This house is one of several surviving employee housing units of the Dixie Mill textile village in LaGrange. While it has been identified as a “saltbox” in architectural surveys, Scott Reed points out that these are not truly saltboxes, and referred me to John Linley’s term: spraddle-roof. The form was used throughout the neighborhood. Dixie Mill, established in the late 1890s, was the first of many modern textile operations that would dominate LaGrange’s economy throughout most of the 20th century.
This Greek Revival cottage was built by Sylvanus Bates circa 1849, who was principal of LaGrange High School at the time. The school was located across the street and the central hallway of the residence was used for academic assemblies. Colonel John L. Stephens, brother of Confederate vice-president Alexander H. Stephens was a later resident, as were the Jarrell brothers. Admiral Albert E. Jarrell helped negotiate the end of the Korean War. His brother, Captain Henry Jarrell, was the American attache to Chiang Ki Shek and Francisco Franco. From 1958-1989, the house was used for services the Christian Science Society. It is presently a gift shop.*
*-Much of the information on homes in LaGrange and Troup County comes from the excellent book, Travels through Troup County: A Guide to its Architecture and History (Troup County Historical Society, 1996). John Lawrence’s excellent photographs combined with Julie Turner’s research make for a great local architectural survey. Every county should be so lucky as to have such a guide at their disposal. The very affordable book can be purchased from the Troup County Archives.
Representative of the transformation from Federal and Plantation Plain styles to the more formal Greek Revival, Nutwood is one of six extant homes designed and built by Collin (sometimes spelled Cullin or Cullen) Rogers (1791-1845) and his brother Henry. Just as Daniel Pratt’s houses are emblematic of Milledgeville, Rogers’s designs are icons of LaGrange. Nutwood is considered the most accomplished of his works. It should be noted that Rogers and his brother utilized a large number of enslaved people with great skills in carpentry to build their commissions.
Joel D. Newsom (1789-1864) was the first owner of the property and legend states that the plantation house derived its name from the fact that the first pecan tree grown in Troup County was planted here. Newsom served as judge of the Troup County Inferior Court from 1831-36. In 1937, it was purchased by Mr. & Mrs. Arthur E. Mallory who owned it until the 1970s.
Now replaced by a newer facility, William J. J. Chase‘s Stripped Classical New Deal courthouse is still used for county business and is adjacent to the new courthouse. Chase also designed the Seminole, Mitchell, and Cook County courthouses.
The focal point of downtown LaGrange is LaFayette Square, which is anchored by a bronze copy of Ernest Eugene Hiolle’s famous statue of the Marquis de LaFayette. LaGrange is named for the Marquis’s French country estate. The statue was placed in the square in 1976 and is on permanent loan to the city from LaGrange College.
LaGrange Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Charlie Joseph Maloof was a Lebanese immigrant who got his start selling fruit from a cart in LaGrange in the late 1910s. By 1920, he and his wife opened their first Charlie Joseph’s restaurant on Main Street. This location, on Bull Street, opened in 1946 and has been the go-to place for hot dogs and hamburgers in downtown LaGrange ever since. The fifth generation of the family still owns and operates the business today.
LaGrange Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
P. Thornton Marye, one of the most prominent architects of early 20th century Georgia, designed this house for Cornelius Vanderbilt Truitt (1861-1942). In addition to residential commissions, Marye designed many commercial and institutional landmarks, most notably the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. The home was purchased by Lebanese immigrant Nasor Mansour (1897-1948), owner of the Mansour’s Department Store chain, in 1939.
Broad Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
These apartments were designed by the Atlanta architectural firm of Ivey & Crook for the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation. They were renovated for use by LaGrange College in 2012.
Broad Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
