the Swift-Tolleson House, this antebellum Greek Revival townhouse was built for Judge William Tyre Swift, most likely with the labor of enslaved men. The street on which it is located is named for Judge Swift. In 1879, legend relates that the world-famous SSS Tonic was invented in the backyard by Judge Swift’s descendant, Charles Thomas Swift. The tonic was one of the best-selling American patent medicines of its time and is still in production today, albeit a different formula. J. Meade Tolleson purchased the home in 1929 and it remained in the Tolleson family another forty years.
Tenant Farmhouses, Houston County
This row of four surviving tenant houses in southern Houston County is an important landmark of the sharecropping era. Interestingly, three different designs are represented among them. On the largest working farms, tenant houses were often located adjacent to one another in rows. Very few examples of this configuration survive today. And while it’s obvious that these won’t be around much longer, I admire the landowners who have kept them as reminders of the history. These likely date to the early 20th century.
The first two pictured are simple saddlebags.
This board-and-batten example is larger than the others and has chimneys on each end.
My favorite of the four was this hip-roofed saddlebag with false-brick siding. In the South, we generally refer to this type of siding as “tar paper”.
Update: As of 2022, I think some of these structures are no longer standing.
Mulberry Grove, Circa 1832, Houston County
James Averette Bryan (1801-1847) and his wife Catherine Holloway Rix Bryan (1803-1861) were pioneer settlers of the long forgotten Wilna community. James A. Bryan migrated to Georgia from North Carolina, settling first in Twiggs County, and later in Houston. He was instrumental in the establishment of Houston County and in the layout of Perry [originally Wattsville]. Bryan originally built a log dogtrot house [pictured above] from timbers cut and milled on a site a few miles from Mulberry Grove. The original homestead was later occupied by Bryan’s oldest son, Dr. Robert Campbell Bryan, and his wife Eliza. [It survives but is not accessible to the public]. As his fortunes improved, Bryan constructed a more formal dwelling, known as Mulberry Grove, circa 1832* [pictured below, and in all subsequent photographs]. *-Some sources date the house to 1850, but discussions with two architectural historians and preservationists support the earlier date.
Mulberry Grove later became the home of Bryan’s third son, Abner Council Bryan and his wife, Harriet Taylor Bryan. Their son, John Averette Bryan and his wife, Linda Lee Bryan, eventually inherited it. Many members of the Bryan family are buried in an adjacent private cemetery, alongside the slaves who built and worked the plantation.
The most notable feature of the house is the rain porch [also referred to as a Carolina rain porch]. Originally, there were only four stucco-covered posts but at some point two more were added for stability. Rain porches are a very rare architectural element in Georgia.
The original kitchen is attached to the house by an enclosed breezeway. The addition of modern steps are one of the few overall modifications visible at the rear of the house.
Rear elevation, from the southeast. Note the double chimney
PLEASE NOTE: Mulberry Grove is private property and is monitored closely by physical and digital means. I am grateful to have been invited by the new owner to photograph the property. He is very interested in making accurate historical renovations to the house and I believe he will be a good steward.
Plantation House, Circa 1850, Henderson
This transitional antebellum house is among the oldest standing in Houston County. I haven’t found the slave schedules for this property but it’s most likely there were enslaved people working on this plantation, and that they were involved in the home’s construction.
Knight Vault & Monument Service, Henderson
Grovania, Georgia
Besides Ellis Grocery, the old Georgia Southern & Florida Railroad freight depot is the last public landmark in Grovania. The graffiti on the passing train car seems to sum up how often you might encounter a scene like this today.