From what I’ve located via online sources, including the National Register of Historic Places, I believe this was the home of William Frederick Johnston (1857-1925), son of pioneer settler John Banks Johnston (1804-1880). It’s a fascinating example of the evolutionary process of a rural house. It originated as a log house and was later improved and expanded into a gabled-ell. If the house were built when William was about 20 years old, it would date to circa 1877, but I believe the size of the log boards may indicate an earlier construction, perhaps prior to the Civil War, by John Johnston. Either way, it’s a very important surviving vernacular house.

John Johnston of South Carolina was the original settler of this area, in 1821. Johnstonville was the first seat of government of Monroe County, which at the time of settlement extended from Houston County in the south to Fayette County in the north and included all the land in that context between the Flint and Ocmulgee Rivers.

The National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Johnstonville-Goggins Historic District notes: It is thought that the very earliest settlers of Johnstonville came to the areas of Land Lots 254 and 255. This area was near the Towaliga River and possibly an old Indian settlement. Most of the early settlers had large acreage and some of them had slave labor in the early 1800s. The village was growing into a bustling community around a crossroads area. The crossroads as on a leg of the Old Alabama Road Trail and the Pony Express delivered mail to Johnstonville, Goggins, and other communities in the district.

Johnstonville-Goggins Historic District, National Register of Historic Places